Liquid Or Strips

[the biffster]

which do you think is the better
liquid test kits or test strips
there's a few times i have asked
people for the stats for there
tank and they haven't got back to
me i was just wondering if this
is why

 

[weejen]

liquid all the way api master test kit

 

[Athena]

Definitely liquid.

I started out with the strips and when I switched over to liquid I did a comparison of the two results one day and the strips were so inaccurate I couldn't believe it.

Athena

 

[SlyPolak]

API Master #1 !!!!!

What I have realised with some people, is if you ask the for their readings they respond "let me tell you tomorrow because I have to take some water to my lfs." BUT I have see a few stores do tests (upon returning a dead fish they want a sample of your water), and EVERY single store uses strips!!!!! how accurate is that then

 

[elisew]

Definitely liquid

I`m not sure but I have on quite a few occasions doubted peoples test result when they`ve posted them and I wonder if they`ve googled or just picked the figures out of thin air....... maybe I`m just a cynical old boot though

 

[RustedKnight]

Definitely liquid

I`m not sure but I have on quite a few occasions doubted peoples test result when they`ve posted them and I wonder if they`ve googled or just picked the figures out of thin air....... maybe I`m just a cynical old boot though

Wouldn't surprise me if people did this.

I'm currently using strips, but will definately be getting a liquid kit asap, as my strips vary quite wildly, and starting to wonder if it's all total testicles.

 

[the biffster]

Definitely liquid

I`m not sure but I have on quite a few occasions doubted peoples test result when they`ve posted them and I wonder if they`ve googled or just picked the figures out of thin air....... maybe I`m just a cynical old boot though

i agree with you on that

the other thing is how
do you commit yourself to
saying this or that is wrong with
a fish if you don't know the stats
of the tank they are in

 

[elisew]

Definitely liquid

I`m not sure but I have on quite a few occasions doubted peoples test result when they`ve posted them and I wonder if they`ve googled or just picked the figures out of thin air....... maybe I`m just a cynical old boot though

i agree with you on that

the other thing is how
do you commit yourself to
saying this or that is wrong with
a fish if you don't know the stats
of the tank they are in

At the end of the day, if people can`t be honest then they`re not helping themselves or their fish, so why post asking for help in the first place??
I wish people would just be completely honest and say "Actually, I don`t have a test kit because I can`t afford it right now but I will get one as soon as I`m able".....it`s not that difficult is it?

Anyway, if I feel that someone isn`t being open and honest I tend to stay away from the thread and say nothing

 

[nurglespuss]

Hi there,

In truth (from a scientific perspective) the prospective accuracy of either method is doubtful (not incorrect, just not accurate).

I should imagine that, if you ran a series of tests with either kit, then performed an aobsolute chemo analysis, and bio load analysis, and compared all three, it would be consistency rather than accuracy that would vary.

You would almost certainly get a decent curve of somekind from increasing concentrations using laboratory equipment, but how consistent the readings from either the liquid or the strip would be when compared to this (or whether they might provide a completely different curve) is unknown.

I could be that the strips are more consistent (as quantities are more constant) or it could be that the liquid is more so (more expensive), we only have the manufacturers word for it.

If anyone had the time, soem cash, some ammonia etc. (for known concentrations) and a newly set up cycling tank, it would be a great experiment to compare strips with liquid.

 

[SlyPolak]

I dont think anyone here is trying to say that liquid is 100% accurate every time, just that it is a lot more accurate than strips.......

 

[anon02]

I have trouble telling some of the colours apart, but I decided it doesn`t really matter because the only colour you`re looking for is 0ppm which is usually easy to differentiate from any other colour. Unless you`re cycling and looking at trends

 

[ZoddyZod]

I`m not sure but I have on quite a few occasions doubted peoples test result when they`ve posted them and I wonder if they`ve googled or just picked the figures out of thin air....... maybe I`m just a cynical old boot though

I have to admit that in one of my first posts on here I completely lied about my ammonia reading. Didn't know what it was (didn't have a liquid test kit at first) and made the number up so not to look stupid. This forum can seem quite daunting when you have no idea what you're doing!

Also - why are we discussing liquid vs strips? There isn't even an argument on this one!

 

[chishnfips]

API Master #1 !!!!!

What I have realised with some people, is if you ask the for their readings they respond "let me tell you tomorrow because I have to take some water to my lfs." BUT I have see a few stores do tests (upon returning a dead fish they want a sample of your water), and EVERY single store uses strips!!!!! how accurate is that then

To be fair I was in pets at home in Inverness the other day looking at plants and fish food. And I wifey came in with a jar and they tested her water with an API liquid test kit, so fair play to them, I have also witnessed them not selling fish to people who have just set up their tanks. So they aren't all bad. I sitll would nt get fish from there but there are some that still have standards.

Oh and to stay on topic, liquid for me I found the nutrafin ones quite good.

 

[BLACK DOG]

I have been using Interpet EASY TEST kit that came with my tank, thought that I would try King British test strips, not much to choose between them until I noticed that one of the ammonia strips was yellow when I took it out of the tube, tipped the rest out and they were all the same.
She who has to be obeyed suggested that they had got damp, but the pack had been kept warm and dry, she picked up the package and noticed that there was a best before date on the bottom of the pack, printed in black on dark blue!!!!! the pack was out of date by two months.

didn't think things like this had a best before date, so beware

 

[anon02]

I have been using Interpet EASY TEST kit that came with my tank, thought that I would try King British test strips, not much to choose between them until I noticed that one of the ammonia strips was yellow when I took it out of the tube, tipped the rest out and they were all the same.
She who has to be obeyed suggested that they had got damp, but the pack had been kept warm and dry, she picked up the package and noticed that there was a best before date on the bottom of the pack, printed in black on dark blue!!!!! the pack was out of date by two months.

didn't think things like this had a best before date, so beware

In its` natural state ammonia is a gas so unless you keep the strips airtight then theoretically they can get contaminated