Test Kits A Con?

[jessie]

I was at my local lfs today looking for a test kit(took me half hour sooooo many) when i gave up and asked the chappy in the shop for advice. To my surprise he said dont bother they are all a con anyway. I couldnt believe my ears . He went on to say water change 20% once a week and watch your tank daily and you will spot a problem . Hes ran his tank that way for a couple of years so needless to say i walked away without one. Is this good advice?

 

[catxx]

if you don't have problems in your tank yes.
but if you're cycling a tank they're essential
and if a problem does crop up and fish are looking sick, or one dies mysteriously, the first thing you're going to need to do is test the water

 

[Bloo]

Agreed. Essential in new tanks up to around 6 months old.
I don't test any of my mature tanks anymore - only my planted one where I need watch levels.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

he's right in the sense that they aren't necessary for day-to-day operations in a finished/established tank.

but they're great to have around if your cycling, considering changing the fish you keep (say, from tetras to malawis), or need to diagnose a water quality issue.

 

[tenxiong]

Well a test kit is very improtant if you have a marine/reef tank due to the marine fish requirements and such.

 

[guppy_man]

i only used mine in the first 4 weeks, then i just left it, but done 20% water changes once a week.

 

[WILDER]

Yes i agree they are very important when cycling a tank, don't test mine much now, just when i think there is something not right.

 

[Fella]

I would consider it an essential piece of kit. It's the first step to diagnosing any error within a tank. Without it, I can think of at least 2 occasions since I've been keeping fish when I would have been stuck without it.

 

[steelhealr]

Well...I differ from one point above. My feeling is an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. By the time you notice something is wrong in your tank, your livestock may already be under stress or even jeopardized. Although I stopped testing my tank weekly, I still test it periodically and stay consistent. I am strict about doing my weekly water changes and I have picked up slow drifts in pH that I was not happy with. I intervened BEFORE signs occurred.

I guess that, if your tank is ALWAYS stable, you can throw out your test kit. I prefer to see things in numbers. FW tanks don't alert you like a SW tank might (corals can close and act as barometers of sliding water conditions). FW tanks usually alert you with a fish in distress. I prefer not to get that warning if possible. JMO. SH

 

[guppymonkey]

The problem with test kits is really that they don't help if you have a problem. We live in a society that expects everything to be instant (especially those of us who live in the United States). If we test the water and something isn't perfect than our instant reaction is that we want to fix it right now. Many then go out and buy chemicals that supposedly get rid of the problem whether its elevated ammonia or too high of a pH. People will test their water and see that the pH is very low and then go buy a pH increaser when the real problem is that they never do water changes and their nitrates are off the chart (I see this problem just about every day at the pet store I work at). A lot of people also use test kits as an excuse not to do water changes. They say, "well I don't have any ammonia or nitrites so I don't need to do water changes until they show up". If you do regular water changes you usually NEVER have to bother with testing your water. The only times I test my water are when I set up a new tank, add fish to an existing tank or after I have treated a tank for illness (which is usually once or twice a year).

I wouldn't say to never bother testing but I would have to say that its not as important as it is made out to be. Most pet stores that tell you to buy test kits will also tell you to buy chemicals to "get rid of ammonia" or to modify your pH so that its always at 7. They are basically just saying things so that you will spend more money at their store, not because they truly want to help you. So in conclusion, testing is important sometimes but not as important as proper tank management.

 

[steelhealr]

Well, I somewhat agree. What I DO agree with guppymonkey on is that people DO treat numbers and will do that to make numbers to conform to parameters seen in textbooks. This happens commonly in marine systems. People try to do whatever is needed to have a pH of 8.2.

However, I do think that testing can prevent a mishap. Eg, my tap water is so soft that it has almost no buffering capability. I have caught my pH sliding despite regular weekly water changes. Below a pH of 6.0 you can risk losing your biologic filter. Can it happen? Probably unlikely. Do I want to find out? No.

SH

 

[Saedcantas]

Hiya Jessie,

Reading through your previous posts, if I am correct, you have a 2ft Juwel Rekord 60/70 and have had problems with your fish in the last week.

I would suggest that you find yourself a new LFS if at all possible since in your situation a testing kit is vital and would help you to explain and alleviate the problems you are experiencing.
The guy in the shop is correct that if conditions were ideal and stocking levels were low and overfeeding did not occur then yes, 20% weekly water changes may just keep on top of things without you needing to test. Sadly that situation is virtually never the case

I suspect that at the moment your water conditions are much less than optimum and testing it so you knew exactly where you stand would allow you to up your maintainance to a level which would rectify the problems you have

Invest in an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc Liquid master test kit and you really cant go far wrong

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Personally I don't often use them. But then I don't have a problem with soft water and the ph stays consistent. The mature tanks....which is all mine now thankfully....rarely need testing, but if I suspect anything I will test, so having the tests to hand is very much worthwhile. An instance could be....ok, all my fish have recently been acting like they have pmt...or possibly are feeling spring well before I am! As a result there have been some tiffs in a few tanks, most noticeably my Malawi setup where the synos have been sparring with each other. Yes some did get hurt and it caused nose/mouth injuries. Because of this I had to treat the tank accordingly. Also a newbie syno developed a rapid growing fungus on his wound. I have moved him into a more peaceful tank which I was already treating with melafix and pimafix. He's now almost completely healed with just a few pink patches that should be sorted in a day or two...but the thing with all this treatment is it can and does effect the bacteria of the filters. Therefore it is worth watching ammonia and NitrIte levels at such times to ensure it doesn't slip due to some bacteria dieing from the meds. Another one to watch is nitrAtes in tanks that have no live plants to keep the levels down. Most of my mature tanks have alot of plants and nitrAtes stays nice and low but my Malawis have no plants at all, mainly because between them and the synos the plants would last approximately half an hour. So with nothing to control nirtrAtes it could easily spiral upwards and fast. It may not be as deadly as ammonia or nitrIte but it can still cause some issues all it's own.
In short, it's best to have them to hand and especially with new tanks with an immature filter system. After all it only takes you falling ill, missing a tank clean, or slight overfeeding over a period of time to let things go haywire.
Hugs,
P.

 

[Tolak]

Anyone starting out in aquatics should have one. It lets you know without a doubt what your water condition is. After gaining some experience in the area of fish behavior, you can often tell if someting isn't quite right.

I ued to test water weekly when I first started out, I only test now if the fish tell me to, or if I sense something is out of line. I still keep a fully stocked test kit, last time I used it was 3 weeks ago, before that was probably a few months. I consider it similar to a fire extinguisher. You may never use it, but when you need it having it on hand can prevent a lot of losses.

 

[annka5]

I have one, I use it about every couple of weeks. It does give early warning that something is slipping/ something is wrong; if your nitrate is creeping uipward slowly but surely, then testing is the best /only way to see it before it causes your fish any problems. IMO, loads better for the fish, and also cheaper to test the water more often and up water changes if required than to shell out on meds.