Should I buy new test kit and calibration fluid?

booth2010 · May 26, 2015

So I found my box of fish stuff in non-insulated storage unit. It has been there for a little over a year. In it was my Dr. Tim's Aquatics Ammonium Chloride, Aqua Craft Refractometer Calibration Fluid, and API Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit.

My question is, should I replace all of these or are some of them still okay to use?

I plan on buying the Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit by the time I start adding fish and corals but for cooking my rock and cycling the tank will the API still be okay or could the age of the product and the heat it was in (most likely never over 110) have made the product more inaccurate that it already was? Again just using it for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite while cycling. The same goes for the ammonia and calibration fluid, should I just replace or any chance theyre still okay to use?

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 27, 2015

If the refractometer fluid did not evaporate, it is OK.

Ammonium chloride is OK (presumably this is for cycling?).

Some of the kits may be getting old, but you can always double check them against a new kit and if it is close enough, then still use it.

booth2010 · May 27, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Ammonium chloride is OK (presumably this is for cycling?).

Yes its the ammonia source I used when I set up my last tank, didnt want the smell of rotting shrimp. It worked well.

Thanks Randy, I pretty much figured it was all fine. I do plan on getting a new test kit as mentioned so I will use what I have to test while curing the rock and in a few weeks buy the Red Sea kit.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 27, 2015

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.

pickupman66 · May 27, 2015

If it were me, considering the relative in-expensiveness of salinity calibration fluid, I would buy new. I used an old bottle I had laying around and ended up calibrating my equipment to 31 ppt. YIKES>... just food for thought.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 27, 2015

pickupman66 said:
If it were me, considering the relative in-expensiveness of salinity calibration fluid, I would buy new. I used an old bottle I had laying around and ended up calibrating my equipment to 31 ppt. YIKES>... just food for thought.

What brand?

Not sure how that could have happened. It implies that water entered the bottle and the volume increased by 13%. The chemicals cannot go bad.

Perhaps it was bad or contaminated before storage.