Dodgy Test Results

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

my api master kit seems to be very inacurate

im getting 0 for nirite and nitrate but ammonia is showing 1.0

ive also got a tetra ammonia liquid kit it used 3 bottles instead of 2 (but thats neither here nor there) thats showing me to have sort of inbetween zero and 0.25

now the api test kit the second bottle for ammonia gives off bigger drops than the 1st bottle and would surley explain why everything else went to zero but not ammonia because the test is basically void?

 

[flash22]

me and many others on here use the Api kits never had any problems tbh

What i suggest you do is clean or even sterilise your test tubes , also do a full test on you tap water it should be 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and any amount of nitrate (depending on the area you live in)

ammonia with no nitrite or nitrate would say to me you filter hasnt cycled or has gone in to a mini cycle

ps the api bottles have meter'd tips (hole in the end is a set size) the second bottle doesnt give a bigger drop it just flows faster imo

 

[DJ ArKaDaRkA]

me and many others on here use the Api kits never had any problems tbh

What i suggest you do is clean or even sterilise your test tubes , also do a full test on you tap water it should be 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and any amount of nitrate (depending on the area you live in)

ammonia with no nitrite or nitrate would say to me you filter hasnt cycled or has gone in to a mini cycle

ps the api bottles have meter'd tips (hole in the end is a set size) the second bottle doesnt give a bigger drop it just flows faster imo

what should i use to sterilise?

i do wash them really well in hot then cold water but why would the tetra test show things normal

im just going to have to keep up waterchanges if a minicycle had taken shape

 

[JustKia]

While my tank was cycling I had discrepancies between the tetra tests and the API tests for ammonia.
I can't remember my exact results now, but it really bugged me at the time that I had these two well known brands giving me different results.

Test your tap water (dechlored) with both and see if you get identical readings on that.
I kind of wondered (but gave up because my tank finished cycling) if one test only showed "free" ammonia and the other showed "total" ammonia.
I used ammo-lock, which converts ammonia to the less toxic ammonium. I'm sure one of those test (API?) actually shows positive for ammonia if there is any ammonium present too, whereas the other (tetra) doesn't, ie it only picks up the free ammonia.

 

[waterdrop]

me and many others on here use the Api kits never had any problems tbh

What i suggest you do is clean or even sterilise your test tubes , also do a full test on you tap water it should be 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and any amount of nitrate (depending on the area you live in)

ammonia with no nitrite or nitrate would say to me you filter hasnt cycled or has gone in to a mini cycle

ps the api bottles have meter'd tips (hole in the end is a set size) the second bottle doesnt give a bigger drop it just flows faster imo

yes, agree - the tips are metered and two bottles contain different reagents which have different drop forming characteristics - the drops between the two have always looked very different on mine too and I've always felt this is normal

~~waterdrop~~