What is the most accurate test kit /method?

[tcarswell]

D

yup.... i even cycle tanks with no test kit.... like i said waste of money.... i have no need or use for one... throw it away and stop worrying about params just do your weekly water changes

Dont you have to have a good feel for tanks before you do this? I have had tanks since I was 5 (Red eared slider) But ive used test kits since I was 12 or so

 

[Nic]

hmmm i just do things.... cant explain how or why i do things but i do... people make this way to technical and all you need to do is keep things simple... K.I.S.S method

 

[aldiaz33]

best test kit i have ever used is when i threw the waste of money out and stopped testing my water.....

I agree with Nic's K.I.S.S. methods for the most part. The only issue I have is on cycling a new tank. Nic, how would you know when your tank has fully cycled? It seems pretty irresponsible to just dump fish into a new tank before knowing that it has fully cycled and that the filters are able to handle the bioload of the new fish. Seems like you're taking the lazy way out and potentially exposing your fish to high levels of ammonia just because you don't want to spend a few dollars on a test kit and take a few minutes to use it.

tcarswell, I haven't used any test kits other than the API freshwater master test kit. If you search online you can find all sorts of professional grade water test kits (and spend a grip $ on them), but I think the API test kits are good enough. In this respect, I'm with Nic and his KISS philosophy. The API kit does the job.

 

[tcarswell]

I agree with Nic's K.I.S.S. methods for the most part. The only issue I have is on cycling a new tank. Nic, how would you know when your tank has fully cycled? It seems pretty irresponsible to just dump fish into a new tank before knowing that it has fully cycled and that the filters are able to handle the bioload of the new fish. Seems like you're taking the lazy way out and potentially exposing your fish to high levels of ammonia just because you don't want to spend a few dollars on a test kit and take a few minutes to use it.

tcarswell, I haven't used any test kits other than the API freshwater master test kit. If you search online you can find all sorts of professional grade water test kits (and spend a grip $ on them), but I think the API test kits are good enough. In this respect, I'm with Nic and his KISS philosophy. The API kit does the job.

fair enough sounds good