How accurate is an API brand nitrate test?

[davidinga]

Not having any issues but out of curiosity I check my nitrates every few months with an api kit. Since I have had this tank setup (1+ year now) I have never had any nitrates show up on the test (well that's not entirely true it showed nitrates during the initial cycle).

Here's what I have:

210gal dt w/75 gal sump
Mixed reef (softies/lps/sps/nems)
Skimmer/chaeto/uv/gfo/gac/kalk

20 fish (including 5 big guys - blonde naso, Desjardini, powder blue, clown tangs and a foxface) and they get feed pretty heavy (frozen, nori, flakes, pellets, freeze dried).

1.025
79.7f
pH 8.3
Alk 9.6
Cal 440
Mag 1280

So with all the fish I have never had nitrates, EVER. Plus, I have only done maybe 3-4 water changes since it was set up!

Sp what are the odds my test kit is/has been right?

 

[KrisDeitz]

They suck. That's prolly why it never shows

 

[nickg]

+1 they suvk

 

[rdnelson]

+2

3 or 4 water changes in 2 years and it reads 0? Proof enough for me that it is not accurate.


I know you all think I have no heart but now I have an ultrasound to prove it.

 

[jello!]

My first tank a couple years ago was a 12 gallon nano. I was a newb and used the api kit. I slacked on water changes cause nitrate always read zero. One day I tested with a different kit and nitrates were above 80! I threw the api kit in the trash.

 

[mikesmith34]

I can assure you with all those fish and no water change ur trates are high. Those test, I've used them are not good for testing

 

[davidinga]

Who makes a solid no3 test kit?

 

[ghbrewer]

Salifert

 

[heathlindner25]

ghbrewer;966094 wrote: Salifert

+1 ...and easy!

 

[skriz]

When you buy the new test from your life, have them show you how to properly use it. It's amazing how many make little mistakes that have a huge affect on the results.

 

[picoreefguy]

Skriz;966127 wrote: When you buy the new test from your life, have them show you how to properly use it. It's amazing how many make little mistakes that have a huge affect on the results.

+1 even though api is the crappiest test on the market it should still show you somewhere in the ballpark of where your trates are. one common and huge mistake with those kits is that you are supposed to shake the bottles thoroughly before use if you dont then you get a diluted reagent in your sample and a highly skewed result. like raj said have the lfs show how to use it any reputable store will know how to use the products they sell properly

 

[rdnelson]

Picoreefguy;966128 wrote: +1 even though api is the crappiest test on the market it should still show you somewhere in the ballpark of where your trates are. one common and huge mistake with those kits is that you are supposed to shake the bottles thoroughly before use if you dont then you get a diluted reagent in your sample and a highly skewed result. like raj said have the lfs show how to use it any reputable store will know how to use the products they sell properly

Use it once without shaking and it will be off on every test thereafter. Think about vinegar and oil. You have just the right mix. But use it once without shaking and that mix will never be right again.


I know you all think I have no heart but now I have an ultrasound to prove it.

 

[picoreefguy]

rdnelson99;966133 wrote: Use it once without shaking and it will be off on every test thereafter. Think about vinegar and oil. You have just the right mix. But use it once without shaking and that mix will never be right again.


I know you all think I have no heart but now I have an ultrasound to prove it.

yea i did forget to mention that.

 

[rk4435]

I changed water like crazy a little over a year ago because of a bad API kit reading high. I use Salifert now.

 

[jdavid]

A lot of people bring their water to the LFS to get it tested, and I've never seen anything but API kits laying around open in stores. Just sayin'

But for calcium mag and alk I wouldn't use API

 

[nickg]

Heck yeah they use them.. They are cheap.. And they know how to use them. Like Rich said, make 1 mistake and its off for the rest of t

 

[nickg]

the bottle...

 

[heathlindner25]

Some stores don't use them.

 

[mikesmith34]

JDavid;966140 wrote: A lot of people bring their water to the LFS to get it tested, and I've never seen anything but API kits laying around open in stores. Just sayin'

But for calcium mag and alk I wouldn't use API

Yea I've kinda always thought the same thing just didn't bring it up. I guess when you ask someone to do something for free you can't expect top shelf or they are a little more reliable than we give them credit for. I've used them and then got salifert afterwards I threw the API away. The only ones that were somewhat close, ballparkish was alk and cal. The nitrate was useless

 

[ringo®]

They aren't the best by a longshot. But they aren't as bad as the Internet makes them seem.