Api Test Kits

[jrussuk]

Has anyone had trouble with API test kits? I done a nitrite test yesterday on my tank and it read that my nitrites was 1 !!!!!!! So after i panicked a bit i done a retest and then they were 0 again? This morning i done another nitrite test and the 1st one read .25 then the 2nd was 0. i use clean test tubes which are rinsed in hot water after every test. Does this sound like a dodgy test kit? My fish seem ok i belive that if you have high nitrites fishes gills become red and imflamed which is not happening. Any advice would be much appriciated

 

[Bignose]

How old is the test kit? Has it always been stored properly? Kits do go bad, they have an open lifetime of about a year, give or take. Have you tried testing your tap water itself, it is not impossible it has nitrites in it, either. You could always bring a sample to the LFS and ask them to do a test for you also.

 

[jrussuk]

test kit i bought 2 months ago and there was no nitrites in my tap water !!! have to take sample to lfs and see what happens at the weekend

 

[Miss Wiggle]

try another couple of tests to confirm the reading. what you have to remember is for the £15 or so that the API test kit costs you aren't going to get a full science lab in your house, the results are not always perfect and you do get the odd dodgy test. none of the test kits available to aquarists are perfectly scientifically accurate, you should take the readings more as an indication than a dead set factual reasding.

if i get a reading i'm surprised at i'll give the test tubes a real thorough clean and dry it out then try a couple more tests.

 

[jrussuk]

Thanks everyone ill try another test or two when i get home from work. As i said the fish seem fine but what should i look for in them if the nitrites are high. gasping for breath etc?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Thanks everyone ill try another test or two when i get home from work. As i said the fish seem fine but what should i look for in them if the nitrites are high. gasping for breath etc?

problem with poor water like high nitrites is that you may not see anything in the fish, however poor water quality can trigger any number of illness's so you need to pretty much look out for everything, gasping, loss of colour, white spots, lying on the bottom of the tank, white stringy poo etc etc etc, the list goes on!

 

[andywg]

strangely, most of my test kits that aren't from API suggest rinsing the test tube in water from the tank a few times before filling. Might be worth ensuring you do that.

(though my distrust of API kits is somewhat well documented on this board )

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ski was telling me when testing the marine tank to rinse the tube out in tank water a couple of times then make sure you take a sample from the middle of the tank as the water at the top will have slightly different chemistry due to the higher oxygen levels.

dunno if that's right (not that ski would be wrong, but it was a long time ago i might have got confused ) or if it applies to FW though

 

[celaeno]

have a look at the 'manufacturer information' section of my website for details about the expiration date of each kind of api liquid test kit.