Water testing

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EllRog

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What's the best, cost-effective, water testing kit people are using?
I go through test strips at a stupid rate and feel as though I should be moving onto something a little more savvy by now.
I bought test strips with my first aquarium and have stuck to what I know since so please forgive my ignorance (lol)
Thanks in advance all!
 
  1. If you cut the strips in half lengthways (using clean dry scissors) you will have twice as many :)
  2. Do your figures ever actually change?
I used to religiously test before and after every week's water change and record the results. It didn't take long to realise that once the tank was established the numbers never showed any significant change - so now I only test occasionally or when I suspect I may have an issue.

Many on here will tell you that you need liquid tests because they are so much more accurate. These are even more expensive than the strips and the truth is if your tank is stable and you do weekly water changes there is no real reason to test regularly. (At least not weekly, once a month should be plenty).
 
Ahhh that's a good tip! I'll remember that one, thanks!

To be honest, no, not really lol. I just like to test my water fairly regularly for my own piece of mind really. I have a 175L and a 165L community tanks aswell as a quarantine/breeder box and then my 20L betta tank. With so many tanks I feel the need to regularly test, especially the breeder/quarantine box and just felt as if I'm burning through money unnecessarily and wondered if there was an alternative way that I could invest in or saves me a bit of money in the long run. We all know how expensive this hobby is and I just seem to keep buying more tanks or livestock! Which reminds me, I have cherry shrimps to collect in a couple of hours!
 
If you feel safe testing more often, then you will obviously have to spend money for tests. I've no idea what strip tests cost compared to liquid, but liquid are considered to be probably more reliable long-term. The second part of this is what you are testing for. On a regular basis, like seangee was describing as periodic tests, all you need tst is pH and nitrate. Any substantive change in pH once the tank is established (a few months for this) can signal serious issues. And nitrate the same. Both pH and nitrate should remain basically the same with every test for months and years; if not, then the system has a problem.

Ammonia and nitrite are often tested if something does seem to be happening, such as fish dying erratically or other tests changing. But once the tank is established, there shoould be no need to be testing for either of these. Same holds for GH and KH, unless you are specifically targeting these and preparing water outside the tank.
 
You may have issues which is why you test a lot . But I don't anymore and stick to plan. Nothing ever changes in my tanks.
 
Think I just worry abit too much reading the replies from yourself, @Byron and @seangee Thank you all for your replies. I may look into getting liquid tests, but I should probably just stop worrying and looking for problems as my water has remained stable since the tanks became established lol. Thanks again guys!
 

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