The JBL TestLab Marin is a full fledged test kit for saltwater use which already included pH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Copper, Calcium, Magnesium, Silicate, Phosphate and now also includes Oxygen. The updated TestLab Marin added oxygen to the mix because JBL was apparently getting a lot of requests from their (european) customers suing the kit on their saltwater tanks.
In our college days, while researching the biology and ecology of corals on natural reefs, almost all measures of coral health and performance was done using oxygen production and consumption. It therefore struck us when we saw JBL’s updated TestLab Marin kit was upgrade solely with the ability to test O2. As ubiquitous as oxygen testing is in various fisheries, lake, pond and aquaculture scenarios it’s nearly absent in our saltwater aquarium world, but it’s crucial.
Testing oxygen in saltwater is not that hard, there are even meters and other electronic devices for electronic testing at a glance but these are expensive. There’s even an Oxygen probe that’s been available for Neptune Systems Aquacontrollers and Apex systems for years, and it’s pricey but it’s not out of range compared to the rest of the super expensive gear we grow our corals with. Whether you test using droplets from the JBL TestLab Marin or a super complicated electronic device, we’ll learn a lot from our reefs once we get a handle on how they breathe and produce oxygen.
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