Sulfur Reactors and test kits

[IrishReef]

Hello I am some what new here on reef to reef ...I just added a DIY sulfur reactor to my 90 gallon tank
I have been testing tank water and also water leaving the reactor. The reactor is set for about one drip per second as I cycle the unit..as of now I am reading 0 ppm out...But here is the kicker I can't explain
this I get two different reading with two different kits. One kit is a api test kit for nitrates it will test 0 ppm in tank and at out flow of reactor. My other test kit is a red sea test kit. This kit is maxed out on the nitrates for tank and reactor ...What test kit do I believe ???? Would sulfur cause false tests
any help would be great
Thank you Fellow reefers

 

[robert]

With the API kits, you really have to shake the vile vigourously after each reagent...I mean vigourously and for probably 15-30 seconds for each reagent and then wait 5 minutes to get a reading. If you don't shake enough you can get zero even with high nitrates.

You may also test both kits against some distilled or rodi water...if the red-sea kit still says nitrate is present...its bad.

I've used API to test the effluent from my sulphur reactor and never had a problem with picking up nitrate readings...after I learned how hard you have to shake the test between steps...

If I had to guess...I'd say the red-sea test is probably correct...it will take a while before the denotrstor kicks in...as much as two weeks...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The only potential issue is that the effluent might falsely appear to have higher nitrate than the tank with some kits if there is nitrite in the effluent.