Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: Dominika on November 05, 2015, 11:23:39 AM
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I know it's generally advised to use liquid tests because the strips tests are thought to be inaccurate. Does anyone know why? Has anyone experimented with both?
I'm just curious where the opinion comes from.
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The opinion has been long held and passed around on forums. You could always do a comparison and report the results ;)
The main problem with strips is that they don't have an ammonia tester on them. You read so many times 'just got a tank, put some fish in, they've died, all my test results are fine' and when asked for numbers they don't give an ammonia reading because they are using strips, and it is ammonia that has harmed the fish. Newcomers to the hobby don't realise they need to buy an ammonia tester as well.
For just keeping an eye on a cycled tank, you don't need to be very accurate, just zero or not zero is enough. It's cycling, by both methods, that you need reasonable accuracy.
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Yes, I've experimented / am experimenting with both - see http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,2151.0.html. [ I've been enjoying being surrounded by increasing numbers of test tubes in an effort to convince myself that I'm more skilled in traditional sciences than I actually am. :rotfl: ]
My findings are as follows:
* test strips seem to provide very consistent results, both for a particular brand of test strip and between brands [JBL and Tetra]
* PH is the one test that shows the biggest difference between test strips and liquid-based test kits [strips 6.4; liquid 7.5 - both Waterlife and Aquality] - the higher PH is actually more similar to what the local water supply company states
* other tests (nitrates, nitrites) are similar/same between test strips and liquid-based kits (JBL, Waterlife) but I do have very low nitrates whereas those with higher nitrates might find a difference
* GH and KH are fairly similar between test strips and liquid-based kits but water never quite matched any of the colours on the strips, hence buying test kit to be sure
Some folk report that API nitrate liquid kit needs vigorous shaking in order to get an accurate result.
Hope that helps.
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Some folk report that API nitrate liquid kit needs vigorous shaking in order to get an accurate result.
It's actually all liquid nitrate testers. Some, like API, have 2 bottles, some have 3. In one of the bottles there is a chemical that doesn't really dissolve and it falls to the bottom of the bottle on standing. The vigorous shaking is necessary to re-suspend the chemical uniformly though the liquid. You need to read the instructions for the brand to see which bottle it is that has to be shaken well. This is the main reason that powder testers are more accurate for nitrate.
It would be interesting to compare ammonia strips with liquid testers if anyone has both.
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Thank you both for your replies. I'll need to get a new testing kit in a couple of months so this got me thinking about what's best for my tanks.
I find your findings very interesting, fcmf, seems the accuracy varies from test to test.
I think the right question to ask is: "is it fit for purpose?" So, in case of pH, the difference between 6.4 and 7.5 may be quite significant (depending on the circumstances). With ammonia, unless you're cycling, you basically need to know if you need to grab a bucket and start changing the water.
I do agree that new tanks have to be tested for ammonia, especially whilst cycling. If I decide to buy ammonia strips, I'll test them against my liquid test.
I did a bit of research, particularly about ammonia testing and apart from the liquid and paper tests I found this: http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AmmoniaAlert.html
It seems to be a similar kind of indicator that seneye are using in their slides. Has anyone used the Ammonia Alert?
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I've not used that ammonia alert because it costs more than a tester. It lasts for a year, the same length of time as a liquid tester once that has been opened.
One advantage of the ammonia alert is that it measures just ammonia, not the total of ammonia and ammonium like the liquid testers do. With kits that give total ammonia, you need to know the pH and the temp as well, then use an ammonia calculator to find the amount of just ammonia.