Help W/ Test Kit

[TheWaterBoy]

I have Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Test Kits and I am having trouble reading the Ammonia test. I mostly depends on how close I get a the light and whats behind it.
I was thinking maybe white would be the best thing to hold behind it. What kind of conditions do you guys check your results in.

 

[modernhamlet]

I have Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Test Kits and I am having trouble reading the Ammonia test. I mostly depends on how close I get a the light and whats behind it.
I was thinking maybe white would be the best thing to hold behind it. What kind of conditions do you guys check your results in.

Place the tube against the white part of the card with a light shining directly on the card/tube. The side-by-side comparison usually lets me catch if it's an "in between" color.

 

[Bol]

That's what I do, hold the vial in front of the white part on the side of the card.

Also, I hold the vial about an inch away from the card -- if you put it right against it, you'll get a much darker color.

And, lastly, I find that daylight is best to do the color match.

 

[TheWaterBoy]

Thanks I wasnt sure about it. Maybe next time I will go for the strips instead.

 

[Bol]

The thing is, the strips tend to be inaccurate, too, even when you get an exact color match (not to mention that the ones I've seen generally have a pretty huge range, so your numbers tend to be a really rough estimate).

Personally, I think most of the AP test kits are good. Except for nitrates, I can't stand that one. I can't conclude anything with that test, if the nitrates are near or over 20 ppm.

But things like their ammonia and nitrite tests work fine for me -- but then again, I've never done a fishless cycle, though, so the ammonia test only has basically two possible results: "zero" and "too much".