Papagoomba Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) So i getting conflicting readings between my api master kit and my tetra 6 in 1 strips. strips are saying nitrites are off the charts same with nitrates but when i test with my liquid api test kit its showing very low nitrate and 0 nitrite. its a cycling 29 gallon with 2 java fern and a couple stems of pogo octo so im trying to figure out if its cycled now or not. one test says yes the other test says no. Also i just recently bought the coop ammonia strips and when i dose my ammonia they show .5 ppm and liquid test shows between 3 and 4 ppm. So a little confused on if im using them wrong or whats going on. Any help is appreciated. Edited October 24, 2021 by Papagoomba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 They are all inaccurate unless you calibrate them against a known nitrate ppm solution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 i have never heard that before. Also that doesnt really help my situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Calibrate it, then you will know which one is giving you the correct information. Do you use Easy Green? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) how do i calibrate it? Yes i am using easy green. when i test my tap it comes out at around 30 ppm nitrate Edited October 24, 2021 by Papagoomba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) Using distilled water, use this to pump in an amount to measure. So 1 pump in 1 gallon should be 30ppm. Then if you wanted to check 15ppm, pour out half a gallon into half a gallon of distilled for 15ppm. Edited October 24, 2021 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 Ok so im still a little confused. Will that calibrate for nitrate or nitrite? Also how many pumps do i add and what number should i be looking for? Also calibrating will show me how far off they are and will allow me to determine nitrite and nitrate in my 29? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) Sorry, added a picture. Edited October 24, 2021 by Mmiller2001 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 ok so i went and bought a gallon of distilled water. i put one pump but it was the time ive used it in a few days so it didnt really pump normal just like a couple little spurts so i pumped again and same thing. so may have messed up already. Tested with both and now the strips seem to be testing low at about maybe 20 ppm and liquid tested at about 40 ppm. dont really have the time rite now to run and grab another gallon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 also the strips are showing that i have a little bit of chlorine in my water even tho i did double dose of prime when i filled the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Yeah, those pump nozzles are pretty terrible. For the sake of accuracy, I might measure actual milliliters and add to the distilled water. Just so we are as accurate as possible. Take your time, if things seem okay, no reason to rush. Just FYI, I just recently thrashed 3 test kits over inaccuracy. I had now idea how bad they were until I started calibrating them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 The API liquid Nitrate test requires the directions to be followed exactly. It’s very easy to get a false negative. I’m not the only one who’s done it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 going to be buying another gallon and calibrating here in a bit but I was curious and i ended up testing with both the strips and the liquid on my other 29 thats been running for a few months and has been cycled. They are getting pretty much exact same results with that tank and yet with the new 29 im getting different results from both. The only difference between the 2 tanks is the new one has dragon stone and the other 29 does not. my ph is lower in the new tank as well which does not make sense since they are both from the exact same tap. could the dragon stone in the new 29 be messing with results some how? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 On 10/24/2021 at 4:03 PM, Papagoomba said: ok so i went and bought a gallon of distilled water. i put one pump but it was the time ive used it in a few days so it didnt really pump normal just like a couple little spurts so i pumped again and same thing. Although it’s supposed to pump 1ml I’ve found it’s not always exact. I’ve tested it with a 5ml tube from the API kit. Five pumps is below the 5ml line. I’d estimate about 4ml. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 On 10/24/2021 at 2:54 PM, Mmiller2001 said: Using distilled water, use this to pump in an amount to measure. So 1 pump in 1 gallon should be 30ppm. Then if you wanted to check 15ppm, pour out half a gallon into half a gallon of distilled for 15ppm. ok so i just did the test with a new gallon of distilled water. used a syringe to get 1 ml of ez green added it and both the strip and the liquid test kit both show roughly 30 ppm of nitrate. I am now even more confused since they both show the same results with every other test. With the new 29 that i have been cycling they show completely different results. My brain now hurts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 That is interesting. Retesting the tank still shows as before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 On 10/25/2021 at 2:33 PM, Papagoomba said: going to be buying another gallon and calibrating here in a bit but I was curious and i ended up testing with both the strips and the liquid on my other 29 thats been running for a few months and has been cycled. They are getting pretty much exact same results with that tank and yet with the new 29 im getting different results from both. The only difference between the 2 tanks is the new one has dragon stone and the other 29 does not. my ph is lower in the new tank as well which does not make sense since they are both from the exact same tap. could the dragon stone in the new 29 be messing with results some how? I think dragon stone adds minerals to the water. This could be a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 Ya test shows exactly the same. i just did a 100% water change to see what results i get tomarrow after dosing with ammo again today. This all has just made me very confused Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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