Snail deaths

[the_lock_man]

They do have ammonia. They have ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, gh, and kh. But yeah they were pretty cheap. It's all I could afford at the time but I didn't have to want to always keep driving to the fish store to get it tested so I just bought them. I'm going to get a more expensive and better kit next time I make it out to the fish store.

Fair nuff.

Whenever I've checked online, the API has pH but not NH3.

I would personally recommend you get the Salifert test, they are sold individually, and the three main ones NH3, NO2, NO3 will set you back probs around $25-30 all told.

Many people on here recommend the API Master test kit, which is decent enough, you just need to be careful with the NH3 test to view it under natural light, as artificial can often make a 0ppm result look like a 0.25ppm result.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, the API test kits are reliable but some of them are really difficult to read. GH and KH are pretty easy, as is ammonia. But I have an especially hard time reading pH and nitrate, because a wide range of readings are essentially the same color. I've been thinking about going to Salifert. Are the easier to read, @the_lock_man ?

Edit: All the Salifert kits I'm finding online are saltwater. Do they work for freshwater too?

 

[the_lock_man]

Yeah, the API test kits are reliable but some of them are really difficult to read. GH and KH are pretty easy, as is ammonia. But I have an especially hard time reading pH and nitrate, because a wide range of readings are essentially the same color. I've been thinking about going to Salifert. Are the easier to read, @the_lock_man ?

Edit: All the Salifert kits I'm finding online are saltwater. Do they work for freshwater too?

Interestingly, it's the API ammonia test that's hard to read, insofar as under artificial light, a 0ppm result looks like a 0.25ppm.

Salifert certainly do work for freshwater too. In fairness, I've never had an ammonia or nitrite reading of anything other than 0ppm since I started using them, but the nitrate is easy enough to read.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Regarding your filter media... rinse it every 2 weeks in tank water. No chlorine. I have some filter media’s over 2 years old.