The Right Dosing? Questions

[J-Aqua]

Should I pick up any other test kits to test and monitor iron, phos, CO2 ect?

Since this tank is in my living room as my "show tank" i want it to be in tip-top condition and not have any plants welt away. Thanks again purrbox.

J

[Purrbox]

Don't bother with an Iron or Potassium test kit as you'd have to pay a pretty penny to get one accurate enough for the levels in our aquariums. For those you just need to learn to recognize the symptoms, so you can adjust dosing as necessary.

For CO2, there's no need unless you're going to inject CO2. If you aren't injecting CO2 it will always be pretty close to 3ppm. If you do start injecting CO2 then you need a kit for KH and pH, the results are plugged into a Formula/Chart/Calculator to determine the CO2 levels. This is accurate as long as there aren't other buffers in your water.

You might want a Phosphate Kit, but for your aquarium it's not strictly necessary. If you do pick one up you want the one by SeaChem. It's a bit more expensive than other hobby grade kits, BUT it's as accurate as the professional kits.