Phosphate test

[Pepere]

By golly, it doesnt look like any of the colors…

 

it is very dark, but it is dark green and not at all blue…

[nabokovfan87]

@Pepereif the color is dark like that, I assume it's extremely high.  Test your tap, verify the test is showing 0 from the tap.  Then take your tank and dilute that by 50% and retest.  Repeat that until you have the right dilution to register on the scale.  It might take up to a 20% dilution depending on what you're dealing with.

I had my last test where I wasn't quite sure what was going on as well.  It was still a very translucent color, feint, but it wasn't turning into that deep blue.   In all, the test is very easy for me to run..... thankfully.

Edited June 10 by nabokovfan87

[Pepere]

The farmost right tube is tap water.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/10/2023 at 2:34 PM, Pepere said:

The farmost right tube is tap water.

Any chance they sat too long?  If the test is accurate, timed accurate, then there is likely pesticides or something locally going on potentially.

 

[Pepere]

Photo taken within a minute of the three minute mark.

 

doing another test now with distilled water.

 

tank and tap water was not translucent with test. It seems like something is preciputating out of solution.  Letting it set, solids settle.

Distilled water test.

 

The distilled test is translucent with no apparent preciptate, but still a much darker green than color swatch.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/10/2023 at 2:42 PM, Pepere said:

The distilled test is translucent with no apparent preciptate, but still a much darker green than color swatch.

very strange.  I would show the store where you purchased and explain you might have a bad test.  Potentially call API for this one or ask a neighbor or something for a water sample.

I'll run one here shortly and grab some photos for you.  We have the same test.

[Pepere]

Bought from Amazon, reported it defective. Waiting for answer.

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/10/2023 at 2:52 PM, Pepere said:

Bought from Amazon, reported it defective. Waiting for answer.

Worst case, you got me to run a phosphate test. 🙂

[nabokovfan87]

Right after adding in the second reagent:

After 3 minutes:

[Pepere]

Ok, got refund on kit.

@nabokovfan87

bought another API phosphate test kit from another vendor.

 

new on works fine

[rob_dixon]

On 6/10/2023 at 2:52 PM, Pepere said:

Bought from Amazon, reported it defective. Waiting for answer.

Curious what "Store" it was bought from.  I ask because there is a ton of fraudulent products on Amazon and i wonder if this fraud has even creeped it way into API products.

Amazon - for whatever reason - is tricky in that up near the product description it eludes you are buying it from the vendor, when in fact you are getting it from some shady shop that isn't even authorized.  Here is an unrelated example:

[Pepere]

I didnt see anything to make me believe it was counterfeit, and the price of the item would not be too conducive to counterfeit. Rather I suspect perhaps the chemicals may have been subjected to temps out of range that caused 1 to go bad.

Seller provided a prompt refund.

rather than repurchase through amazon I opted to buy from a large online aquarium supply store that shall not be named…

I would have bought from the co op, except I needed some other supplies the big online store carried and the coop doesnt.  I bought some Maracyn 2 which is effective for gram negative bacteria so is nice to have on hand if the Erthromyicin maracyn doesnt work.  And I got a 40 ounce activated carbon which I like for use removing meds.