What test kits to buy ?

[tarantulaman]

what test kits should i pick up ?

 

Right now i have ph test and ammonia test I need to know what all tests that i will need .

 

Also I am confused on what to dose when ever i get some corals. There is so many products out there . I do not know what i will need so can you please tell me ? thanks

[coral reef]

most important are calcium and alk

[Korbin]

Nitrate, maybe nitrite, calcium, alkalinity, hydrometer

Thats pretty much it if you want to use the KISS principal. There's a million things you could start dosing, but regular water changes will replace every one of them. For now, work on getting your calcium and alkalinity levels stabilized before getting stoney corals. You can adjust calcium and alkalinity by using 2 part buffer solutions. That's about it. As you get more into it, you can get test kits for different things and start dosing more stuff if you want. But I don't think you really need more than water changes and caclium/alk.

And never dose anything you don't have a test kit for!

HTH

[darwin604]

You can test everything and dose until your blue in the face but I've found the old faithful water change take care of most of my issues.

 

I'll second everyone else on Ca / Alk . . the two most used test kits in my collection and the only things that have required any kind of dosing so far.

 

d.

[MrConclusion]

"Hagen" brand tests are very good for the money. As stated in earlier replies, you should get CA (CAlcium) and KH (Carbonate Hardness)

 

I would also agree than the 2-part calcium/buffer additives are a good idea. I use C-Balance, others use B-Ionic or CalxMax. These will supply not only hardness and calcium, but also trace elements.