A few weeks ago I received a kit for having water tested by AquariumWaterTesting.com. You pay a basic flat fee and they send you this little kit with 2 sample containers and a pre-paid USPS Priority Mail Package. Just fill the samples, and send them in when you’re ready. According to their website, you should have the results via email within a couple days of their receipt. Each sample is tested for 14 parameters.
We use spectrophotometry, auto-titration, and specialized ion specific probes to deliver a level of accuracy 100 to 1000 times greater than that of home testing procedures. A panel is our series of 14 tests run on a single water sample submission.
Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Phosphate Silica Alkalinity Calcium Potassium Magnesium Strontium Molybdenum Iodine Copper Boron
Now I’ve read quite a few threads on forums re: AWT’s results. Some seem to be skeptical at best. I haven’t had time to sit down and test my tank lately, so the plan is to do a small water change on Wed., then sit down Sunday evening, run a battery of tests using everything I got, and mailing in samples of the same water to AWT. I’ll post the results once I receive them, and I am kind of anxious to see what will happen.
In other news, I noticed that a setting was not allowing for strangers to comment, spam filters and whatnot. So if you tried in the past and it wouldn’t let you, please try again! For better or for worse, speak your mind – you won’t offend anyone at StonyReef.com 
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jeffry r. johnston
2 years ago
Looking forward to learning how your results compare to AWT’s. Make sure you tell us what your are using to test at home! Good post, btw–I hadn’t heard of AWT–although I’m sure our customer service department has. I should bug ‘em to see if they know anything or have any experience with the company.
admin
2 years ago
At home, I currently use / trust the following, because all match up with each other. I’ll do 3 tests of each parameter with each kit I have.
I don’t test for anything else, but have been considering buying a K (potassium) test kit from Fauna Marin. So, I may or may not, pending AWT’s results….
e&f
2 years ago
awt, is owned by aqua medic. they seem to be ok, fwiw, they revelead their procedures will be audited…silca, po4, and boron have been questioned most.
admin
2 years ago
Yeah, I ordered a flow meter from Ebay a couple weeks back and it was drop shipped by AquaMedic. Enclosed in the package was a full page ad for AWT… bearing the same address ad the return address on the package.
And as for PO4 being one of the parameters most questioned, that’s too bad. That’s one of the parameters I’m most interested in, since I trust my DD Merck kit and its the only one I don’t have a couple kits for to test against. Boron would be interested to know, but I don’t really care about silica – I use silica buster DI cartridges and see nothing in the tank that would indicate an issue with it.
jnarowe
2 years ago
I just used AWT to test both my tank water and my RO/DI and the results were a little strange. They showed PO4 of .03 in both the reef and the purified water! Here they are to compare…
Reef: Water Test Summary
Ammonia (NH3-4) ……………………Good ………………………………….. 0.008
Nitrite (NO2)…………………………..Good ………………………………….. 0.003
Nitrate (NO3)………………………….Good ………………………………………0.2
Phosphate (PO4) ……………………..Good ……………………………………. 0.03
Silica (SiO2-3) ………………………..Good ………………………………………0.5
Potassium (K) ………………………….Low……………………………………… 278
Calcium (Ca)…………………………..Good …………………………………….. 380
Boron (B) ………………………………Good ………………………………………3.9
Molybdenum (Mo)……………………. High……………………………………….0.2
Strontium (Sr) ………………………..Good ……………………………………. 10.2
Magnesium (Mg) ……………………..Good …………………………………… 1294
Iodine (I¯)……………………………..Good ……………………………………. 0.03
Copper (Cu ) ……………………….Good ……………………………………. 0.01
Alkalinity (meq/L)……………………..Low…………………………………….. 2.04
RO/DI: Water Test Summary
Ammonia (NH3-4) ……………………Good ………………………………….. 0.004
Nitrite (NO2)…………………………..Good ………………………………….. 0.002
Nitrate (NO3)………………………….Good ………………………………………0.3
Phosphate (PO4) ……………………..Good ……………………………………. 0.03
Silica (SiO2-3) ………………………..Good ………………………………………0.5
Potassium (K) ………………………….Low………………………………………….0
Calcium (Ca)……………………………Low………………………………………….0
Boron (B) ……………………………….Low……………………………………….1.6
Molybdenum (Mo)…………………….Good ………………………………………0.0
Strontium (Sr) …………………………Low……………………………………….0.0
Magnesium (Mg) ………………………Low……………………………………… 139
Iodine (I¯)………………………………Low…………………………………….. 0.02
Copper (Cu ) ……………………….Good ……………………………………. 0.00
Alkalinity (meq/L)……………………..Low…………………………………….. 0.41
Alk was a known out-of-norm because of an equipment issue at the time I took the samples. Ca and alk both read low compared to my Salifert and SeaChem tests.
jnarowe
2 years ago
BTW,
My reef tests showed:
Ammonia: 0 ppm API
Nitrite: 0 ppm SeaChem
Nitrate: 0 ppm Seachem
Phosphate: 0 ppm Merck
Silica: 0 ppm Red Sea
Ca: 420 ppm Seachem
Mg: 1450 ppm Salifert
Copper: 0 ppm Red Sea
Alkalinity: 6.7 dKh Salifert
admin
2 years ago
Interesting…. hmmm. thanks for the post jnarowe! I also use the Merck for PO4, funny they’d show that same amount in the purified water too… If I recall, the Hanna photometer is accurate /- 0.04? I wonder if that’s what they’re using? I’ll have to go check the website out. If it is what they’re using, then it’s nothing more than high end tests available to any hobbyist really?
e&f
2 years ago
jnarowe, very interesting. L, when do you get your results?
admin
2 years ago
I haven’t yet sent in the samples. Been super busy and haven’t had time to sit down and test everything. Hoping to do that Sunday, mail out Monday…
admin
2 years ago
To anyone hasn’t seen yet, AWT tested a whole bunch of synthetic salt mixes:
http://stonyreef.com/blog/2008/awts-synthetic-salt-analysis/
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