API Test kit gone bad?

[Fishinfreak]

Recently something with my API liquid master fw test kit seems to have gone bad, even though it doesn't expire till 2018. It has worked fine for the 6 or so months I have had it until the past two weeks or so. There are a few problems: My ph used to be around 8, and i think it went down to about 7.8 when I added DIY co2, but it couldve been the test kit being bad. Now the high rang ph is reading the lowest (i think its 7.4) but the low range is at its highest at 7.6. Also the NO3 (i think, it's the last one in the cycle, a nitr-something) was reading 0 four days after the most recent wc, which simply shouldn't be as before they were always about 10.
The only reason i can think of that would cause this is sometimes i forget to empty the test tubes out after testing until the next time, but i always rinse them out good then.

 

[Fishinfreak]

Bump

Anyone have suggestions

 

[Angela1108]

Try rinsing them. I've had results that didn't sound right and after a rinse and retest it was fine. If you were saying you had nitrates disappear chances are you didn't shake the bottles of tester enough. The second bottle of nitrate test needs to be shaken a lot. Bottle says 30 seconds and once added the whole tube needs to be shaken for 1 min. If it isn't shaken up enough it won't work.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Fishinfreak]

I rinse between every use, then usually rinse with aquarium water, and both tests weren't working. And I always shake for 30 and 60 when doing nitrate

 

[Fishinfreak]

Bumping this up. Haven't had any luck getting the tests working, and the bottles don't expire till 2019. Its starting to look like I'm gonna have to drop another $20 on a kit, unless I can get something from API

 

[sinibotia]

I think your test kits might be fine. Nitrate may have been consumed by plants. Also, it's hard to say if there's something wrong with your pH kit without knowing KH or GH. Your alkalinity might just be out of whack and causing your pH to fluctuate. Plus, CO2 can drop your pH so there's that.

 

[dalto]

Do you have an LFS you could take some of your water to for them to test and compare?

 

[Fishinfreak]

I think so,: there's a Petco, but they do strips i think, and I'm unsure on the LFS i use now, ill call and ask or something as i may be going there this weekend

 

[Fishinfreak]

Should I buy a kh/gh kit and see what that comes up with? Im pretty sure i have fairly hard water as it sometimes leaves calcium stuff and adding almond leaves hasn't done almost anything to getting the ph lower.

 

[sinibotia]

Also, what tank are you doing tests on?

Should I buy a kh/gh kit and see what that comes up with? Im pretty sure i have fairly hard water as it sometimes leaves calcium stuff and adding almond leaves hasn't done almost anything to getting the ph lower.

Definitely do this.

 

[Fishinfreak]

Should I buy a kh/gh kit and see what that comes up with? Im pretty sure i have fairly hard water as it sometimes leaves calcium stuff and adding almond leaves hasn't done almost anything to getting the ph lower.

The tank is a 6.6g planted with DIY co2 and an AC20

 

[dalto]

Should I buy a kh/gh kit and see what that comes up with? Im pretty sure i have fairly hard water as it sometimes leaves calcium stuff and adding almond leaves hasn't done almost anything to getting the ph lower.

A KH kit would be helpful and is something everyone should have IMO.

I am not sure it will help you determine if your test kit is working though.

 

[sinibotia]

Well,CO2 can drop your pH, and in a 6.6 gallon tank parameters can swing very, very easily.

 

[Fishinfreak]

I'll order the kh/gh on amazon today, so will get it early next week, and so far the the nitrates are always reading 0, the low ph is reading 7.6 (its highest) and the High ph is reading 7.4 (its lowest). I haven't tried the amm or NO2 because i haven't really needed them since cycling the tank. I could try an ammonia test, and then try one in water I added a couple ppm of ammonia to to see if at least the ammonia test is working.

 

[Fishinfreak]

The kh/gh is on the way, but like dalto said it probably won't help with this problem as a whole. I have a spare sponge filter and pump on hand, so im thinking I could try cycling the sponge in a container with ammonia and see how my kit reads that. That way I could tell whether it is the kit, or if something like my plants are consuming the nitrates and my ph is around 7.5

 

[Fishinfreak]

Got the kh/gh test today. The gh took 3 drops, but the kh just got darker and darker blue without turning yellow. I tried it twice but gave up after 12 drops, as that is as far as the chart goes.

 

[Fishinfreak]

Also a little worried about the regular kit. Am trying to cycle a sponge filter in a small container to see if the kit is reading right. So far the ammonia doesn't seem to be working. I dosed at first to about 4ppm according to the ammonia bottle, but nothing showed up the next day, and I started it yesterday. Then I tried adding about 60cm to try for a reading, and about 10-15 min later I got a .25ppm reading

 

[sinibotia]

GH is a scale so you just count the number of drops to turn it yellow and thats your number of degrees, then multiply times 18 (approx) to get your hardness in ppm. It may be over 20 (my fiance's hardness is).

 

[Fishinfreak]

Yes. According to the chart it is about 53ppm, but the kh seems to be doing nothing

 

[sinibotia]

Yes. According to the chart it is about 53ppm, but the kh seems to be doing nothing

KH is the same thing- just keep adding drops until it changes. It'll get there.