Review on 🐟 Accurate Fluval Test Kit for Aquarium Water - Essential for Freshwater & Saltwater Fish Tank Health by Dionne Powers

The Fluval pH test kit is handy but inferior to other test kits that are cheaper and quite reliable. If you are an aquarist, you should be able to check your water values (pH value, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) regularly, especially when you start or set up an aquarium. There are several options available, but the gold standard among test kits is the API Master Freshwater test kit (there is also a seawater kit). You can use this kit to check all the important parameters, it's very accurate, and it only costs (at the time of this review) $10 more than this single pH test kit. The only advantage of the Fluval kit is that it is one of the few that can be used for both saltwater and freshwater, which is handy for the few aquarists who own both. However, the vast majority of hobbies retain one or the other. The Fluval kit measures pH in 0.5 increments, which is convenient for most hobbyists. But if you are a breeder or have demanding fish this kit is not for you. In comparison, the API set shows an increase of 0.4 and drops to 0.2 in the high pH range test. When I compared tap water with both kits, they differed by about 0.5 pH, and Fluval showed 6.5 pH, which is inconsistent with local water parameters of 6.8-7.2 pH. My API showed around 6.8 pH, which is about right. There is human error in the readings (especially since the API shades are so close), but such a large error in the Fluval kit does not match the price and Fluval's reputation as a manufacturer of quality aquariums. The advantages of this kit are the easy to read colors and the ease of being able to test both salt and fresh water with the same kit. If that's what you value, then this kit is for you. I will continue to use APIs for their reliability and price and will only keep fresh water tanks.