Water Test Kits for good reef tank management. Suggestions?

[roypersson]

Hello,

Just got my first coral going and it seems to be growing rather well. A branch seems to have willing split off and "mounted" to another near by rock and that is growing too. I assume if things are growing and splitting - I'm doing well.... but I'd like to be testing the right things in my tank.

Long term objective is to get some hard corals and try my hand at some of the more tricky things to manage.

That said this is what I can currently test for (what I have):
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH, Calcium, Carbonate Hardness, and Phosphate.

I know the big three for corals is Calcium, Magnesium, and Alkalinity.

So I know I need to buy something to test Alkalinity and Magnesium... hands down.

But I see all these other things: Copper, Iron, Iodine, Oxygen, Iodide, General Hardness. I read the description on these products but couldn't decipher how important they were.

Seeing that I want to buy online and ship in one bundle (cheaper) I wanted to know if I should consider anything else outside of Alkalinity and Magnesium.

Again long term I want to try out some forms of more advance (less beginner) type coral so spending an extra $20 on something I could potentially use in 9 months isn't a horrible idea.

Thanks in advance everyone,

Roy

 

[fishman1069]

I would go with Salifert tests for Mag, Alk and Calc. They are the most accurate of the tests kits available. They're a little bit pricey but worth it. For the phos, you might want to get a Hanna phos meter. They are around $50 but will give you a way more accurate reading than any titration type test. Everything else, like nitrates and ph, you should be ok with API tests. All those other tests you mentioned really dont need to be used unless you are dosing stuff like iron and iodine which I do not recommend. You can replenish these elements with weekly water changes.

 

[guarda]

+1 above. And being that you're so close to me, if you ever need to test for Iodine I have a kit that I used twice. Feel free to bring your water anytime. But as posted above, if you're doing scheduled water changes, you shan't really need to test.

 

[jrobbins]

final note is that most test kits have a pretty short shelf life. in fact i dont think i have ever managed to use all the tests before the kit expired. if you think you are going to need them in 9 months, just buy them then.

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

salifert cal,mag alk