no3 test kit advise.

XNavyDiver · Feb 7, 2018

I've always used the RS Pro kit for no3 testing. The problem I've had with this kit is the final color rendition and it's interpretation on the color wheel. The final color has always been a light shade of violet, and the color comparison wheel is shades of pink. It's a slight difference, but a difference none the less, and I've always felt that I'm guessing as to which color on the wheel it most resembles to get a value. For a while now I've been logging values between 8 and 12 ppm.
I'm looking for experienced users of other no3 test kits such as Nyos or Salifert, which I've never used before. What would be nice to hear and would motivate me to switch are statements that the final color rendition is the exact same you see on the comparison chart, etc....
Or, are they all equally flawed and stick with what I have?

Twocoralsonetank · Feb 7, 2018

I usually carry two kits just in case I need to see what going on and want to confirm my findings. However with NO3 not much difference between 8 -12 or 10 - 20. Most of those levels wont hurt anything. Now if you see a 20 to 30 point jump then I would test with another kit. Usually those big jumps are easy to see in the color chart.

WWIII · Feb 7, 2018

I use salifert and it's a good kit, but it is a bit of a guessing game just like the red sea kit. It works well to tell if your N03 is really high or really low. The jn between leaves a lot to interpretation. Once the N03 is very low, you are able to look through the side to get an amplified color view that you can then get a better idea of how low N03 actually is. Basically you can tell if N03 is 10, 5, or 0. The in between values is really just interpreted by the user. I do think the kit is pretty accurate and I can tell when my N03 is where I want it, but beyond that it's a lot of interpretation.

I also have the Giesmann kit. I really like it for accuracy below 5ppm, but it takes 20 mins to do (waiting time) the low end colors are more distinguishable to me but only when N03 is between 0 and 4.

XNavyDiver · Feb 7, 2018

WWIII said:
I use salifert and it's a good kit, but it is a bit of a guessing game just like the red sea kit. It works well to tell if your N03 is really high or really low. The jn between leaves a lot to interpretation. Once the N03 is very low, you are able to look through the side to get an amplified color view that you can then get a better idea of how low N03 actually is. Basically you can tell if N03 is 10, 5, or 0. The in between values is really just interpreted by the user. I do think the kit is pretty accurate and I can tell when my N03 is where I want it, but beyond that it's a lot of interpretation.

I also have the Giesmann kit. I really like it for accuracy below 5ppm, but it takes 20 mins to do (waiting time) the low end colors are more distinguishable to me but only when N03 is between 0 and 4.

Thank you for the info on the Salifert kit. I'll look up some info on the Giesmann kit I'm unfamiliar with it.