[DR1V3N]

Hi All,

I've been doing some glancing at the LFS and there are just so many available and all boast different selling points.

As such, I'm hoping that I can find a general consensus here as to what people have found to be the best bang for the buck.

I'm not looking for the cheapest but like I said value would be great. I'm tired of getting inaccurate reads from test strips and/or taking my water to an LFS only to find that some of them are strip-testing too LOL.

If anybody can point me to an LFS on sale or has one barely used out of chance, please let me know.

 

[onefishtwofish]

what kind of fish r u keeping..... i keep mostly africans...i already know my water is hard so as my kh and gh dont change i really only test for nitrite and nitrate and ph...so now i just buy then individually rather than get the whole kit.

 

[pt1190]

API tests good, and there not badly priced.

 

[DR1V3N]

I keep africans too (blue zebras).

I also keep crays. Both creatures seem to have very polar needs. The crays like their ph a little lower while the zebras need higher.

Yea I was thinking at some point that I'd probably use certain Tests more than others, particularly PH in my case.

Which brand do you like?

what kind of fish r u keeping..... i keep mostly africans...i already know my water is hard so as my kh and gh dont change i really only test for nitrite and nitrate and ph...so now i just buy then individually rather than get the whole kit.

 

[DR1V3N]

API tests good, and there not badly priced.

I've seen API a bit too. That's what I was leaning towards.

 

[Landau]

I like the Tetra laboret - never tried the API but I definitely prefer the Tetra to the Hagen/Nutrafin tests.

Years ago I managed a pool and for kicks tested teh pool water with the Tetra kit. The Tetra gave the same values for PH, GH and KH as our professional test kit within the margin of error, once I converted from degrees of hardness for the tetra to parts per million on the pool kit. The pool kit cost over $200 for the PH test alone and that was over 20 years ago.

Landau

 

[onefishtwofish]

hagen for master kit other wise i get api individual tests

 

[aaa]

The API test kit is sort of the "de facto" standard that many experienced hobbyist use. The best price in the lower mainland is at J&L Aquatics, however if I lived in South Surrey I'd probably buy it at Rogers and save the gas. I have both the API test kit and the Hagen master test kit. I use the API almost exclusively. An aquarium shop went under on hastings street and I bought the master test kit for ...are you ready for this.... $10 still new in the box, unopened.

 

[Adz1]

laguna which is made by Hagen is a fair bit cheaper then the actual Hagen one.
as far as master kits go.