Liquid Test Kits vs Test Strips: Which is better?

[@Glenn_AE6YT]

I'm going over some of your older videos. I am a retired chemist. This means two things: 1) I have the time, and 2) I enjoy using the liquid test kits. Where I live, southern California, all the stores have the API brand of tests. They have almost everything I need: low & high pH, kH & gH, NH3/NH4+, NO2-, NO3-, PO4, Ca++, and Cu++. I use Fluval for and free & chelated Fe. I use a refractometer for salinity (SG). I have two tanks, and usually just run the pH, hardness, SG, and the nitrogen tests (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) on my tanks, while running the other tests periodically. I test the calcium and copper on my shrimp tank. I test the tap water and RO water every two or three months. This is an important test to see what's going into your tanks. I try to blend these to get the water parameters I need. When I can't, I adjust the pH down with dilute acetic acid (white vinegar) and up with a dilute solution of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). I can see the value in test strips, especially if you have a multitude of tanks, or are too busy or ill to wet test everything. I've considered getting some from API and see how they match up. Thanks for this video. Cheers!

[@droeksonfishkeeping]

Thanks for the interesting comment. You are waay ahead of me but I agree one needs to keep an eye on what comes out of your tap.

[@johnnyzen4282]

Yeah, ive been having really low ph in one of my tanks and couldn't figure out why. Even after using ph up and crushed coral, it would always read the ph 5.5 or below. I thought something was wrong, so I got a liquid test kit. The liquid test kit says it's acceptable, 7.6, so im super confused 🤣

[@funkolegohunters]

The jbl pro aquatest is not good i test in 2 aquarium and one glass of water all give the same results 😐

[@Rose_A]

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