Dodgy Ammonia Test Kit Warning

[Chris Wright]

Not sure if this is the right place in the Forum for this but here it is anyway.

Following advice on this forum I'm doing a fishless Cycle. I bought some 10% Ammonia solution and added 1ml to my 20 litre Fluval Edge Tank. No reading on the Interpet test kit. Thinking I had mistaken the dosing level needed to get 4-5ppm ammonia, I increased it (stupidly) up to 5ml and then 10ml. Still no reading on the kit. Today I worked out the correct dosing mathematically and it really should have been 1ml for 20 litres, so I did several part water changes over the course of the day to reduce the ammonia. I took the kit back to the shop and they tested my water both on the Interpet kit and their own Nutrafin kit. The Nutrafin kit showed the now diluted Ammonia to be around 4ppm but the Interpet kit was faulty as it didn't react at all. They obviously swapped the kit (for a Nutrafin one) foc.

So beware of test kit errors. If the test doesn't react at all, DON'T do what I did and believe the kit, check the maths FIRST!
20 litres / 1million, x 10(for the 10% ammonia solution), x 5 (to get 5ppm ammonia) = 1ml of solution for 20litres.
Chris

 

[fatheadminnow]

Was it s strip test kit? As strip test kits are no good an inaccurate!

-FHM

 

[Truck]

I bet it was an API...

 

[fatheadminnow]

I bet it was an API...

API strips or Liquid? If it was an API I hope it was not the liquid test kit!

-FHM

 

[Truck]

Liquid, I used 3 complete test kits to see how accurate they were, all of them were out, I've seen countless times on here where people have no luck with them.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Hmm... well that is a bummer if it is the API liquid test kit. Lets hope mine still is some what accurate!

-FHM

 

[Forestpisces]

My API kit has always done right by me, we use them at work to test water for customers too i find them the most reliable kit out there without spending a bunch on some seriousely sciency gear.

 

[Curiosity101]

It says in the post it was an Interpet Liquid Kit...

Seriously truck do you work for Salifert....

 

[kelly528]

Thats really interesting to hear... I thought I was going crazy!!! My mature tank has been acting suspiciously (smelly, cloudy water and 1 dead cory) but the API tests came out clean for ammonia, nitrite and even nitrate! Perhaps I should get my kit checked against a water test at my LFS. Thanks!

 

[Curiosity101]

I'd double check you're doing the nitrate test correctly before presuming the kit is fault.

Are you following the instructions to the letter? If you don't add the first drops and shake for 30secs THEN add the second set of drops and shake again for a few secs then chances are you'll get a false 0 reading.

 

[Truck]

It says in the post it was an Interpet Liquid Kit...

Seriously truck do you work for Salifert....

I missed that

No, they're really good though, seriously, once you've bought one you'll never use API again, or any other kit for that matter.

 

[Curiosity101]

I may slowly replace my API kit with it overtime as bottles run out.
But it is more expensive than API, and although I can't say I've done any proper tests to compare it I've not had any problems with my tank, so I just figured it's good enough. And anything is better than test strips...so yah know.

 

[Chris Wright]

It was an Interpet kit where you put 2 different pills into the test tube and crush them in your water. I think it was called an Easytest but not sure. The shop said it may have been hanging around the warehouse and passed its sell-by date, but whatever, it never went anything darker than pale yellow, which is what I also got from freshly filtered tapwater. The new Nurafin liquid kit that replaced it is great.
Chris

 

[AdAndrews]

all test kits are rubbish imo(thouse availible for the hobby) lets be honest, for £20, they arent gonna be much cop are they??

my eyes are my test kit, anything goes wrong, water change

 

[kelly528]

I'd double check you're doing the nitrate test correctly before presuming the kit is fault.

Are you following the instructions to the letter? If you don't add the first drops and shake for 30secs THEN add the second set of drops and shake again for a few secs then chances are you'll get a false 0 reading.

To the tee. I've been doing it for a while and always blanks. I shake the second bottle for like a full two minutes and make sure all the drops are even.