FluvalNitrate Test Kit for Aquarium Water, Freshwater & Saltwater Fish Tank Test

I do not test my aquarium water's ph as often as I should, although I know it is important--I once lost an entire tank of baby fish because the treated tap water I added was too acidic and it killed my fish. This test kit is easier to use than some I have bought in the past, so I will be testing more often now. It comes with a pipette, a small test tube with cap, and a blue reagent solution. You use the pipette to remove water from the aquarium and fill the test tube up to the 5ml line, then you add 4 drops of the blue solution to the test tube and watch the water color change. You then match the water color against a chart to find out the ph number of the water. This is a wide range kit, meaning that it only measures in half step (.5) increments from 5.0 to 9.5 for freshwater, 4.5 to 9.0 for saltwater. But that is enough to tell you if your aquarium water is dangerously acid or alkaline (7.0 is neutral).The kit contains general information about ph, but does not tell you the best ph for your tank. That will depend on the type of fish inside and whether it is a freshwater or saltwater tank. For example, other sources say the best ph for goldfish is 7.5, which is slightly alkaline. This kit is for testing only, it does not contain any chemicals to raise or lower the ph. Those will have to be purchased separately.The box says that it contains enough supplies for 100 tests. The box also has an expiration date (mine said 11/2024), but inside it states that for best results the contents should be used within one year after opening.I should note that in an incredibly poor marketing move, the back of the box contains icons with a number of safety warnings. However, in very small type it states the outer box is generic and only the safety warnings on the brochure INSIDE the box apply to this product. So most of these warnings on the box do not apply. The only one of the warnings that does appear inside and apply to this product is that it is flammable, and since you are dealing with only a small quantity of the liquid blue reagent and adding it to water, I don't find that much of a concern. There are of course also warnings that the product should be kept away from children and that it can cause stains.I found it easy to match the colored water in the test tube against the colors on the chart. Mine came out slightly acidic, so I plan to slowly raise the ph over several days. My fish will be much healthier as a result.

The Fluval PH testing kit is convenient, but falls short of other readily available, cheaper, and quite reliable test kits. If you are in the aquarium hobby, you must be able to regularly test your water parameters (pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate)—especially if you are starting out or establishing a new tank. There are various options available but the gold standard in testing kits is the API Master Freshwater test kit (there is also a Saltwater kit). This kit allows you to test all the important parameters, is very accurate, and costs only $10 more (at the time of this review) than this single pH test kit.The only benefit to the Fluval kit is it is one of the few that can be used for both saltwater and freshwater, which is convenient for the few aquarists out there who keep both. However, the vast majority of the hobby keeps one or the other. The Fluval kit measures in increments of .5 pH, which is fine for most basic hobbyists. But if you are breeding or have demanding fish, this is not the kit for you. For comparison the API kit has increments of .4 and goes down to .2 in the high range pH test. When I compared my tap water with both kits, they differed by about .5pH with the Fluval reading 6.5pH which is inconsistent with local water parameters of 6.8pH-7.2pH. My API read at about 6.8pH which is about right. There is human error involved in readings (especially with the API shades of color being so close), but such a wide margin of error in the Fluval kit is not consistent for the price point and Fluval’s reputation as a high end aquarium brand.The benefits of this kit are the easier-to-read colors and the simplicity of being able to test both saltwater and freshwater with the same kit. if this is something you value, then this kit will work for you. I will continue to use API because of their reliability and price point in addition to only keeping freshwater tanks.

I am pretty sure this little kit is the reason our new fish are alive.At the time I was received this item, we had bought new fish to accompany our 1.5 year old angelfish. They were a few days old. The gourami wasn't looking too well. We know that pH is always a problem in our fish tank. The high pH has killed a few fish over the years. We normally don't find out it is the pH until we return the fish to the store. We never considered buying a kit. (who knows why!). This was the perfect time to try this test kit.In this test kit, there is a glass beaker/vial, the drops and a pipette.To use this kit, collect enough water to the line on the beaker. Add 4 drops and immediately compare to the chart that is easily accessed on the back of the instruction book.Doing this, we learned that our pH was too high. My husband did a routine water change that brought the pH down. He considered using chemicals or trying baking soda to bring the pH down a little more but our experience is as little chemicals the better.Our new gourami pepped up by the next day.This test kit checks pH from 4.5 to 9.0. This is the higher end. I was curious if it could be used for kombucha. This pH kit does not test the range for Kombucha pH. We bought it for the aquarium. It is for the aquarium, but I always like to try to find a multiple use for an item!

Fait le travail !