LFS water test and my test = controversy

I had a clown loach die after 2 days so i took it back to the [acronym:dda6555dd9="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:dda6555dd9] with a water sample. They tested my water and here's what they got
p.H 6.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.25

well they gave me my refund and said that amount of nitrite wouldn't kill my fish. I had just tested my water last weekend and hadn't detected any problems. I just came home and decided to test again. This is what i got:

p.H 7.6
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40

ok, why are the two tests so different? Is it possible he got the Ammonia and Nitrite mixed up??? I know i didn't. And why are the two pH tests on completely different ends of the scale??? Ive always trusted my tests, and ive compared them to the strip test and always got similar results. Of course im doing a water change to take care of the slight ammonia problem ( i think i may have overfed and ive added new fish which may have something to do with it) But anyway.. why are they so different???

I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals [acronym:dda6555dd9="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:dda6555dd9] master kit by the way, and also they used some black colored bottles with Very old looking color charts (they let me see the results)

[Jchillin]

Yeah, you're right about being concerned about the differences in the water test results. I would think that your kit is fairly new, so it wouldn't be that. I would say the [acronym:ea60791677="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:ea60791677] may be wrong. It is also possible that they used a low-range [acronym:ea60791677="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:ea60791677] test to get that result or it's just as bad as the one for the others.

Weird to say the least.

yeah, maybe the guy used the low range test kit bottle and held it up to the wrong chart, that makes sense for the pH difference... still wondering about the Ammonia/Nitrite Mix up, because the color matche don the nitrite color chart, it was slightly pink. and the ammonia one was clear. Could be maybe they have old test kits.. mine is only 3 months old.

well, i just changed 50% of my water and did another test. I got
Ammonia between 0 and .25 [acronym:c39922c4c1="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:c39922c4c1] (not zero, not quite .25)
Nitrite 0 [acronym:c39922c4c1="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:c39922c4c1]
Nitrate 20 [acronym:c39922c4c1="Parts per Million"]ppm[/acronym:c39922c4c1]
pH 7.6

[PBirdsong]

I got a faulty test from a [acronym:c0ebfa6082="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:c0ebfa6082] one time and told them it was wrong. (I was feeling bold). Turns out his test tube needed to be cleaned out. Afterward his test matched my personal one.

[aqh88]

If the [acronym:45a30a391a="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:45a30a391a] was using small round black bottles then it was probably a test kit from Tetra. I've found most of their tests to be inaccurate or hard to read. The only one I like is the nitrate test kit. It's also possible the test kit was old since most stores I know of don't seem to ever throw them out and they only use them for testing when someone brings in a water sample. If it were me I would trust the tests from a new aquarium pharm kit over the [acronym:45a30a391a="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:45a30a391a].

i just remembered, it said Hagen on the test color charts