That is correct. But the instructions are to use the low range when the result appears to be less than 10 because I believe the color differentiation between 2, 5 and 10 is difficult to read. So then when you read through the side for this "low range", the color is more intense and thereby easier to read. The color differences are more dramatic between 25, 50 and 100 than they are between 2, 5 and 10. I think the suggestion of looking from the side is to help differentiate between an absolute value of 2, 5 and 10. And although if one had really good color detection skills, one might be able to read .2 or .5 or 1--but I think the goal in looking through the side is truly to differentiate between 2, 5 and 10.
But that goes back to my original question, can a hobbyist test kit differentiate between 1 ppm and be accurate and precise. I don't know what the limit is or is not. Certainly Triton does not give nitrate information. I don't think API has a low range beyond 0, 5, 10 and 20 and that leads to red sea pro. Red sea states its margin of error is .125 ppm but its color pie chart goes from 2ppm to 4 ppm and if above 4 ppm then a dilution is required. Once again, I question their margin of error and accuracy except perhaps when total NO3 is less than 1, then maybe at that point it is very precise.
Again the point of this is not to knock test kits but simply to question there accuracy and precision. And of course, try to understand what are the ideal ranges that can be described for nitrate management. If one can't measure it accurately because of testing limitations then it becomes difficult to talk about very small ranges that may have a relative large range of error. I am not saying that is the case, I am actually asking the question. And I think asking questions and sharing information and thoughts is great. But it is important to separate conjecture from fact. One way or another we all experiment with our tanks but that does not necessarily make our results either scientific or useful to any other tank. I think we need to discriminate between our best guess and science.
My experience is that zero nitrates is not good. And I aim for 10 ppm or less. I would like to be both more accurate and precise but I am not convinced that test kits differentiate well under 10 ppm. Most of us who have fish, and feed those fish generally have nitrates unless there is lots of export. Export in my mind includes any or all of the following: skimming, water changes, algae removal (scrubber or refugium) and carbon dosing. I just have not seen a tank with out carbon dosing, that has low nitrates. But since there are so many threads about this issue, I obviously stand corrected.
whoa. that is a lot said there. but hey. cant blame ya and you have some "ok" points. others, not so much.
anyway. ill show you .1ppm no3 i was talking about.
could call it 0 right? nah... let me show you "true" zero.
bad test?
back to .1
most hobbiests start with api. well that could be misleading. so can regular red sea kit. they do not have the granularity wihout the wheel.
notice how readable the pro kit is rather than rs or the api. they almost show 0. pro says "whoa buddy! you dosed nitrate!"
this is my reading today. yup. gotta dose nitrate, however im doing it slowly because of my previous dino issue "i cant even get rid of". not sure if this is a real jab at my husbandry practices or not.
when corals go from this
to
it shows my terrible husbandry practices doesnt it? unfortunately corals can go downhill quickly, but are slow to recover. so forgive me if im not throwing out totm photos.
...but hey. dont take my word for it. we have befores and afters of other's who are running it.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/help-my-sps-are-paling-and-i-dont-know-what-to-do.210035/
as far as the triton suggestion. i "assumed" that a full test included nitrate. it had tin, manganese, aluminum, etc. thats why we have forums. where people can point that out. i have even admitted i dont use triton but a lot of my good friends here do, and i trust their judgement.
if you have a beef with me we can settle it with a phone call, or we can play keyboard cowboy in private. i and others have personally seen the effects of 0 nitrate. others have been plagued with it for years until they started dosing the stuff. instead of the standard "just wait it out. itll settle" response. or the lower light, water change, drop po4, etc etc etc......
hope this clarifies things and that no hard feelings are felt, as i am genuinely not here to mess with anybody, and actually help through my experiences.
ps: notice all those tests are under 1 ppm short of the dosed which was 2. THAT is a tight ship.
-russ
