How important is light when you test your water with API kit

[AquaMate]

Hellow fellow reefers,

Newbie here and relatively new to the hobby. setting up a budget friendly bow front 46 gallon tank with 10 gallon sump, tank has been cycling for 3 weeks with dry rocks (was live before) and dry sands, dead shrimp was put in for ammonia and dosed Seachem stability for one week.

Sorry for my ignorance but my question is how important is lighting when it comes to testing water, I never get the colour as per API colour chart. Here are the pictures of my last test result. My assumption of Ammonia is between 0 to .25 ppm, Nitrite between 0 to .25 ppm, and the last two pictures are referring to Nitrate in two different lighting, one is with flash and one without. The colour I see physically is gold however in flash it is slightly reddish.

Many thanks,

 

[Spare time]

That ammonia is 0. With API you get a ballpark but I doubt there is ammonia present

 

[arturoo1977]

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrates between 20 and 40ppm. Your tank is cycled! Congrats

 

[ihavecrabs]

I’ve been told by an artist before that if you squint it is easier to tell which color matches the other. It works for me when I have to break out my test kits

 

[AquaMate]

I’ve been told by an artist before that if you squint it is easier to tell which color matches the other. It works for me when I have to break out my test kits

I should try this next time. thanks.

 

[AquaMate]

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrates between 20 and 40ppm. Your tank is cycled! Congrats

Thanks for clearing

 

[AquaMate]

That ammonia is 0. With API you get a ballpark but I doubt there is ammonia present

I put dead shrimp in the tank but never stank, I guess seachem stability was doing its job.