# Water testing ... Where to start....



## bedpan (Jan 13, 2009)

Hey folks.. 
Wondering what test kits people use/recommend for testing water parameters. For some background...

20G Heavily planted
Injected CO2 from a DIY Paintball Setup (will be switching to regulator as soon as Ebay order comes in)
Eheim 2213 (maybe a bit short on circulation)
Not dosing any fertz right now but have some on order
Substrate is Eco-Complete

I have a drop checker but want to be sure I am not over doing CO2 and starting to dose fertz I want to be sure things are not getting out of whack..

I would love to find some digital tester to make life as easy as possible, but what do you guys use?

Thanks!

Mike


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

In terms of test kits, liquid type test kits are much more reliable and accurate than the dip-strip type. API makes reasonable quality kits.

I would get: pH, gH, kH, NO3, NO2, NH3/NH4 and perhaps PO4.

With that being said, I do not even test my water on a regular basis anymore. The only time I would test is if something goes wrong.


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

With Co2, you do need to check your pH. In my opinion, those continuous pH colorimetric testers that go in the tank (like a 3 month supply of dip strips, as a single unit) work great for this purpose.

As far as other tests; I bought ALL of them, and I only really USE the Nitrate test, which I use as a "bellwether" for overall water quality. Since all fish eat food, that breaks down, in the nitrogen cycle, to a final state of Nitrates, and assuming no significant anaerobic reactions that can reduce nitrates are occurring, Nitrates are an analog for total dissolved solids.

I don't know about everybody else, but I can smell Ammonia before it shows up on the tests. My nose can detect a lower amount of ammonia, than the bottom scale of my colorimetric ammonia test. No healthy, properly-stocked, properly-filtered tank has EVER had an ammonia problem once it achieved a stable cycled state. So I don't test for it. And similarly measurable Nitrites never occur in my tanks. I stopped checking after a year.

There is no solid-state nitrate tester out there, that is affordable for hobbyists. The pinpoint nitrate tester costs about $275, and I wouldn't spend that. I bought a Pinpoint pH tester used, and it died on me, after a year. Not impressed.

Warren


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