Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

When I worked at lfs strips were awesome as my time is valuable. But for everything else I use drops. Not to say I trust the drops or strip or een the meters... all have stuffed up on me before. never met a phosphate test that worked for me reliably lol.
Aquarium pharma seem to be reliable though as far as drop tests go. But if doing drops is gonna be a hassle get the strips so ya do the tests.
Really theres only one thing I get from 99% of tests I do....
Either I pick up ammonia or nitrite and have a problem to solve
or
I pick up no ammonia and nitrite and pat myself on back an go have a drink.
woooooooot

The only problem with the drop tests is calibration. if you do a calibration test with de ionised water you will be able to judged the reading better.

the strips.... eh milage will vary with them, but like wise calibrate yourself with distilled water

I checked the instructions on both tests several times to make sure I wasn't missing a decimal point, if there is one missing its from the printing of the lable.

I use the strips for a quick and dirty check; but use the drops for a double check and tend to believe the drops more.

I've had strips for my pool in the past. Thought they worked - but when I did a check, found out they were way out. I don't trust them.

i'm missing the point of doing a 'calibration test' with pure water.

the drops work on chemical reagents and titration, i cant see an error unless your water is distinctly coloured or you miscount the drops.

if your like me and your results are so low comparing them to the colour cards is quite difficult, a test against somehing you know is at 0 helps.

yep well worth checking against pure water if your even tiniest bit skeptical of results. I used to do every morn on me probes.
But ya nice to know no reagent has been contaminated or something. They also go out of date too.

Eric, your leige, ya may find the results are in PPM (parts per million)

fair enuf

I feel like starting a petition to get the spelling of enough changed to enuf permanent like. It just looks right!

I bought Aquarium pharmceuticals test strips because they were cheaper. ($22 for 25 tests Vs $36 for ? tests for drops)

I wanted to see if they are accurate so I ran a few tests using standards made from ammonium chloride.

Test strips read 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 6mg/L NH3
Tried a 3mg/L NH3 standard (that had been acidified to pH3 to extend shelf life), and was really annoyed when it read 0.

Further testing showed that at the pH of deionized water (6-7) the 3mg/L standard read correct, at pH3 it read 0 and at pH 11 it read over range.

From top to bottom in pic:
3ppm std at pH 3 reads 0
20ppm std at pH 6-7 reads overange as expected (ignore)
my fish tank at pH 8 reads 0.5 (new tank)
3ppm std at pH 11 reads overange
3ppm std at pH6-7 reads 3ppm (actually more than 1 and less than 6)

I guess it makes little difference to testing fish water but something to keep in mind.

Brett, the $36 (plus freight) Master Test Kit (drops) will provide nearly 700 individual tests, compared to the $22 for 25 strip tests that you quoted it would seem to be a no brainer....

700? I did ask the pet shop bloke how many tests it did and he didnt know and it didnt say how many on the pack. By memory it said the test solution volumes were about 7ml, does that sound right for 700 tests?

Maybe we're talking about different test kits Brett...... this is the one most of us use......

http://www.theaquariumshop.com.au/shope ... r+Test+Kit

Clearly states "over 700 tests" ..... indeed the picture actually says "over 800 tests" (top right)

See they're no longer running the "special" price.... still $39.95 + $7 freight is still pretty good value

You take a 5ml sample of water, and add drops to it to perform the test, so the total volume of the liquid in the vial is probably 6-7ml, depending on the particular test.