API Nitrate test kit, not good for salt water.

[anthonygf]

Hello fellow reefers. I use API master test kit for my fresh water cichlid tank. Just for curiosity sake I used the API Nitrate test for my reef and got zero, no nitrate. I have been using Salifert Nitrate test kit for my reef and my nitrate levels have been pretty steady around 25ppm for a couple years. What do you think about that? I hope new reefers see this and realize just because it says for fresh or salt water on the kit don't believe it. API is very good for fresh water but I would never use API for salt.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

API has a master test kit for freshwater and another one for saltwater.
I would not buy the freshwater kit and expect it to be accurate for saltwater, thats not its intention.

 

[anthonygf]

API has a master test kit for freshwater and another one for saltwater.
I would not buy the freshwater kit and expect it to be accurate for saltwater, thats not its intention.

You are wrong. The reagents are the same for fresh and salt. Just look at the box for API Nitrate Test kit, it says for fresh and salt.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello fellow reefers. I use API master test kit for my fresh water cichlid tank. Just for curiosity sake I used the API Nitrate test for my reef and got zero, no nitrate. I have been using Salifert Nitrate test kit for my reef and my nitrate levels have been pretty steady around 25ppm for a couple years. What do you think about that? I hope new reefers see this and realize just because it says for fresh or salt water on the kit don't believe it. API is very good for fresh water but I would never use API for salt.

These are known unreliable and I personally would not rely on a $24 master kit to sustain $200 or more of livestock. Hanna and Salifert kits rae reliable- Known reliable.
To assure you are not getting false readings, take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use Api kits and have them test for you to see what numbers they get and to compare with yours.

 

[anthonygf]

These are known unreliable and I personally would not rely on a $24 master kit to sustain $200 or more of livestock. Hanna and Salifert kits rae reliable- Known reliable.
To assure you are not getting false readings, take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use Api kits and have them test for you to see what numbers they get and to compare with yours.

I know my test kit (salifert) is accurate, I have compared it already. I am almost out of Salifert so I purchased the high range Hanna Nitrate tester with the $10 coupon and $3.00 in rewards off. I will still use Salifert for now and use the Hanna for back up and comparison. I know the numbers won't match exactly but will be useful.

 

[brandon429]

Anthony

Please when you get the digital tester, set it up then take and post a pic of each test kit on the same water sample with color cards in the background for non digital kits so we can visually see the range on readings

We track these ranges and the ranging reaction of tank owners to a given reading in our cycling threads. Pics showing you having 3x readouts on nitrate from 3x top popular kits will be helpful. I'm interested in the range the kits provide vs which one is right.

 

[anthonygf]

brandon429;
Certainly will. I know it will be helpful. I don't understand after all these years API can say on the box for fresh and salt water. I have been using API for around 40 years on my fresh. Thirty some years ago I set up a salt water tank with just sand and a few shells for my baby Panther Grouper. That is when I found out that API is not good for salt. Well a few months later I sold all my equipment to join the Army. For after 40 years API is still trying to sell this kit for salt water. Why?

 

[Spare time]

The color card is different in salt and fresh water.

 

[Spare time]

Also, why do you believe one to be accurate over the other? Consider what other factors might be in play. Could it be the one you compared the salifert too was also off? Possibly. I am not a fan of the API nitrate test as I need smaller increments of nitrate to be read. However, you have to consider that there is more than one possible answer than "api is bad"

 

[jrill]

API is fine when used properly, just like all the other test kits.

 

[anthonygf]

The color card is different in salt and fresh water.

Yes I know that. It came with the salt water test kit. But still the reagents are the same for fresh and salt. Trust me I tried it even though I have Hanna, Salifert and Red Sea test kits.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

brandon429;
Certainly will. I know it will be helpful. I don't understand after all these years API can say on the box for fresh and salt water. I have been using API for around 40 years on my fresh. Thirty some years ago I set up a salt water tank with just sand and a few shells for my baby Panther Grouper. That is when I found out that API is not good for salt. Well a few months later I sold all my equipment to join the Army. For after 40 years API is still trying to sell this kit for salt water. Why?

Well...I am assuming a 40 year old kit is past its expiration date so I would ask why they are trying to sell it too.

 

[anthonygf]

Also, why do you believe one to be accurate over the other? Consider what other factors might be in play. Could it be the one you compared the salifert too was also off? Possibly. I am not a fan of the API nitrate test as I need smaller increments of nitrate to be read. However, you have to consider that there is more than one possible answer than "api is bad"

I didn't say API was bad, just does not work for salt water. I get zero reading "0" on the API. I don't believe I have zero nitrate, but I am willing to buy the Hanna High range Nitrate test kit to confirm if I have nitrate or not. If the Hanna does confirm I have zero nitrate I will apologize. API is my favorite for fresh water, been using it for over 40 years.

 

[anthonygf]

Well...I am assuming a 40 year old kit is past its expiration date so I would ask why they are trying to sell it too.

What makes you think I am using a 40 year old test kit. I don't understand what you are trying to tell me. Their not trying to sell me anything, they are trying to sell to everyone-the general public. If I get a reading close to mine when I try the Hanna and confirm I do have close to 25ppm nitrate, then shame on API to still claim it is good for salt water after 40 years of being on the shelf.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

What makes you think I am using a 40 year old test kit. I don't understand what you are trying to tell me. Their not trying to sell me anything, they are trying to sell to everyone-the general public. If I get a reading close to mine when I try the Hanna and confirm I do have close to 25ppm nitrate, then shame on API to still claim it is good for salt water after 40 years of being on the shelf.

was playing on the semantics of your sentence.

For after 40 years API is still trying to sell this kit for salt water

 

[Reef.]

I find the API nitrate test reliable, gives me a reading close to that of the Hanna checker.

 

[Spare time]

I didn't say API was bad, just does not work for salt water. I get zero reading "0" on the API. I don't believe I have zero nitrate, but I am willing to buy the Hanna High range Nitrate test kit to confirm if I have nitrate or not. If the Hanna does confirm I have zero nitrate I will apologize. API is my favorite for fresh water, been using it for over 40 years.

Sounds good. I usually prefer to just pick one I can reliably read. I have the API, Red Sea Pro, Hanna HR, Salifert, and Nyos. They all vary slightly, but they also have very different ranges of precision, and different light, color vision, and such all impact the results. I currently use the hanna hr but with api reagents (its supposed to work, and in my experience it matches my nitrate levels last time I used their powder (I am going to buy more of their powder packets sometime). All of these test kits can vary depending on how professionall performed the tests are (i.e. perfect syring measurements, perfectly clean vials, exact amounts of powder, etc.).

 

[anthonygf]

Sounds good. I usually prefer to just pick one I can reliably read. I have the API, Red Sea Pro, Hanna HR, Salifert, and Nyos. They all vary slightly, but they also have very different ranges of precision, and different light, color vision, and such all impact the results. I currently use the hanna hr but with api reagents (its supposed to work, and in my experience it matches my nitrate levels last time I used their powder (I am going to buy more of their powder packets sometime). All of these test kits can vary depending on how professionall performed the tests are (i.e. perfect syring measurements, perfectly clean vials, exact amounts of powder, etc.).

Yes I know they are all a little off from one another. But to get a zero reading when the Salifert is 25? I was just curious what the API test would read, now I have to get another test kit to verify which one is more likely correct. I can't see how I can have zero nitrate, I have very little algae, my skimmer I run only at night and have the skimate dumping into the filter housing on the filter pad. I am pretty good now after 7 years of testing.

 

[anthonygf]

API has a master test kit for freshwater and another one for saltwater.
I would not buy the freshwater kit and expect it to be accurate for saltwater, thats not its intention.

The only difference between the kits is the color chart. The reagents are the same for both kits.

 

[brandon429]

Anthony the impact of non digital test kit readings on the hobby can't be understated.

We can easily search out kit comparison threads for nitrate where no fw/sw status is in question: the readouts range 100 ppm in some threads. I'm wanting to see how your tests respond across the spectrum of readouts.


Randy just wrote a new post recently on impacts of test misreading, for twenty years I've watched stalled cycle umpires in threads respond to every nh4 reading unquestioned: your bacteria aren't working do steps 1, 2 3 to restore them. Test readings are rarely challenged or verified.


What good does non digital parameter testing really do in the end, if simply purchasing another name brand gets you a 25-100 ppm accuracy spread


Are test kit owners here feeling assured of their readings, having never benchmarked on calibrated digital gear? How do they know their non digital reading is correct

I guess when the new digital nitrate checker gets in Anthony, you should mix up a known solution of nitrate off an Amazon order and verify the meter accuracy. Test kit skeptics won't believe it without that step.

Myself: I'd never bother measuring or responding to nitrate in a reef tank mine is kept clean enough all current nitrate is fine regardless of status. It's a param I'll never care to measure, that we're spending all this effort hashing for accuracy.

It's easy to just focus on strong suspended feed diversity, heavy export and low waste storage for the system and never own a nitrate test kit while growing so much coral sometimes you have to throw it away to make room for new growth. In the end that's what you're wanting, not the tinkering with various kits.