I have the Pond Care Master Liquid test kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.
It has worked good and was only about $20 I think.
You ought to be able to get it at a pet store or visit their website.
They have a link where you can put in your zip code and it tells you a store
who carries their products.
http://www.aquariumpharm.com/

Priss


"MLF" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================== ===========

what are you testing for? aquarium pharm. got pretty cheap and easy tests. Ingrid

"MLF" wrote:

Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================= ============

MLF wrote:

Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================== ===========


essential:
any 2 part or dry tab Ammonia kit.


almost all other tests are basicly useless:

PH, 99.9% of fish adapt w/ no probs..

NitrIte, good only in new setup to tell you
when its spiking. BUT! its normal to spike LOL

NitrAte, plants lower it, kit useless unless
you have nitrAte sensitive fish (NOT).

DH/KH etc, unless its Discus, really not needed.





--
http://www.kencofish.com Ken Arnold,
401-781-9642 cell 401-225-0556
Importer/Exporter of Goldfish,Koi,rare Predators
Shipping to legal states/countries only!
Permalon liners, Oase & Supreme Pondmaster pumps


Please Note: No trees or animals were harmed in the
sending of this contaminant free message We do concede
that a signicant number of electrons may have been
inconvenienced.

I gave you the link on my reply.
Priss
"MLF" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
what are you testing for? aquarium pharm. got pretty cheap and
easy tests. Ingrid


Actually, I was hoping for two answers. First I exected people to
chime in on what thay thought needed to be tested and second that
folks would suggest a reasonably-priced kit that would do it.

I'll check aquarium pharm and see what they have. Do you have a
link?


Thanks,
Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================== ===========

wrote in message
...
what are you testing for? aquarium pharm. got pretty cheap and
easy tests. Ingrid


Actually, I was hoping for two answers. First I exected people to
chime in on what thay thought needed to be tested and second that
folks would suggest a reasonably-priced kit that would do it.

I'll check aquarium pharm and see what they have. Do you have a
link?


Thanks,
Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================== ===========

I respectfully beg to differ.

On Mon, 07 Apr 2003 00:33:39 -0400, KenCo wrote:

essential:
any 2 part or dry tab Ammonia kit.

True, but

almost all other tests are basicly useless:

False, because....

PH, 99.9% of fish adapt w/ no probs..

Yes, in a stable pond, but we all know testing one day at the same time
doesn't always tell the whole story. Therefore....

NitrIte, good only in new setup to tell you
when its spiking. BUT! its normal to spike LOL

NitrAte, plants lower it, kit useless unless
you have nitrAte sensitive fish (NOT).

DH/KH etc, unless its Discus, really not needed.

I consider all of these important until one knows their pond, incoming
water and rainfall conditions. You WILL need to have the tests and know how
to use them if you ever have sick fish or pond problems. Those of us who
have graduated from the KHA program (see akca.org website) are stressing
that you are NOT keeping fish, you are keeping water quality! Without the
tests, how will you ever know? Excellent water quality equals healthy fish,
assuming one practices quarantine methods. ~ jan

See my ponds and filter designs:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


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"~ jan" wrote in message
...
I respectfully beg to differ.
snip

The thread on to test or not to test happens a lot on
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. It seems the two schools of thought bang heads
quite often. I can say from my experience with a 55 gallon
aquarium...testing is not needed. When I first started I did constant water
changes, tests, etc. Fish loses were not uncommon for me, even though my
water was perfect.

When I finally just left the tank alone, and let it run, things got better.
My filters stayed super clean, my fish were happy. Then I got feeling guilty
that I was doing them harm, because of one of these threads. I started
testing, water changes, siphoning the substrate, etc. I lost three fish in a
month and a half, including my gar (still very upset/****ed about that).

So now I am back to...leave it alone. Top off water when needed. Change
filters when they are getting gross looking. Occasionally siphon the
substrate when it looks gross, if it ever does. Fish is again crystal clear,
and fish are happy.

Disclaimer: This post is not a scientific analysis. Just my 2 cents.

BV.

Well, BV .. I happen to agree with you. The only time I "mess"
with the pond water is when I flood the lotus bog ... about every
2 or 3 weeks. That water is drained from the bottom of the
main pond - then I add tap water with appropriate amount
of AmQuel to top it off.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"BenignVanilla" m wrote in
message ...
"~ jan" wrote in message
...
I respectfully beg to differ.
snip

The thread on to test or not to test happens a lot on
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. It seems the two schools of thought bang
heads
quite often. I can say from my experience with a 55 gallon
aquarium...testing is not needed. When I first started I did constant
water
changes, tests, etc. Fish loses were not uncommon for me, even though my
water was perfect.

When I finally just left the tank alone, and let it run, things got
better.
My filters stayed super clean, my fish were happy. Then I got feeling
guilty
that I was doing them harm, because of one of these threads. I started
testing, water changes, siphoning the substrate, etc. I lost three fish in
a
month and a half, including my gar (still very upset/****ed about that).

So now I am back to...leave it alone. Top off water when needed. Change
filters when they are getting gross looking. Occasionally siphon the
substrate when it looks gross, if it ever does. Fish is again crystal
clear,
and fish are happy.

Disclaimer: This post is not a scientific analysis. Just my 2 cents.

BV.

I think my point got misconstrued. I don't run around testing my aquariums
and ponds constantly either, with experience one can "read the fish".

What I am stressing is, newbies should learn how test, and why to test. As
long as everything is fine, you can smile, but the minute a fish looks off,
you'd better be thinking check your water quality before posting in
rec.ponds, because that's exactly what many of us will tell you to do
anyway. ~ jan


On Mon, 14 Apr 2003 19:30:56 GMT, "Nedra" wrote:

Well, BV .. I happen to agree with you. The only time I "mess"
with the pond water is when I flood the lotus bog ... about every
2 or 3 weeks. That water is drained from the bottom of the
main pond - then I add tap water with appropriate amount
of AmQuel to top it off.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"BenignVanilla" m wrote in
message ...
"~ jan" wrote in message
...
I respectfully beg to differ.
snip

The thread on to test or not to test happens a lot on
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. It seems the two schools of thought bang
heads
quite often. I can say from my experience with a 55 gallon
aquarium...testing is not needed. When I first started I did constant
water
changes, tests, etc. Fish loses were not uncommon for me, even though my
water was perfect.

When I finally just left the tank alone, and let it run, things got
better.
My filters stayed super clean, my fish were happy. Then I got feeling
guilty
that I was doing them harm, because of one of these threads. I started
testing, water changes, siphoning the substrate, etc. I lost three fish in
a
month and a half, including my gar (still very upset/****ed about that).

So now I am back to...leave it alone. Top off water when needed. Change
filters when they are getting gross looking. Occasionally siphon the
substrate when it looks gross, if it ever does. Fish is again crystal
clear,
and fish are happy.

Disclaimer: This post is not a scientific analysis. Just my 2 cents.

BV.






See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----

"~ jan" wrote in message
...
I think my point got misconstrued. I don't run around testing my aquariums
and ponds constantly either, with experience one can "read the fish".

What I am stressing is, newbies should learn how test, and why to test. As
long as everything is fine, you can smile, but the minute a fish looks
off,
you'd better be thinking check your water quality before posting in
rec.ponds, because that's exactly what many of us will tell you to do
anyway. ~ jan

Amen to that. I agree.

BV.

I guess I'm an exception. I test(ed) regularly for ammonia, nitrIte,
nitrAte, pH and KH. By "regularly", I mean daily to once-a-week (with water
changes). Now, I have an Ammonia Alert card in the skimmer box (which is
even more sensitive than my test kit), so all I have to do is lift the lid
to see if the ammonia level is OK; nitrIte is OK if I don't have ammonia,
and I use Koi Clay, so I know that any nitrIte I might have is absorbed
anyway; nitrAte levels are ~ 10, so that's OK, and my pH stays rock solid if
my KH is kept at 12 drops (or 215 or so). Unless I have heavy rains, I can
check the KH once a week and adjust as necessary. If we get rain, the KH is
high enough to keep me from too much of a fluctuation, let alone a crash,
and I can check it at my leisure to make adjustments without worrying. But
I didn't learn this about my particular pond and its peculiarities until I
had a year of regular testing under my belt. I think you need to obcess
about your pond the first year: then you know its ins/outs, and you can
relax a bit.

Lee



"MLF" wrote in message
...
Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================== ===========

On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 08:58:19 -0500, "MLF"
wrote:

Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================= ============

On Sat, 28 Jun 2003 17:06:08 GMT, (Pondguy) wrote:

On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 08:58:19 -0500, "MLF"
wrote:

Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================ =============

On Sat, 28 Jun 2003 17:21:10 GMT, (Pondguy) wrote:

On Sat, 28 Jun 2003 17:06:08 GMT, (Pondguy) wrote:

On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 08:58:19 -0500, "MLF"
wrote:

Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
=============================================== ==============

Pondguy wrote:
On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 08:58:19 -0500, "MLF"
wrote:


Can anyone suggest a water test kit that won't require me to get a
second mortgage?

Michael Fermanis
New Orleans, Louisiana USA (Remove the RICE to reply)
================================================ =============



Lowe's has a strip test kit for around $15.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/