Help with API Master Test Kit. part 1

VladVenger

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I have a question about how best to use it.
When you have let the colour develop and you compare it with the colour chart how do you do it?
Do you press the test tube against the white part so it touches, or hold it a few mm back so light can get behind too?
If I press it against the chart so there is contact the colour is darker than if i hold it very close but not touching. Due to this I do not know what reading to take it's either 30ppm nitrate or 40ppm (tap water) or 0.25ppm ammonia or 0.50ppm.
Please help.
 
I personally hold it against the white part of the card and try to do it in decent lighting ie. in front of a window.

I will admit, they are kinda hard to read at the best of times, so it's not just you.

Maybe post a pic and we can have a go at reading it?
 
What I usually do is, I have a diy test tube rack and have my test result card near the vials, either behind or below the test tubes, the card not touching the vials

Testing API Kit.jpg
Test results here for ammonia and nitrite, at zero, perfect!

And I also always read the test results in the kitchen under the kitchen unit lights and the rack placed by a white background so that way I always have a consistant datum base to work from and the reading will not vary simply because of fluctuating natural daylight, it could be cloudy, raining outside etc so therefore the vials would appear darker than actually is.
 
A distance away, am not sure what that means tbh.

If you mean the colour card being a distance away, no, that can be anywhere where its easiest for you to read against the test vials.

But for every reading, using the same methods and with good lighting or the same light conditions every time, that way it will help give more consistent test readings.

Btw the white background is just there which helps me to read the coulour of the test results in the test tubes easier, so I do that for me, you don't have to if you prefer.

Was just giving you my methods of getting consistent test readings :)
 
I would recommend only daylight, next to a window receiving daylight that is unimpeded (meaning, not under a thick bush or something but open to the sky), and never in direct sunlight.

All light is composed of colours, and using artificial light can result in faulty readings.
 
That's fine if you have consistent weather i.e sunny and bright on most days then yes, I would agree.

But where I am, in the U.K. The natural sunlight can fluctuate from being fairly bright to being overcast darkly in a short space of time so the readings then therefore be very difficult to determine.

Also the time of day can affect the natural sunlight, obviously if you're doing a test in the evening when it's dark, kind of hard to have natural daylight to see your test results by.

So having a more constant method such as what I normally do as mentioned in my earlier post, then I have the peace of mind that I can rely on my test readings under these conditions.

There are pros and cons with both methods but as long as you can sort of accurately read your test results, that's the main thing.

Really, my number one method in telling me there's something amiss with the tank water would be watching behaviour of my red cherry or amano shrimps and live stocking but it's the shrimps I watch more as they tend to be more sensitive to water parameters than most species of fish (of course there being exceptions with some fish species).
 
I forgot about time of day...tests should always (except obviously in an emergency) be done at roughly the same time of day. This is especially important with pH, which has a normal diurnal fluctuation that can make it tricky to assess changes from day to day.

I have never had issues with cloudy vs bright days. I use the back door which is off my fish room, and open the door and stand in the opening. Direct sun is never present at this spot as there are two enormous Sitka Spruce trees in the back garden.

If one is forced into using artificial light, then somehow you should get an accurate test done (under daylight) to compare with the results under the light. That way you will know how much variation to factor in. I suppose one could have artificial light that is identical to daylight; halogen lighting seems the closest I've found. Fluorescent is no good, nor is LED.
 

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