API Master Test Kit past due .

[Back in the fold]

I have one of those fancy Aquarium Pharmaceuticals freshwater master test kits and I noticed that it has an expiration date of September 2024 on it . I gave $30 bucks for this thing and now I have to pitch it ? I rarely if ever use it but I don’t see how the test chemicals can fizzle out . Any scientists out there that know ?

 

[MaloK]

If you store it in a cool dark place with the caps solidly screwed.

It still going to be good in 2030 and even further.

 

[Essjay]

Once a bottle is opened air - including oxygen - gets into the bottle and can oxidise certain ingredients.

If the readings are a lot different from what you'd expect, that's the time to throw it in the bin and buy a new one.

 

[Back in the fold]

that's the time to throw it in the bin and buy a new one.

I ain’t never spending $30 bucks for one of these again . It’s way too much money to spend on a superfluous toy .

 

[Archerfish]

If you research this site, from time to time someone will report spurious water parameters and more often than not, it is because of expired testing equipment. Not all of the tests expire at the same time. Keep those that are still good and discard the expired tests. Keep the test tubes, they come in handy.

 

[connorlindeman]

I have not tested water parameters in over 2 years. You can tell if the fish are healthy. My tanks are always heavily planted and I have not had to deal with disease. I currently do not own a water test kit.

 

[MaloK]

When I restarted in the hobby about a year ago I had a master test kit from Nutrafin that was expired since 2009.

I bought a Fresh APi one and compared the results of both, I shook each bottles a good while and, to my surprise. The old kit was on par and as precise as it was when I bought it.

So I'm using it with good confidence.

 

[lottabubbles]

I did the same, have an api test kit 12 yrs old and compared the results with a 1yr old kit and they came to the same results.

 

[MaloK]

Keep the test tubes, they come in handy.

I also keep the bottles, you can pop out the dropper clean them really well and use them for fertilizer and other liquids, They are made from HDPE and are perfectly safe to use with many chemicals.

 

[anewbie]

I ain’t never spending $30 bucks for one of these again . It’s way too much money to spend on a superfluous toy .

I have one - to be honest the only tests i use are ammonia when setting up a new aquarium to make sure it doesn't creep up; and nitrate which i test on my 500 and 600 once every 5 to 6 months again to make sure it is being contained and not creeping up. I find the rest of the tests pretty useless. You can of course get those kits by themselves for less money. As i've become more experienced (and keep more delicate fishes) I find it critical to keep nitrate below 5 and it does sometime creep a bit over time. Ph is useless and i wish posts and literature would stop mentioning it as it confuses more people - esp new fish keepers - everywhere. What you care about is kh and there really should be fairly sensitive tests to measure kh in ppm. Not this silly drop thing api does.

 

[gwand]

I have one - to be honest the only tests i use are ammonia when setting up a new aquarium to make sure it doesn't creep up; and nitrate which i test on my 500 and 600 once every 5 to 6 months again to make sure it is being contained and not creeping up. I find the rest of the tests pretty useless. You can of course get those kits by themselves for less money. As i've become more experienced (and keep more delicate fishes) I find it critical to keep nitrate below 5 and it does sometime creep a bit over time. Ph is useless and i wish posts and literature would stop mentioning it as it confuses more people - esp new fish keepers - everywhere. What you care about is kh and there really should be fairly sensitive tests to measure kh in ppm. Not this silly drop thing api does.

I agree about pH. What fish require nitrate less than 5 ppm?

 

[anewbie]

I agree about pH. What fish require nitrate less than 5 ppm?

I have a lot of wild caught blackwater fishes like discus and b. cupido, b. wavarni, chocolate and so on. While one could argue that some of them are more tolerant than others several like the discus are extremely fussy and if anything is off they throw a visible tantrum to show their displeasure.

 

[connorlindeman]

From the thread Byrons Legacy:

Byron's Legacy

Byron Hosking was a long standing member of the forum. He was very knowledgeable about many aspects of fish keeping with many years spent in the field researching and was always willing to share his knowledge. Many members of the forum have benefited from his expertise. Sadly Byron passed away...

www.fishforums.net

Nitrate and Fish

A clarification on nitrates. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are toxic to fish, period. They work differently, but all three are still toxic. Fish do not acclimate to high nitrates, at any rate not beneficially. Nitrate is slower acting, and it affects some species more than others. Fish are more likely to die from being weakened and succumbing to something else (such as disease) rather than dying from the high nitrates directly, if that makes sense.

Cichlids have problems with nitrates more than some fish. The cichlid sites are now advising that it is nitrate that is largely responsible for hole in the head (hexamina), and suggest keeping nitrates well below 20 ppm.

Nitrates in tropical water courses are zero or so close they might as well be zero. This is the water the fish evolved in. The lower the nitrate in the aquarium, the better. But fish do not acclimate to it, they slowly weaken and die from it.


In another thread he mentions how nitrates should be kept below 5ppm.