Hi everyone. I really want to get a normal water testing kit. Ive been using those strips and they seem very expensive. $10 bucks for only 25 strips and I have 4 tanks so that doesnt last very long.

I really need somthing that isnt going to cost me a fortune and Ill get my money's worth out of it. Can anyone reccomend a good brand and also what is a good price for a test kit?

I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit. It's a drop kit that has tests for pH, high pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. They also sell each test individually since you will run out of some before teh others. I got mine at Petsmart. If you go to their website I believe it is $14.99. In the store it is like $24.99 but if you are able to print the web site page with the price on it they will match the on-line price in teh store.

It's a great test kit. I've had mine since late July. It's made it through frequent testing as I was cycling when I bought it (and I often do mid-week tests just to make sure params are OK). I ahven't had to refill any of the drops yet and still have quite a bit left.

This is all I saw there...unless I over looked it. But it looks like they are just all separate?

tests

Here, is this what you are talking about? This is at Dr.s Foster and Smith:
more tests

The 4th option down on the petsmart page is the master kit for 14.99... maybe you didn't notice it

OMG I dont know how I missed that! Thanks

I also use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit but I think I paid over $30 for mine at Petco!!! Its a good kit. Easy to use and accurate.

Ok well Ill trust you guys on that and I will pick up one of those kits when I get to TX. There is a Petsmart were we are going to live so hopefully they will match their online price, which is pretty good. I saw ONE test kit at the petsmart here and it was 29.99! I cant remember if it was aquarium pharmecuticals but I think it was..

As pointed out above, they sell each test separately. If I am not mistaken, in the master test kit you may get smaller bottles of the various reagents than you will in the individual test kits. You may want to check out how much product you are getting for the money in the master kit as opposed to the individual test kits.

When I am cycling a tank, I use a lot of ammonia and nitrite tests. In general practice, I go heavily on pH and nitrate. kH is important for I work with well water that is changable, but I can do with a tiny bottle. gH is not very important. I like having the salt test from AP - it is a good one and not very expensive. It lasts a loooong time. It is far easier and cheaper to only buy the pieces of the kit that you need as you need them - they do not get too old and you spend less money.

Besides - it is a rare dip strip that does ammonia!

I have been very disappointed in our local PetSmarts, and now PetCos.....they have begun to discontinue a very large amount of the fish products available in store. They seem to want customers to use the internet for orders for anything other than the common fish flake food and "goldfish bowls". I have had to buy my last set of tests from a mom&pop shop that will order them in for me, as well as the various treatments (PArasite Clear, airline tubing, bio-media etc. too).

I hope your new digs in Texas are good for you and your fishes (kitties, too! )>^..^<

Thanks Daryl!!! Actually I posted in the chatter box that I got two test kits today!!! They test for nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and pH. Each kit has 20 tests for each different test. Guess how much each kit was????

68 cents!!!! WOOHOO!

That will get me by for awhile! It was on clearance at the PX here because they are getting rid of all their summer stuff! I guess a lot of people dont have ponds in the desert, huh??? lol I guess that is why it was so cheap!

i dont mean to butt in, but i noticed that my bottles of ammonia tests were running low. can you buy replacement bottles without the test tubes and such?

Ummm it looks like it. Did you look at the website?

yes, you can. My local Petsmart has them and they have them at petsmart.com.

I just bought that kit too (the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Freshwater Kit) for $25. Now that I know I can get it online cheaper that is awesome! I am brand new to this, and just used the kit for the first time and found it to be very easy.

Im not liking the test kit I got. Maybe Im just spoiled and too used to the test strips, which are so easy. BUT...I got mine for 68 cents so I cant complain TOO much. I tried testing with this kit for the first time today and uck. It comes with these little pill things that you drop into the water and SHAKE the crap out of for like 5 mintues. Its the hardest darn thing to get dissolved! And I kinda dont like the fact that it now takes me 20 mintues to test my tank when it used to only take me 3 minutes. Oh well.