RE: LaMotte Test Kits

["Schenck, Lyndle" <lschenck at dcscorp_com>]

> James,
> 
> I agree with you on this.  I'm usually a Caveat emptor kind of guy and I failed to do the research I normally would have done for something this pricey.  I had not ordered any LaMotte products in a while and simply bought the kits I needed straight from the catalog expecting the same perceived quality I was accustomed to.
> 
> I do not blame Pet Warehouse as they sold me what I ordered, Except that their catalog kit picture is representative of the old style packaging.  And I didn't return the kits as I needed to do the tests.
> 
> I have already considered making my own field-lab case.  There are several options.  My argument is that, while these are nice kits, they aren't rocket science, and the price includes the total package.  Actually the chemistry for these tests has been around for a LONG time so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that, except for a few cents for materials, it is ALL in the packaging.
> 
> Hache has some good kits, use the same chemistry, has their own slant on "comparators" and has fairly hefty price tags just like LaMotte.  The thing is, I've been using LaMotte for many years and I just like (or did) their kits.  Hache's digital tritrator system looks like it would be really neat but at $150 for the first test, I'll hold on to my LaMotte stuff for a while!
> 
> I know this is a plants forum but these tests are very important to our hobby and can represent a significant cost.  You and I have already made that investment but there are a lot of people that have to decide their level of pain.  Can you justify paying $60 for a LaMotte Nitrate kit  when Seachem sells one for $10 and Tetra has one for $8?  How do these (and other) kits compare for precision and accuracy and how much is necessary?
> 
	FWIW I have LaMotte Alkalinity, Ca Hardness, Total hardness, Iron, Phosphate, Nitrate, and pH kits.  

	Lyndle Schenck

> -------------------------------
> Lyndle has expressed his opinion about LaMotte test kits:
> "However these things cost over $25 each.  It will be a VERY long time
> before I buy another LaMotte kit considering the quality has taken such a
> decline."
> 
> From what you have said, it appears that you don't like the new packaging.
> The actual test kit remains the same, and they are still as accurate and
> economical (over the long term, considering that you can get reagent refills
> for a lot less than the price of the whole kit) as they have always been.
> 
> You have also expressed the fact that you (like a lot of folks) have some
> price sensitivity. Perhaps LaMotte decided to cut corners on the packaging
> rather than raise the price of their products because of that. All of my
> LaMotte test kits have the old style boxes with the nice inserts but what is
> really important to me are the results of the tests, not how luxe the box it
> came in is.
> 
> The LaMotte website has full information on all of the kits that they make
> and it ought to have been an easy thing to contact your retailer to confirm
> the exact model number they were selling before you bought. Pet Warehouse
> was always more than helpful to me in that regard - a quick email to their
> service department confirmed that I would be getting exactly the kits I
> wanted. When I wanted anything that was not in their regular product line,
> they were more than happy to place a special order for me. Pet Warehouse has
> done this for me a number of times over the years - with products from both
> LaMotte and Eheim. If they'd do it for me, they'd do it for anybody who
> cares to ask.
> 
> Additionally, if you have a number of test kits, and find all of the
> separate boxes a pain, have you ever considered getting either a toolbox
> (from a hardware store) or a tackle box (from a sporting goods store) and
> making a custom insert out of dense foam to hold ALL of the little bits and> 
> pieces securely and in logical order? That way, all of the reagents and test
> apparatus are in one fitted case that is a lot more convenient than a half
> dozen separate boxes. Dense foam can be cut and drilled with ordinary craft
> knives and drills, and you can design the interior of the box to meet your
> particular needs.
> 
> James Purchase
> Toronto
> 
>