NT Labs Aquarium Lab Multi Test Kit, All-in-one Water Testing Kit, Tests for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, General Hardness (GH) & Carbonate Hardness (KH), Accurate Results (Up to 200 Tests)

Great test kit. Easy to use. Good value

As a chemist, I used to take samples from products to test in the same way that this kit does, so I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it is! True, the test tubes are plastic rather than glass, but that makes it easier to screw on caps rather than push in plugs. The chemical bottles are simple to use as the liquid only comes out one drop at a time to make measuring very easy. Only real criticism is the ‘stand’ for the test tubes is a bit flimsy and doesn’t stand the tubes up straight. The purchase of a solid test tube stand will alleviate this problem; I can purchase one quite easily, given my career, but not sure how easy it will be for others

Speedy delivery as always. Great value for money as this functional test kit will last for a long time. Easy to set up and read and appears to be accurate. Highlighted some water issues for me.

This is a good kit, especially for setting up a new aquarium, like the fact that it has the ammonia test which is often sold separately. The only criticism would be that it would have been nice if the cardboard used was a little more sturdy. Thé kit is set up to be used as a base, but it’s a little flimsy.

If you see NT labs on the label of something, you just know its going to be a good product. I have now used several products from these guys and they have never let me down. I had my own aquatest kit for koi and was reluctant to get any other brand of test kit for my fish tanks because you tend to stick with what you know. But honestly after using this test kit I'm ready to throw away my other one because this one is just better. It uses the same colour scheme as my old one which is nice because the API one confuses the life out of me. This is so easy to use, you can label your tubes with stickers it comes with, everything is already laid out for you, you almost don't need instructions, the tubes have a secure lid, the box has little holders for them too. its very simple but oh my god is it wonderful and user friendly. The ONLY down side is the colour chart at the back being quite small, and nitrites and nitrates in particular have such slight shade differences with the picture is so small sometimes its hard to tell which shade your test is showing. Having experience i know myself what I'm looking at and know nitrites should not be showing any pink whatsoever, nitrates however, with the tiny difference in shade i can never tell if its 20ppm or 40ppm (i have a heavily planted tank so knowing this is important)

Much better value, test for test, than using strips and far more accurate too. Instructions in pictorial form on the back of the box are very simple to follow. Check the words in the leaflet first though, just to get the full SP, then use the pictures. The composition of the kit has obviously changed over the last year. Some reviewers in January 2016 complain about the Nitrate test requiring a tablet to be dissolved. Not so with the latest kit (purchased Dec 16). For Nitrate there are 2 liquid reagents. True, the first one needs to be carefully shaken up every time as it consists of sediment in the liquid (pre-dissolved tablet?) which needs to be completely dispersed. the instructions say shake for 30 seconds but I find this sometimes isn't enough. Thoughtfully, that reagent comes in a clear bottle (all the others are opaque to protect them from light) so it's easy to see when you've got all the sludge off the bottom of the bottle. Another nice touch with the kit I got, inside the sealed packaging was a 5ml syringe. It was packed loose and there's no slot for it in the box, so NT Labs, or Aquatic Discount, have taken notice of complaints about other kits not having syringes in them and bunged one in here. Watch out for later versions of the kit and I expect you'll find one included and in it's own place in the box. Initially the kit is far cheaper than buying individual test kits although over time you're likely going to run out of one reagent before others so will end up having to buy replacements separately, For example, the hardness tests (KH and GH) require adding as many drops to cause the colour to change. The harder your water, the more reagent you'll have to use. However, you shouldn't need to test for hardness every time you test the other parameters. The packaging says 200 tests, but this is a claim about the total number of tests and must make an assumption of the amount of KH and GH reagents you need. Some other reviewers have complained about the lack of granularity in the pH test (no decimal place). This is true, but apart from the NO2 test, where you're looking for colourless result, I've never found a truly exact match to the charts. My pH comes out at a little lighter than yellow and less green than 8, so 7.5 is good enough. Anyway, with pH, you should be looking for consistency rather than anything, unless you are into artificially changing the pH to maintain a level that isn't in the tap water but is essential for the breed of fish you're keeping. My NH3 result is a much lighter straw colour than the yellow on the chart, so I'm OK with that. For NO3, my off-the-tap reading is usually darker than 40. I'm never likely to get it down to zero (colourless) in the tank as I have no live plants. With the bio-filter addressing some NO3 absorption, I get a result after a 20% water change darker than 20 but lighter than 40 and before the weekly change, it's darker than 10 and lighter than 20. Good enough for me. If you ask your local shop to test your parameters, most don't bother with NO3 at all as it is what it is and they use the same supply as you get at home and do nothing about it. So, the fish you get from them have acclimatised at whatever the local NO2 is. Just one fairly minor niggle. For the most common tests, NH3, NO2, NO3 & pH, the tests require 5 drops of the various reagents EXCEPT for NO3 which requires 6 from both bottles. IMO the concentration of both theses reagents could be altered such that they too require 5 drops. You just need to be careful and concentrate on what you're doing.

Accurate and easy to use, very easy in fact, and also includes the measurement for how much of each chemical/ion is present, on the chart included in the pack.

Was time to upgrade my tank water monitoring so went for this. High lighted i had a slight issue with levels.. I acted accordingly and now all parameters are ideal! Very handy and a must have for keeping fish. Test strips are rubbish. Use one of these!