Hi! Newbie user here, so please be gentle...

I've just rescued a fish from an outside pond while draining it as we didn't think there were any fish left in there (an algal bloom last summer killed them all off, or so we thought), so I've set up an indoor tank and am in the process of sorting all the bits out. At the moment, there's the rescued comet, and two baby shubunkin in a 30 gallon tank (so in the long-term, they'll need more, i know, which may mean donating them to someone with a suitable pond - made the mistake of thinking 10 gallons per fish, which i now know isn't appropriate for these fishies).

In the process of setting up the tank, I had an issue due to colour blindness in that, because I'm red/green and red/brown deficient, I couldn't read the colours off the test strip accurately. Thankfully, the other half was on-hand to do that for me, but it's not something that I want to rely on.

Does anyone know of any testing equipment that doesn't rely on colour perception? Such as, digital meters for testing nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/ph levels?

hi there! i really dont know if theres anything eles out there for testing water that doesnt show colors. just a though, but do you have a lfs near you that maybe you can take the samples to? i sure wish i could help you but thats a really good question you asked btw a big welcome to kokos!

I know that there are digital test kits for marine aquariums but I'm not sure they would be able to test everything for a freshwater tank. Good luck!

yes there are didital testers for saltwater and freshwater tanks, i'll see if I can find the site. They are very expensive though.

here it is its from american marine, I once sent them an email, and they said it works in any liquid
http://www.americanmarineusa.com/

Here is a nitrate tester: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...3&N=2004+114130

Ph tester: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...8&N=2004+114130

I don't know if I have ever seen electronic testers for ammonia and nitrites though, but not sure. And the ones above are pricey :-(

I wonder if you could tell which area was shaded on those ammonia alert things that you stick in the tank with a suction cup? They are not super accurate but if you could tell the reading on them then you could be alerted to a potential problem and then have someone read the regular test for you as soon as possible. Just a thought.

If you have a digital camera you could also take pictures of the test tube next to the color card and post them on here and someone here could read them for you, lol! Not the fastest way but it would probably work. :-)

yeah you could post the photo here we would be more than happy to help. I had a friend that had the same problem, and i know sometimes its frustrating, so if we can we will help.

Since your post count is not to 100 you cant upload them here but you can use photobucket.com or email them to koko@kokosgoldfish.com with your username in the subject

thanks for all your help i host my own site from home, so photos won't be a problem, although as i said my other half can check for me when she's around.

i suspect the main one i'd need would be for nitrites, so i'll have a hunt around and see if i can find one cheap somewhere - that's the main one i need to keep an eye on as far as i can tell. the ammonia alert thing is probably a good idea, too, so i'll hunt one of those down - if nothing else, i can at least keep a rough eye on it and catch it if it seems to be creeping up. ph i think i can spot as it shifts away from the sort of brown colours i have trouble with into purples and reds (iirc) which i can tell apart on the test stick.

thanks again for all of your help

Wow! If you find the digital ones cheap LMK! Those things are really pricey!

I would love to be able to test digitally though.....I have ALWAYS proclaimed myself "slightly" color blind! And when the colors of the tests are more red I usually find myself getting my hubby's opinion!