DANGEROUS (to Livestock) PRODUCT WARNING

[jarrod0987]

I recently bought some chlorine test strips. I wished to verify my tap water contains chlorine and not chloramine which the pet stores always insist. What I found, besides the fact I was right, is the product is very dangerous. I am told that chlorine as low as 0.25 ppm could still kill everything in your tank. At normal 75 F water temperatures these strips state there is no chlorine when in fact there is 0.40 ppm. Almost twice the lethal amount. I have determined through experimentation the problem seems to be 2 fold. The strips only seem to react at temperatures so low they would probably kill most tropical fish. They also only report about half of what is present. I feel that it is necessary to put out this information immediately in case anyone was using aeration or activated carbon for dechlorination of aquarium water and uses this product to test the water for safety.
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Test
Chlorine Test Strips
Insta-Test ANALYTIC Free & Total Chlorine
LaMotte
Code 3027-G
Lot number? 5335 Expiration 11/17
Just got these in the mail today.
Test Conducted at Sat Mar 5 9:10 PM

Sample 1
~75 F Tap Water
Chlorine smell and taste is evident.
Hanna Chlorine Checker reads 0.41 ppm
Test Strips Result 0 ppm for both Free and Total Chlorine.

Sample 2
~50 F Tap Water
Chlorine smell and taste is evident.
Hanna Chlorine Checker reads 0.80 ppm
Test Strips Result .5 ppm for both Free and Total Chlorine.

Sample 3
~110 F Tap Water
Chlorine smell and taste is evident.
Hanna Chlorine Checker not conducted
Test Strips Result 0 ppm for both Free and Total Chlorine.

 

[Matina]

I have well water so I don't have to worry about chlorine, but I have used test strips before for testing other parameters and I have found that the test strips are not accurate at all...the only test strips that are even remotely close to being accurate is the pH test strips and they aren't 100%....I no longer use test strips and I no longer let the pet store test my water because they are not accurate either. I bought the API master test kit for Freshwater and do my own testing.

 

[Andy Sager]

Unfortunately, liquid test results are more reliable than strips as there are factors that can alter the chemicals on the strips. Yes, chlorine is dangerous to all living things in the tank however, there are low levels that can be used safely for eradicating certain diseases while larger amounts are necessary to sterilize tanks and equipment.
I'm not really sure why companies put out test "strips" at all as they are too easily failable.

As for whether your water has chlorine or chloramine, that's an easy question to answer. Just call your local water department. They will tell you. The ammonia level of chloramine does not always show up on some test kit brands until the chlorine ammonia bond is broken so you may be getting false readings. Another way to test would be to use PRIME then test for ammonia. It will be ammonium not actual ammonia but it would mean that the water started out with chloramine. But calling would settle the question definitively.