Cichlidiot wrote:
*Jim K wrote:

I then purchased the Mardel test strips - the 5 in 1 and the
ammonia. They
are very easy to use and the results are easy to read. And the
take very
little room under my aquarium. They are more expensive, however,
and I
don't know how accurate they are.

I find the pH, KH and GH are roughly approximate, good enough for my
needs. The nitrate and nitrite are good enough to show if these are
present, but I usually fall back on other test kits, particularly for
the
nitrite. For nitrite I use TetraTest (I found the AP one to be less
accurate). I use the Tetra kit for KH as well, but the rest of my
liquid
test kits are AP.

I usually only test established tanks every month or so. My tap
water
parameters are fairly stable (aka liquid rock, heh) and I have
African
cichlid tanks for the most part with crushed coral substrate, so
tank
parameters like KH and pH are rather stable even though I do inject
CO2.
So the strips aren't too expensive given my uses of them. They're
also
safer than the liquid kits considering I have cats who haven't quite
learned that counters are off limit. I have most of the liquid kits
for
new/re-setup tanks to monitor the ammonia and nitrite spikes. I also
used
them to "calibrate", as it were, the accuracy of the dip strips which
is
why I know they are good enough for my needs (I am not too concerned
about
minor fluctuations). *


--
Skunky

'Peace On Earth.....And In The Water'
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