Tetra says NO2, AP says NO3...who is right? Tests....

[Guest]

I have two test kits....


My tetra laborette says the test with the thick yellow liquid, followed by the clear liquid is for NITRITES.

Aquarium Pharm says the same thick yellow liquid followed by the clear is NO3, NITRATES.

Aquarium Pharms' NO2 test is a thick blue liquid alone.

I don't have a tetra lab blue or nitrate kit.


Clear up my confusion?

Thanks
P

 

[JustOneMore20]

NO2 is nitrites and NO3 is nitrates. Is that what you are confused about?

I have the AP test and my nitrate test is yellow then clear and the nitrite test is blue.

I don't understand what you are asking....sorry!

 

[Guest]

what i am confused about is that Tetra's NO2 test is the same and AP's NO3 test.


I am wondering if one of them is wrong in their labeling.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Just because they are the same colors doesn't mean the are the same tests, or that they are labelled wrong.

I have 2 different brands of KH/GH tests. On my AP tests, the GH turns orange and the KH turns blue. On my Hagen test the KH turns yellow and the GH turns blue.

 

[Guest]

i used both tests on the same tanks and got identical readings. =/

 

[Guest]

Different products use 1 some use 2+ liquids to check the same reading.

They are completely unrelated. (In theory)

Company A may have a red liquid to test for NO2
Company B may have a blue liquid to test for NO3
Company c may have 3 liquids to test for 1 reading like Red Sea opp tp AP

Is this what you are asking?

If not, feel free to ask again, we will narrow it down. PM me if you want to

 

[Guest]

well, the tetra lab NO2 test has identical looking components, with identical instructions and identical results as the NO3 test by AP.


It is very confusing

 

[SCFatz]

Try this peanut....

Test for the 3 biggies with each kit....watching the instructions closely and following em a best you can.

Just one kit ...run all 3.

Then the other...all 3 again.

Report results for further discussion lol.....I'm interested.

 

[Guest]

i don't have a tetra no3 kit. i;ll go pick one up tomorrow.

 

[SCFatz]

i don't have a tetra no3 kit. i;ll go pick one up tomorrow.

That will be most telling I'll bet.

 

[Reechard]

Just do what the tetra kit calls NO2 and what the AP calls NO2 and see if the results are the same. If they are not then see if the AP NO3 kit matches the tetra NO2 kit result. If they do, then the tetra NO2 kit is labeled wrong. If they do not then see if the AP NO2 matches the tetra NO3. If they do, then AP is the liar. Is it obvious I am a chemist yet?

As a side note, I use AP kits and from what you described it sounds like the tetra kit might be wrong if anything. But they could use different reagents, as Mike469 pointed out. But the flowchart above should work. The NO2 test with the blue liquid is pretty realible and I have seen it in other brands as well, it gives a nice LOD/LOQ. You could also figure it out based on the fact that you would get a higher NO3 reading than NO2 in a cycled tank. So if the tetra NO2 kit says 10 ppm you know they are full of it since all your fish would be dead but can easily live in 10 ppm NO3. Make any sense? lol

 

[JustOneMore20]

Right, you shouldn't have any nitrIte, NO2, in a cycled tank, so if your results match, then they should both be 0 (comparing two tests, NO3 and NO2 that look the same).

So if the tetra NO2 kit says 10 ppm you know they are full of it since all your fish would be dead but can easily live in 10 ppm NO3

I agree...with 10ppm of nitrIte, the fish shouldn't be alive....or would atleast look like they were dying.

I am also interested in seeing the results.