Tests tap water and freshwater aquariums for general hardness (gh) and carbonate hardness (kh). Helps detect stress on fish caused by rapid ph shifts, which result from low kh levels and helps aquarists duplicate the nat. Testing Solution, Test Tubes With Caps, Computer Analyzed Laminated Color Card To Read Results.
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OK, firstly, there is no “laminated color card” regardless of what the product page says. This is one of those tests where you add drops one-by-one until there is a color change in the test tube. The number of drops indicates the water hardness. Really easy unless you aren’t skilled at counting. For my tank water, I had to count all the way to 5.
So, my tap water is incredibly hard, but my crusty shower head already evidences that. My aquarium, however, is just fine. Cool.
I bought this test kit to supplement the test strips that I’d been using. Sometimes you simply lose faith and need a bit of affirmation. This test kit did affirm that the test strips are just fine.
I wanted a titration based test for hardness (for better accuracy than the test strip kits) and this was one of the few I found. I checked a local pet store and they didn’t have hardness tests at all. The instructions are very clear, explaining the types of hardness and how to conduct the test. I found it very easy to use, except that my water is so hard it was off the scale in the instructions! I think the scale goes up to 12 or 13 drops and I was around 22 before I got the color change. But you can fairly easily extrapolate the scale to higher values.
Want fish? Buy this before you fill the tank. It has nearly every test you need to start cycling and keeping fish, and tests are accurate and reliable.
You can indeed measure the hardness with this kit, but it’s a bit more of a pain than I had anticipated, based on other water test kits. There’s no succinct card with instructions or a color chart. You have to read a multiply folded piece of paper to figure out what to do with the kit, and you have to keep referring to this awkward piece of paper every time you test.
The test itself involves putting dropps in the water until it changes, and using the number of drops used to determine the hardness of your water (see the chart on your awkward piece of folded paper).
The chemist in charge needs to get on making a new couple of hardness tests that (a) have a fixed number of drops for a fixed amount of water, (b) has instructions ON THE BOTTLE or on a laminated small card, and (c) has a color chart to rate the results on said bottle or card.