- I will fully admit
that I'm not a fan of testing
but I know it needs to get done.
And I know I need accurate results.
So in the spirit of making your lives easier as well
I'm gonna share with you
my favorite test kits per quick and easy
and accurate test results
for the most important parameters in your reef tank
that you're gonna be testing most often.
So you can save the most time
and spend more time enjoying your tank
less time testing things.
There are five tests that reefers perform
more often than any others.
And making sure you have accurate, easy to perform
and easy to read test kits is so important
to making sure that you actually do those tests
and have usable results.
So you can accurately dose for alkalinity
calcium and magnesium
and manage those two notorious nutrients
nitrate and phosphate.
This test kit funnel I'm gonna show you
is devoid of brand loyalty.
It is not based on what is the most expensive
and prestigious
and it's not based on what's cheapest.
Instead it is simply
the five test kits that I personally use and recommend
for testing the major three elements
along with the two most notorious nutrients.
They are the test kits that I find to be the best balance of
quick and easy to perform,
able to provide useful and accurate results
that are going to be easy to read and interpret
that are reasonably priced
for what they're bringing to the table
and are practical for most reefers.
My personal bundle of test kits include
Hanna's Alkalinity DKH Checker
Red Sea's Calcium Pro Test Kit
Aquaforest's Test Pro Magnesium Kit
Hanna's Phosphate Ultra Low Range PPM Checker
and Hanna's Nitrate High Range PPM Checker.
Now onto the burning question.
Why the heck do I like these test kits in particular?
What about them
makes them the test kits that I use
being the lazy,
but very demanding of results reefer that I am.
Starting off with Hanna's Alkalinity DKH Checker.
It is about the fastest
and most easily repeatable alkalinity test out there.
And it takes as little as 30 seconds to perform
and gives you a simple digital read out in DKH
no counting drops
or interpreting a precise color change
just an easy, accurate and lightning quick result
which is super important
since alkalinity is the parameter that gives you
the most accurate pulse
on the health and growth of your corals.
You also get a water resistant card
with visuals to guide you through the test
plus an awesome hard case to store the checker
and its components in
it is pricier than other test kits, yes.
But considering how fast and easy it is to use
and how repeatable the results are
regardless of your skill level.
It is in my opinion,
worth its weight and gold
but thankfully
costs a heck of a lot less than that.
For calcium Red Sea's Calcium Pro Test Kit
is one that I've been using for nearly 10 years.
There's a lot of reasons to love this test kit
it's very well made
and it gives you great tools for performing the test
including a fantastic titrator
so that the shaking and adding drops portion of it
is very easy to do even with one hand,
it has a water resistant card
to act as a visual guide to performing the test.
So you don't need to memorize the steps
in order to perform the test quickly.
And the endpoint color of this test
is very clear and easy to read,
which means you'll be much more confident
in the result you get.
They also give you a great hard cover case
to store everything in,
which is just the cherry on top.
Yes, it is another one of those tests.
That's a tad price here upfront
but when the time comes for more reagents
you can get a refill pack without all of the fancy tools
for about the same price as your average calcium test kit.
My pick for magnesium is Aquaforest's Test Pro Kit.
This is one of those very rare instances
where one of the most affordable test kits
also happens to be one of the best.
And I'm sure you're starting to see the theme here already.
And this kit follows right along with it.
This test is very easy to perform consistently
and accurately
whether or not you're new to reefing or a seasoned hobbyist.
And it even gives you the ability
to test your own performance
by providing a reference solution
that you can test first
to see how well you're performing the test.
It also has a card with a visual walkthrough
on how to perform the test
which keeps things nice and quick.
But I do think it's a good idea
to read the full instruction
to walk through the first time you perform the test
just to make sure you've got it down, pat.
And while this kit doesn't have a fancy titrator
you can always use the test file and titrator
from the Red Sea Calcium Pro Kit
to kick this one up a notch.
For phosphates,
I really love Hanna's Ultra Low Range Checker
that provides a readout in PPM.
It is super easy to perform with only one reagent
and only takes a few minutes to perform.
Half of which is hands free.
The Ultra Low Range Checker
will provide a phosphate reading between 0.00
and 0.9O PPM
which is quite a wide range considering most reefers
shoot for 0.04 to 0.06 PPM
making it perfect for most reefers
just like the other Hanna checkers.
You get a hard case to keep everything neat and tidy.
And while it is a bit more upfront
than a regular phosphate test kit
the ability to skip color matching
and just get a digital readout is just brilliant.
And the reagents aren't gonna break the bank
when it's time to get more.
And for nitrate Hanna's High Range Nitrate Checker
is the ticket
performing it is almost identical to the phosphate checker
super easy one reagent.
The only difference being
that it takes a little bit longer to develop
but that part is hands free.
So you won't even notice
it reads nitrate up to 75.0 PPM
in 0.1 PPM increments,
which is perfect for most reefers.
Since we generally aim for between five to 20 PPM
up until this checker was released
I was using the NYOS Nitrate Test Kit
which is still my favorite standard nitrate test kit
but honestly,
being able to do one reagent
and get a digital reader
without having to try and match up colors
is just so much easier that I'd rather pay the extra
to make my testing easier to do
not to mention more accurate.
And yes, you also get a hard case
with this one as well.
Performing all of these tests together
takes me less than 15 minutes.
And the only one that I perform more than once a week
is alkalinity
which is less than a minute.
And in my humble opinion,
this group of tests
is the way to go for practical reefing.
And you can pick up a set for yourself
if you'd like to,
by clicking right here
(upbeat music)