Test Strip v. FasTest

[Phyl]

I have a bottle of strips that I like to do "in between" the FasTest tests (I like frequent reassurances that everything is ok). I know the strips aren't very accurate, but I figure in a pinch it is better than not doing a test at all (?).

I've been watching my nitrAte climb over the last week or so from under 10 to around 30 (ish) on the test strips so I decided to do a baseline FasTest before my water change to find out what the number really was only to get a reading of dead zero on my FasTest. While I'm thrilled by this... does it sound likely? Are the strips likely to show a false positive result?

 

[loganj]

Yes, IMO, the strips are almost useless. I don't trust them. The only two test kits that I really trust are Seachem or Salifert. The Seachem kits come with calibration solutions so you can check their accuracy against a known value any time you want to. JMHO.