Because it's very hard to justify paying $40 for 1 test. I would be ok with paying $10 but not $40. If I had a shop and was making money off of this stuff, yeah. However, I'd probably buy the equipment to do my own icp test. But not for a little 50 gallon aquarium. If everything dies, I'll probably go fish only and get a lionfish, valintini puffer, and snowflake.
Thank you for the insight. I hate to hear that since I find it hard to trust my test results. That just means I don't know how to test the accuracy of my test results either. One reason I checked my fresh mixed water is because someone told me that having a bunch of rocks could throw off my test results. I couldn't find anything about that online to back that up though. I'm finding there's a lot of inconsistencie everywhere I turn. I would think the an inch is an inch but yet a milliliter is not equal to a milliliter just like a drop is not always equal to a drop. Just put 5ml from a surenge into the 5ml api test tube or a medicine cap and or watch the rain hit your windshield you'll see they are not the same. And the room for human error is how many people from the people who make the materials that develop the test kits to the delivery driver from fedx that couldn't deliver frozen ice cream in Alaska or find his own mommas house. McDonald's is an expert at making hamburgers but they'll mess that up almost every single time. I thought the science community would be a bit more accurate but come to think of it, when was the last time we trusted a new medicine on the market. Artifical intelligence says that api is the most trusted test kit sooooo, yeah.
I'll admit, I'm very skeptical of any new drugs on the market. There's lots of lawsuits and recalls all the time and sometimes not until many years down the road. I don't discourage the practice nor am I saying that I'll never take medicine or eat a McDonald's hamburger. I'm just saying that yes, there is much room for human error and it's all over the place, even with the equipment you work with. For instance, you may trust your digital readouts even though you didn't Program your computer or machine. You may trust a chemicals or supplier to send you things without contamination out of simple trust or reputation. Just like we trust our authority figures to give accurate information and build facts off of believes that what they are telling us is true. It's called blind faith my friend. We all do it. I'm not without fault by any means. I guess I will never really know what my Magnesium is unless I spend $40 on an icp test and believe with blind faith that the lab does their job right and none of the equipment was contaminated during the manufacturing process or delivery route. But to be sincere, I think people in your field are very intelligent. I have no doubt that the majority of you work with the best of intentions and take many precautions and because of your works and efforts, prolonged more lives than the adverse. But you can't say I'm wrong. Nor did you. You just have more confidence than me. But thank you for what you contribute at the same time. I'll be running for a Tylenol as soon as I have a headache.
