API master test kit question?

[Gingimaru]

Hi all.

I have searched "API master test kit" on these forums and not found a definitive answer.

my questions are:

1: my PH reading is very light blue on the low PH and like a see through brownish when doing the high range PH. i cant match the see through browny colour on the high range PH test to anything on the colour board. does this mean my PH is 7.6?

2: how long ideally should you leave these tests for? i always thought in chemistry the longer you leave something the more it will react so for example doing an ammonia test and leaving it for 5-10 minutes i would think results would yield higher ammonia levels? probably me being wrong there but its better to ask than assume

3: do you just take water from the top of the tank? or should i be inverting it and placing it in the tank so i get readings from the bottom of the tank?

4: when testing your tap water, should you be leaving it overnight so the PH settles (as such) or can you just do it out right?

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[maestromad]

Hello I shall try and help.
Ok leave the tests for 5 mins no longer, I find that the longer I leave the darker it gets!
I take the water from the top half of the tank using a med syringe.
Can't help with the colour bit sorry I can't seem to find my chart!

 

[Gingimaru]

thank you that does help i shall time my tests to 5 minutes.

would anyone else perhaps have any ideas towards the rest of my questions?

 

[gmanova]

If the blue matches the color using the low pH,you should be fine at 7.6. I take the water from the top, inserting tube, then dumping it like a rinse, then refilling for the actual. pH can be read right away....no waiting 5 minutes, just shake it and read the color. The orher test are read after 5 minutes.....no longer! Tap water can be tested right away.....no waiting over night.

 

[jlk]

Ill try to help with the ph. If your getting a blue shade (not greenish) it means your ph is atleast 7.6. On the high range test, you should try holding the test against the card in sunlight. An orangey-brown (more orange) is @7.8, more brown is @8, and reddish-brown/dk brown is @8.2. Anything venturing towards a purpley-brown or purple is higher. Ph for your tap needs to sit atleast overnight to gas out to get your true ph. Its best if you do this with a bubbler or airstone to facilitate the process. I dont think it really matters where you take your samples from but I always hold tubes below the water line to fill them. Some people will use a small syringe to withdraw water to precisely fill the tubes. Hope this helps!

 

[Gingimaru]

thanks everyone

it looks different in different lights. hell if i take a picture on my phone it looks pink :/

it looks (best i can tell) orangey browny but if i leave it maybe a few minutes it gets a little more browny but not so brown. it is definitely not purple in anyway.

 

[maestromad]

Natura light is yr best bet good luck!

 

[Phranque]

Ok leave the tests for 5 mins no longer, I find that the longer I leave the darker it gets!

The 5 minute wait is for Ammo, Nitrite, & Nitrate ONLY. pH should be read immediately. If you let it set and "darken", you are getting false readings.

My tank runs 7.6 on the low range, and 7.4 on the high range.... so I'm always borderline on both tests. I got tired of it and went & got myself a good digital pH meter!!

 

[KaylNeko]

My tank runs 7.6 on the low range, and 7.4 on the high range.... so I'm always borderline on both tests. I got tired of it and went & got myself a good digital pH meter!!

Mine does the same. I just decided it was around 7.5 and left it at that. *lol* What'd your digital reader say?

 

[Phranque]

Mine does the same. I just decided it was around 7.5 and left it at that. *lol* What'd your digital reader say?

Depending on time of day, anywhere between 7.4 - 7.8.

 

[KaylNeko]

Interesting. That's a big range.

 

[Phranque]

Interesting. That's a big range.

A 0.4 difference isn't that much.... If you test your tank in the morning before the lights come on, and then later in the day toward the end of the light cycle, a 0.6 to 0.8 range is not at all unusual.

 

[Gingimaru]

alright so PH can change through the day? is that not slightly odd?

i mainly asked the timing question because on some PH tests it seems orangy but then if you leave it a minute it shows more brown so it could be anything from 7.4-8.2 which (far as i know) isnt good for fishy

 

[Phranque]

alright so PH can change through the day? is that not slightly odd?

Yes, it can, & not at all.

Even if you don't think you have algae, it's still there, among many other photosythetic micro-organisms. You know how a plant uses CO2 during the daylight, but not at night?? During the night, CO2 builds up, if ever so slightly, and then drops a little bit during the day since it's used during photosynthesis.... This directly affects the pH, so it to will rise & fall during a 24 hour period. If you have a planted tank, this is more noticeable, hence the reason for CO2 systems..... it feeds the plants and helps maintain a steadier pH.

i mainly asked the timing question because on some PH tests it seems orangy but then if you leave it a minute it shows more brown so it could be anything from 7.4-8.2 which (far as i know) isnt good for fishy

A daily variable in pH is not harmful to (most) fish so long as it is a stable & steady cycle and it doesn't happen drastically fast. The same thing happens in nature....

 

[Gingimaru]

thank you for that very helpful!