Nitrate pro, Phosphate Pro and Algae Control are new test kits from Red Sea which are aiming to spice up your aquarium chemistry set. Nitrate Pro does 100 test in the range of 0.06 to 15 ppm with an accuracy of 0.06ppm, Phosphate Pro does 100 tests in the range of 0.01 to 1.6ppm and an accuracy of 0.014ppm and Algae Control is a combination pack of both tests. Both Nitrate Pro and Phosphate Pro are specially tuned to measure in the lower end of the prescribed range for reef aquarium water but we have to be honest for a second. Red Sea Fish Pharm’s track record with aquarium water test kit has left something to be desired, like accuracy, precision and ease of use. The old line of Red Sea test kits felt cheap and those plastic vials always stained and became badly opaque with extended use. However, like the entire Red Sea line of products, we’re really feeling a lot more attention being paid to details, the kind of details that power users will notice and take advantage of. One of those such details is the color comparator for about as close as you’re gonna get to a biological analog to a colorimeter. Red Sea’s Nitrate Pro, Phosphate Pro and Algae Control test kits all ship with one as well as high clarity glass vials. With Elos releasing their high end Professional Phosphate test kit, and Hanna’s low range and ultra low range hand held colorimeters, aquarists looking to commit to a long term relationship with new phosphate testing options are going to have some deep soul searching regarding the performance, ease of use and long term cost of using any one of these systems.
