Confused with my API Test readings

[Fish24907]

So I just got my API Master Kit and did some tests.

Ammonia: 0 - .25 ppm (very close to the 0 color...so it might be zero)
Nitrite: 0 ppm (perfectly blue, which is the 0 color)
Nitrate: 0 - 5 ppm (very close to the 0 color...so it might be zero)


So, basically everything is 0 or very close to it.

This doesn't make sense to me though. If my Nitrosomonas bactera are converting Ammonia to Nitrite and then my Nitrobacter bacteria are converting Nitrite to Nitrate, then where is all the Nitrate going?

In other words, all three of these compounds are in the same pathway, so I don't see how all of them are basically at 0 ppm.

 

[Scouser]

Is the tank heavily planted?

The nitrate test is notoriously fickle, make sure you shake it like mad and then bang the bottom a few times to make sure it hasn't settled at the bottom.

 

[blert]

Is the tank heavily planted?

The nitrate test is notoriously fickle, make sure you shake it like mad and then bang the bottom a few times to make sure it hasn't settled at the bottom.

+1^
Shake the stuffing out of that #2 bottle for a good 30 seconds and give it a couple good whacks on the countertop for good measure.

 

[Fish24907]

Okay cool, thanks guys. Advice like this is why i post here. I'll do that and let you know what happens.

 

[Fish24907]

Alright so I re-did my nitrate test, making sure to shake hard.

The result was the same slightly damped yellow color. I also tested my tap water, and it was the same color though maybe a little darker (barely though, its hard to even tell).

So, I searched around here, and in one thread someone talks says he read that "if you have difficulty reading the results place the test tube over a white surface, remove the cap and look down into the top of the tube". Using that method, I get much more vivid colors and I can match my tank water to 10 ppm nitrates and my tap water to 5 ppm nitrates.


So, which way is best? Viewing the tube from the top (or bottom I suppose) or from the side? There's a big difference in results (try it for yourself, its pretty crazy).

 

[Scouser]

Alright so I re-did my nitrate test, making sure to shake hard.

The result was the same slightly damped yellow color. I also tested my tap water, and it was the same color though maybe a little darker (barely though, its hard to even tell).

So, I searched around here, and in one thread someone talks says he read that "if you have difficulty reading the results place the test tube over a white surface, remove the cap and look down into the top of the tube". Using that method, I get much more vivid colors and I can match my tank water to 10 ppm nitrates and my tap water to 5 ppm nitrates.

So, which way is best? Viewing the tube from the top (or bottom I suppose) or from the side? There's a big difference in results (try it for yourself, its pretty crazy).

I hold mine horizontally and look through it at my fridge which is white so I get very clear reading.

The higher result is the one I'd go with to be on the side of caution, better acting on a high ppm than a low one IMO

 

[Fish24907]

I hold mine horizontally and look through it at my fridge which is white so I get very clear reading.

The higher result is the one I'd go with to be on the side of caution, better acting on a high ppm than a low one IMO

Yeah, it would be safest to use the higher result and act on that.

And it makes more sense for my Nitrate level to be at 10 ppm instead of 0 ppm. So I think looking from the tube from the top/bottom is the best way for me.

For Nitrates, there is no problem anyway, since 10 ppm isn't too high anyway.

But I am curious to see if my Ammonia and Nitrite results change when I look at the tube directly from the top/bottom as opposed to from the sides. I'll do this tomorrow though as it's been a long day.