Help With Water Testing Pls, Tetratest Strips.

[Teri]

Does anyone use the tetratest 5 in 1 strips? There aren't any instructions on the box, and i was wondering -
how long to dip the strip for? 2 secs? 10 secs?
what exactly do they test for? I know its for "NO3, NO2, GH, KH,pH". I know what pH is all about, but to be honest, I don't know whatthe others are for. (The LFS said that all I needed to worry about was the pH, and if I had any problems, theywould test the water for me. )
Any info gratefully received.

 

[LisaLQ]

Those test strips test for nitrite and nitrate (NO2 and NO3), the ph, and the hardness of the water (GH and KH). You need another test for ammonia.

Your fish shop are wrong, the basics all fishkeepers need are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph tests. The hardness is a bonus, especially if your ph is diving or fluctuating. But you cant just get by with ph purely as you wont be able to tell whether your filter's working, whether the bioload is ok, whether there's too much waste in your water, how often to do water changes, whether your tank is cycled etc etc etc without the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tests. In fact, I'd go so far as to say they were slightly more important than the ph.