Using Test Kit on Aquarium?

[waterbear]

I have kept aquariums for about42 years now (salt water for about 30!) some of the tests are exactly the same...CH, ALK, chlorine testing of fill water (to reach breakpoint in your fill water to break up chloramines the water companies put in before you kill the chlorine with sodium thiosulfate). The Phenol Red pH indicator is fine for salt water but for fresh you might need either bromothymol blue or clorophenol red, depends on what pH range you need to test for. Obviously, the CYA test is of no use. You still need other tests for an aquarium...ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are basic and you might need copper if you treat with it; and phosphate, boron, magnesium, strontium, and a few others for a reef aquarium. Everything you have read or will read about test strips on here for pools goes triple for aquariums....don't trust the life of your livestock to them!
BTW, I use an aqaurium test kit to test my pool for phosphates and it is more accurate than the phosphate test kit at the pool store I work at! (It uses a comparator block instead of a paper chart)