question about a test kit ?

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

question about a test kit ?

by nicholas542

I have a API test kit for my salt water reef tank that crashed a year ago. Can I use the test kits Amonnia , Nitrate, Nitrite, and PH testing equipment for my planted tank?


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

I am sure you can, you are only testing the water. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph test kits can be applied to btoh freshwater and saltwater. Hopefully you have liquid test kits (more accurate).

So yes you can


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

yep it's a liquid i don't trust test strips. I might be kind of new to planted, but i would have never used test strips in my salt reef. My tank crashed because my local water supply had a spike in copper which kills coral instantly. Lost about 2grand in corals in 3 days.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

wow that is you-know-what up...thing about saltwater, absolutely thrilling visually, but if something messes up, thousands are literally flushed down the drain

I worked with a girl that bought a saltwater tank for about $5000. It was a gift for her new house, a heart-warming present. Anyway, she bought another $2,500 worth of assorted fish. She also purchased a $500 eel...not knowing it was electric (again, salespeople made much off her with awfully bad advice). So she has everything set up, she goes to bed, next morning she wakes up, goes to the tank, turns on the light and guess what: every single fish was swallowed up by the electric eel. $2,500 worth of fish, gone, poof!

so I certainly can understand from second-hand experience.


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

yeah i got pretty much all my info when i was into saltwater from snowboss, puffedupseagulls, and a few others. I made a stupid mistake and topped off my tank without using RO water, and poof reef tank gone. I had freshwater tanks before salt so I reverted back to something i knew. I am trying planted as a newbie, and battleing algae (winning).


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

winning is good, shows you are doing something right...unless it's cladophora, I grow this algae naturally in the tank, as long as it is pruned once a week, it is a wonderful algae

so identify the algae, go from there


nicholas542
 
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:50 pm

by nicholas542

it's hair algae. I have been overdosing with Flourish Excel for a little while now. I have been manually removing it from the tank/plants during water changes. I seem to be winning the battle it's pretty much all dying off.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

cool, you identified it...yes in time, if you manage to get rid of it, it will just die back to the point of non-existence


ThisFish884484
 
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:20 am

by ThisFish884484

There is a Freshwater color chart and a saltwater color chart, make sure to use the right one or Ph reading will be off.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

that is true ThisFish, each kit comes with 2 test charts. But I assume nicholas is using the freshwater (crosses fingers)

question about a test kit ?

12 posts • Page 1 of 2

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