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 LFS 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 - 8.8)
Ammonia, Nitrite and GH (General Hardness). From what I can see at this site: http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/en-gb/dept_293.html, all of the test kits (KH, GH, 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 FW 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 FW and SW 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
GH (General Hardness)
KH ( Carbonate Hardness)


While it costs a bit more you should make sure your kits say they will work with SW. 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.