Accurate Test Results

[JimmyMature]

Hi guys, I have a test kit for my water but I have one problem! Interpreting the results! As it relies on me holding the test tube results against a colour chart its open to interpretation.

I have noticed that on these forums people refer to very specific test results, is there a product out that that can tell me exactly what level of Ammonia, Nitrites etc I have in my tank without the opportunity for me to make a mistake?



All advice and help is appreciated.


Jim

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes the colour charts can be a bit tricky sometimes!

what test kit are you using?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum JimmyMature.
I find the decimal places in people's readings a bit pretentious. I can tell ammonia 1 from ammonia 2 but I doubt you'll catch me saying 1.7. I try to get my best match on the card and if it falls between I just say so. I am using the API kit and find that it tells me all that I need to know. The recommendation to take ammonia to 5.0 in a cycling tank probably came from a test kit that has a 5 on the card. My card has a 4 and an 8 so I try to get it close to the 4 but if it is a bit over, toward the 8, I figure that's OK too. At the low end of the scale there are a few decimal value colors on some of the cards, so again I pick the closest that I can and just use that number. For nitrites, the decimals are 0.25 and 0.5 so I will never get a reading of 0.4. It will be either 0.25 or 0.50.
When reading the test color, it is best to use a good white light and have the light coming from behind you. Then if you hold the tube against the white area of the card you should be able to interpret what you see.

 

[waterdrop]

Agreed. I too use the API kit and that description by OM47 would pretty much match my own behaviours.

I can add though that I believe RDD actually put in some work deciding to go the the "5.0" ppm recommendation in his cycling article that we now use as our "working" guide. He may come along and shoot this down but I remember reading that some thought went into what level would simulate the right amount to be sure any sort of full stocking would not result in a mini-cycle of the filter that had just finished fishless cycling. And I think he used the API kit during this work, but I wouldn't swear to that.

I also have had a different reaction when I see people posting decimal places for the readings. I think there are just some kits, liquid or strips, out there that must have color cards printed that way. I don't know, maybe the Salifert kits do? Maybe I'm just being naive and its really people not hesitating to make up their own decimal estimates!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[JimmyMature]

Agreed. I too use the API kit and that description by OM47 would pretty much match my own behaviours.

I can add though that I believe RDD actually put in some work deciding to go the the "5.0" ppm recommendation in his cycling article that we now use as our "working" guide. He may come along and shoot this down but I remember reading that some thought went into what level would simulate the right amount to be sure any sort of full stocking would not result in a mini-cycle of the filter that had just finished fishless cycling. And I think he used the API kit during this work, but I wouldn't swear to that.

I also have had a different reaction when I see people posting decimal places for the readings. I think there are just some kits, liquid or strips, out there that must have color cards printed that way. I don't know, maybe the Salifert kits do? Maybe I'm just being naive and its really people not hesitating to make up their own decimal estimates!

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks guys, I'm using Nutrafin test kit and i have trouble telling the difference between "its ok" and "quick do a water change" Is it just me or is there a better product out there for me?



Thanks again,



Jim

 

[OldMan47]

The color difference between quick water change and OK is quite obvious on the liquid reagent based API Freshwater Master test kit.
For nitrites, the OK color is a powder blue while the 0.25 ppm is a violet.
For ammonia the OK color is a lemon yellow and the 0.25 ppm is a washed out yellowish green color.
The nitrates at 40 and 80, as an orangy red, are very much alike but the 20 orange to 40 jump is obvious and the 80 to the 160 brownish maroon jump is also obvious.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah i agree, not used the nnutrafin test kit but on the api kit while you might not be able to tell exactly the reading it's blooming obvious if there is any nitrite or none at all and so reaction is either leave well alone or water change!

 

[JimmyMature]

Great, thanks for all the advice guys.


I'm buying a Fluval Vicenza 260 on pay-day and will keep Malwai Cichlids so want to make sure that everything is right, fishless Cycles etc.



Thanks again.



Jim

 

[Schmill]

Agree with the API test kit, it still has 'shades' of a colour for the different levels but it is fairly easier to read. My only issue with it is where to hold the tube in relation to the card. If I hold the tube about 5-10mm in front of the white section of the card the reading (mainly ammonia) can look quite different to if I actually hold the tube against the white part of the card.
The things is at the end of the day, 'accurate' results are really only needed for your own logging purposes, I know if my ammonia test comes out anything other that the purest pale yellow, it means there is ammonia and a change is needed and the cause needs finding, similarly with the nitrIte test, if it's not pure pale blue then it's not good, and knowing that is often enough
Saying that, when doing my fishless cycle log I must admit I am one for "making up" values, certainly when the levels are transitioning slowly.

For example I have a level of 4ppm on my ammonia card, and the next lowest is 2ppm. Over the course of a few days the level was dropping, on the first day it was very obviously the '4' colour, after a day or so it was between the two colours, so I would put this as a '3' even though there is no reading for that on the card. (or sometimes i would put the level as "2>4")

The thing is, even the tests themselves have shown to only be an 'indication' of the level and you may get slight variations between test kits, so with that in mind what you are looking for is a reasonable idea of the level, not somethign super accurate. Obviously if you can't tell the difference between 1ppm of ammonia and 8ppm then thats not going to be good for cycling, so perhaps another test should be looked at.

 

[backtotropical]

Generally the test kits we use aren't very accurate or reliable anyway, and should always be thought of as an indication rather than an exact measure.

Nitrate tests in particular are particularly bad.

If you are determined to get accurate results, try using 2 test kits simultaneously. If the results are in agreement, that gives you a bit of reassurance.

BTT

 

[JimmyMature]

Thanks again, I think what has thrown me is seeing people posting their water test results that appear to be very accrurate indeed.




Cheers,



Jim

 

[Rubyuk]

Thanks again, I think what has thrown me is seeing people posting their water test results that appear to be very accrurate indeed.




Cheers,



Jim

I'm with you Jim on the test kits.

I'm a newbie and have the nutrafin mini test kit and it is very hard to tell/pick up the subtle differences in slightly different shades of a particular colour when the result parameters are so close together.

Probably a logical/scientific reason for why they can't but as a novice it would be much better for me if the colour bands were different colours as opposed to shades of one colour lol To me orange is orange and I dont want to have to 'guess' between 3 shades of orange.

Like others say,its pretty subjective anyway and you can tell when something is obviously wrong.

However,when i've exhausted my Nutrafin kit I think i'll have to buy an API one as most here seem to rely on them over other makes,so perhaps they are slightly easier to interprate the results?

 

[waterdrop]

guys, the difficulties you are describing never go completely away, but you get more used to dealing with the ambiguity over time I think. I used my API heavily, usually twice a day over about six months and I think I can describe about 3 things that happened relative to my comfort level using it: First, I began always recording results of every use carefully, with times noted in our aquarium logbook and I found that seeing where a particular result either fit in or did not was really helpful. Second, just the sheer number of times of doing it bred familiarity eventually and I felt that being very consistent about my lighting (I always chose to hold the tube against the white area of the card and I always held it the same number of inches in front of the same bright lightbulb, which was shielded from my eyes by being a spotlight type lamp.) Thirdly, I found that eventually, once I'd also experienced plenty of the "true zero" readings, my overall comfort level with the liquid tests was raised even more. I sympathize with you because it does seem quite vague as a beginner to it, but trust me, eventually it does become a more comfortable tool.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[pammy172]

A question related to this thread please.

I've been using the API kit for a couple of weeks coming up and muist admit to struggle with the readings sometimes. I agree though that if you have zero readings it should be easy - or is it? This morning - OH tested the ammonia in our Vision 260 which is currently doing a fishless cycle. Yesterday I was able to drop in some mature media kindly donated by a fellow member. Ammonia test yesterday(8.00pm) showed app 1 - 2 ppm. Expected this morning's test to be at zero or certainly lower. However, the test showed after 5 mins still at 1ppm. But - after about 8/10 mins it had gone to the very clear zero yellow.

So we're very confused - do these test results only last a couple of minutes then become invalid - or do we have zero ammonia

We're going to add 3ml of ammonia to raise it a bit anyway - but I really struggle to read these tests.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oooh tricky one, did you time it precisley or was it just roughly 5 mins and roughly 7/8 mins?

generally we say it's whatever it say's at bang out the alloted time as the test can change later on, however in my experience the test reading will certainly stay for more than 2 minutes, in fact I'm sure I once forgot to put an ammonia test away overnight and it showed the same in the morning.

try it again today, time it very accurately and see what happens.