setting up a new tank

I'm pretty sure the test kits are not the same and this is why they are marked as Freshwater and Saltwater. If you are going to setup a freshwater planted tank I would suggest you use lighting and equipment for freshwater. For my lighting I use an AquaticLife T5HO Dual Lamp fixture. (Aquarium Lighting T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture: AquaticLife T5 HO Dual Lamp Light Fixtures) I have 6700K and 10,000K bulbs in it. I believe it comes with a 6000K and a Roseate bulb. I recommend changing them. 6500K seems to be the sweet spot for photosynthesis. I use the 10,000K to offset the slight blue color from the 6700K. I dose my tank daily with FlorinMulti and Seachem Flourish Excel. FlorinMulti is usually found at specialty stores and it seems that PetSmart has stopped selling Seachem in favor of National Geographic. A lot of people have had success with Seachem Flourish instead of FlorinMulti. I think either way you can't go wrong. Also, depending on your plant's requirements you might need Seachem Flourish Trace. I have Seachem Dark Flourite gravel. Flourite is specifically designed to be a plant substrate. It comes in 3 colors Dark (Brown), Black and Red (looks like crushed bricks). I also use Seachem Flourish Root Tabs in my gravel for fertilizing my root plants. My stem plants have begun to grow roots so I am sure they benefit from the root tabs as well. I have my lights on a timer ($6 from Target) for 11 hours a day. I also prefer AquaClear filters. They are a little more flexible when it comes to media. Avoid activated carbon as it will suck up the nutrients from fertilizers. Of course all of this is what I do. Everyone does it differently. Just make sure you research the lighting and nutrient requirements of the plants you want to keep.