Is This Possible?

[bboorreedd11]

Is it possible to make my own D.I.Y ammonia, nitrite and nitrae test kit?

 

[sketchy]

If you could lay your hands on the right chemicals, then yes it would. (Just had a look at mine, and they dont tell you what chemicals are in them!)

The only problem would be, that you would have to callibrate each test individually with known concentrations of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, as different concentrations could possibly give you more intense colours. This is already done for you in the pre-made test kits to give you a colour chart for easy and accurate(ish) determination of concentrations in mg L[sup]-1[/sup]

I'd also imagine you would have to dilute the chemicals (if you can get hold of them individually), as the concentrations in the test kits are likely to be quite small, as the general public (and first year students!!!) have proven in the past that they can't be trusted with much more than concentrated milk!

 

[monkey_biz]

why would you want to when a good accurate one is cheap

 

[Lateral Line]

I would imagine that the necessary reagents could be obtained, but in un-economic quantities, i.e. you would have to buy so much of each that you would have enough for millions of tests and have to store numerous large containers for years.

The calibration point made above is also a likely stumbling block. Unless you have access to lab glassware, measuring very small quantities in sufficient accuracy will be problematic.

 

[aaronnorth]

There is no point, you might aswell get a nutrafin liquid test kit for <£15 it will be more accurate than a DIY one

 

[drtim]

Hi
It would be technically possible, but as mentioned the volumes of the raw materials that you could purchase would be huge, but the biggest problem would be calibrating the mixtures to produce a range.
Im game for doing things DIY, but dont think this one is feasible.
Tim.

Hi
It would be technically possible, but as mentioned the volumes of the raw materials that you could purchase would be huge, but the biggest problem would be calibrating the mixtures to produce a range.
Im game for doing things DIY, but dont think this one is feasible.
Tim.

ops not sure what happened there!!
T.

 

[MoondustBob]

Don't bother with test kits. If you do regular water changes you should be good.