Controlling nitrates...opinions please
- Thread starter reeferkeifer
- Start date
We her bad stories about LFS way too often. A good one like that needs to be called out. I think the reagents in API tests have a very short shelf life.
It's the cheapest test kit on the market, which is why so many stores carry it (because nobody wants to pay more).
I remember having this discussion with the API rep, and how inaccurate the kit is (not to mention it's a huge pain to shake this for one minute, wait for that...) it's not very user-friendly.
The rep claimed she'd never heard of accuracy issues. I think her nose grew a little bit as she said that.
I like Seachem. Inexpensive, easy to use, accurate and comes with a reference solution so you can test and SEE whether the kit is accurate. It's pretty hard to screw up with method. Plus Seachem's customer support is second to none in the unlikely event you encounter a problem. Their only kit I'm not a big fan of is the ammonia test, but it rules it in or out and that's the main goal with ammonia anyway, so I can forgive that.
Red Sea and Salifert are good too, albeit a bit more costly.
Still, people will spend hundreds of dollars - or even thousands, on fish and corals, it's well worth the investment of a few extra dollars on a reliable test kit, thermometer and refractometer (and don't forget the calibration fluid with the refractometer!)
Jenn
It's the cheapest test kit on the market, which is why so many stores carry it (because nobody wants to pay more).
I remember having this discussion with the API rep, and how inaccurate the kit is (not to mention it's a huge pain to shake this for one minute, wait for that...) it's not very user-friendly.
The rep claimed she'd never heard of accuracy issues. I think her nose grew a little bit as she said that.
I like Seachem. Inexpensive, easy to use, accurate and comes with a reference solution so you can test and SEE whether the kit is accurate. It's pretty hard to screw up with method. Plus Seachem's customer support is second to none in the unlikely event you encounter a problem. Their only kit I'm not a big fan of is the ammonia test, but it rules it in or out and that's the main goal with ammonia anyway, so I can forgive that.
Red Sea and Salifert are good too, albeit a bit more costly.
Still, people will spend hundreds of dollars - or even thousands, on fish and corals, it's well worth the investment of a few extra dollars on a reliable test kit, thermometer and refractometer (and don't forget the calibration fluid with the refractometer!)
Jenn
I don't understand why the API tests get such a bad rap... They are quick and easy, and they give you a pretty good idea where things are at. I am currently venturing into the carbon dosing world. For about the last 5 weeks, I have been using the Red Sea pro nitrate test kit along side the API nitrate test. I test nitrate almost daily with the API kit and once or twice a week with Red Sea. I will say that the API kit provides more of a general picture while the Red Sea gives a more difinitive answer. I will also say that it helps comparing the API test results to others so that you can learn how to interpret the color.
My API kit is moving towards expiration (2 years old) and my bottles are nearly empty.
I just don't think the API kits are half as bad as people generally think: especially if you follow the instructions. With the nitrate kit, I believe the most important step that people generally skip is giving the bottles a really healthy shake.
My API kit is moving towards expiration (2 years old) and my bottles are nearly empty.
I just don't think the API kits are half as bad as people generally think: especially if you follow the instructions. With the nitrate kit, I believe the most important step that people generally skip is giving the bottles a really healthy shake.
the consistency of bottle 2 will vary more and more as you use it. i shake bottle 2 for 30 seconds and shake the tube for the entire 1 minute and i notice that around the halfway point of bottle 2 it starts skewing toward invisible nitrates.
nitrite calcium phosphate ammonia ph alk all seem fine although ph can be touch and go.
i really cannot stand the variables involved with the nitrate kit personally. its a touchy one.
nitrite calcium phosphate ammonia ph alk all seem fine although ph can be touch and go.
i really cannot stand the variables involved with the nitrate kit personally. its a touchy one.
The problem is, if you fail to shake the bottle one time, the mix is of forevermore. Think about using oil and vinegar. Shake it every time and it is consistNt. Don't shake it one time and not only is that batch off but every batch from then on.
After a while the ammonia kit will always give you a 0.25 reading even where no free ammonia exists.
I've done side-by-side testing with customers' API kits (I never sold them). Once I had a guy who was convinced his calcium was 700 and that's what the API kit showed with repeated testing.
Seachem showed it was actually 275. And we tested a sample of Seachem Calcium Reference with the API and it showed the API kit was way off.
The pH test is hard to read, very little colour change and in the wrong light, you can think you have a result that you don't.
And yes, people cheat with the time on shaking the chemicals - but the reagents don't keep very long either.
Seachem tests are WAY easier to use and more dummy-proof. While you're still shaking your nitrate tube, I can have all 5 tests completed with a Seachem kit. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and total alkalinity.
I've done side-by-side testing with customers' API kits (I never sold them). Once I had a guy who was convinced his calcium was 700 and that's what the API kit showed with repeated testing.
Seachem showed it was actually 275. And we tested a sample of Seachem Calcium Reference with the API and it showed the API kit was way off.
The pH test is hard to read, very little colour change and in the wrong light, you can think you have a result that you don't.
And yes, people cheat with the time on shaking the chemicals - but the reagents don't keep very long either.
Seachem tests are WAY easier to use and more dummy-proof. While you're still shaking your nitrate tube, I can have all 5 tests completed with a Seachem kit. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and total alkalinity.
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Pure Reef. They said they don't let the API rep in the store. They tested with Sera kits and a refractometer. Gotta get me some of those bad boys.
