Freshwater Kits and Saltwater Kits the same??!

[Xhilr8]

Hi everyone.

I'm relatively new to this Saltwater fish hobby and I have a few questions regarding Master Test kits by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I hope somebody out there can give me a good, non-biased answer to this as sometimes the [acronym:bb44f58e60="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:bb44f58e60] may give inaccurate answers just to make a sale...

Anyway, I was wondering if the "Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit" will work for a Saltwater Tank. The reason is because its quite a lot cheaper than the Marine Master Test kit equivalent. The freshwater master kit measures pH (6.0 - 7.6), High range pH (7.4 - 8.
Ammonia, Nitrite and [acronym:bb44f58e60="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:bb44f58e60] (General Hardness). From what I can see at this site: http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com..../dept_293.html, all of the test kits ([acronym:bb44f58e60="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:bb44f58e60], [acronym:bb44f58e60="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:bb44f58e60], pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate) work for both fresh and saltwater so why is it that they said this test kit is only for freshwater use?? I mean it comes with a High range pH test kit as well so woulnd't it cover everything needed in a saltwater tank?

Any input or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone for your time to read this and even more thanks if you can share your opinions.[/url]

[fishfreek]

Some freshwater kits give false readings when testing saltwater. I belive the kits are not calibrated for the salinity level of the water or quite possibly other trace elements that are in the saltwater react with undesirable results with the [acronym:7c86774515="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:7c86774515] kits.

If Aquarium Pharm kits are like this I cant tell you but I do belive I remember trying a freshwater aquarium pharm kit on some saltwater when I first got into salt and it would give me a positive reading for ammonia the instant I tested fresh made saltwater.

THe link you gave shows the master kit for freshwater use only where as above many of the indiviudal kits say [acronym:7c86774515="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:7c86774515] and [acronym:7c86774515="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:7c86774515] use. On another page the Hagen mini master kit reads.

pH (6.0 - 7.6) - (freshwater only)
High range pH (7.4 - 8.6)
Ammonia - (freshwater only)
Nitrite
[acronym:7c86774515="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:7c86774515] (General Hardness)
[acronym:7c86774515="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:7c86774515] ( Carbonate Hardness)


While it costs a bit more you should make sure your kits say they will work with [acronym:7c86774515="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:7c86774515]. Else you could get false positives or worse false negitives.

[Xhilr8]

Yeah I just found out that the Ammonia test kit int he freshwater variant only has one chemical solution where as the saltwater version has two...so I guess that goes the option of using the freshwater kit...

Thanks for your time though..I really do appreciate it.