Learning to Use API Tests -- I'm an Idiot!!!

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iapetus

Large Fish
#1
Jan 15, 2008
572
0
0
34:09:39N, 118:08:19W
#1
So, first of all, I want to apologize to any of you who've read my past claims that my tanks show 0 ppm nitrates. Something always did seem a little bizarre about that reading, but I couldn't see anything I was doing wrong ... until last night!!! :mad:

I noticed that the nitrites on my 29G suddenly dropped to zero from 2 ppm (that seems a bit odd, too, but others have described precipitous drops before). Looks to me like it's cycled! :) I'm going to give it a couple of days before adding fish. So, that's the good news.

Then I decided to have a look at my nitrates. That's when I re-read the nitrate instructions! :eek: D'oh!!! You're supposed to shake the second bottle of nitrate solution, not the test tube with the solution already added! And, yeah, you guessed it: nitrates showed up in hearty numbers in the 29G and my 10G (I didn't check the 2.5G QT tank -- too scared ;)). Good thing I've been doing regular water changes, despite believing that I had no nitrates.

So, clearly there's something in solution in bottle #2 of the API nitrate test. And, given that I've been adding just the solvent and not the solute all this time, I'm guessing that I shouldn't trust the numbers that I got yesterday from the nitrate test (the ratios between the solvent and solute must be all out of whack). So, I'll be going to the LCS tonight to pick up an API nitrate test. I'll cross-calibrate to see what I believe. The other benefit of doing that is that it should come with another pipette. Those things are so flimsy! I've already broken two of the four.

Well, I feel like a complete moron about this. Shake bottle #2. Seems simple. Seems like a simple mistake that a noob might make. That's why I'm putting this in the beginner information/questions section. Sorry about any confusion I may have caused in previous posts.
 

I

iapetus

Large Fish
#4
Jan 15, 2008
572
0
0
34:09:39N, 118:08:19W
#4
brooklynfish said:
Are you kidding me!? THATS how you have to do it?! Wow, its been 10 months now and I still didn't know that.[gets up and goes to check tests]
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Yeah. To be explicit:

  1. add 10 drops from bottle #1 to pipette
  2. shake bottle #2 for 30 seconds
  3. add 10 drops from bottle #2 to pipette
  4. shake pipette for one minute
  5. read the color of the water in the pipette off the supplied chart
People may bag on the dip strips, but at least they're simple to use (my fiancée doesn't understand why I bother with the API tests).
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#5
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#5
I sometimes use the nitrate strips, just because they're faster. If I suspect a tank has high nitrates, at least I can get an idea from the strip. AP nitrate kits are hard to read above 40ppm, IMO. If it's red, time for a water change :)
 

F

Fishandfrogs

Medium Fish
#6
Jan 19, 2008
70
0
0
#6
that API kit comes with The instructions booklet that no one wants to read, but after the first time reading you can just turn over the Color reference cards and they have the instructions in picture form. makes it easier
 

djbids

djbids

Medium Fish
#7
Feb 2, 2008
56
0
0
Cayucos Beach, California
#7
haha....I have been doing water tests for 6 weeks and each time reading the booklet. Only last night did I turn over the cards and see in simple instructions the same thing....I guess we get to focused on one task. And that was before I dropped the glass cover from my tank on my foot and had it break on my floor....and this is supposed to be fun....I know patience! I finally have nitrites after 6weeks. A learning process and still waiting for a complete cycle...
 

djbids

djbids

Medium Fish
#8
Feb 2, 2008
56
0
0
Cayucos Beach, California
#8
Testing Nitrates Wrong

iapetus said:
Yeah. To be explicit:

  1. add 10 drops from bottle #1 to pipette
  2. shake bottle #2 for 30 seconds
  3. add 10 drops from bottle #2 to pipette
  4. shake pipette for one minute
  5. read the color of the water in the pipette off the supplied chart
People may bag on the dip strips, but at least they're simple to use (my fiancée doesn't understand why I bother with the API tests).
Click to expand...
oh my gosh....I too went and retested my water the correct way and I could tell I had nitrates right away. Thanks so much for sharing. Your error shared with other newbies like myself will save me so much time and frustration. I have only been testing for nitrates for a week and I too showed 0 because I was shaking the test tube for 30 sec not the bottle. My reading is 10. thanks again.*thumbsups
 

I

iapetus

Large Fish
#10
Jan 15, 2008
572
0
0
34:09:39N, 118:08:19W
#10
Fishandfrogs said:
that API kit comes with The instructions booklet that no one wants to read, but after the first time reading you can just turn over the Color reference cards and they have the instructions in picture form. makes it easier
Click to expand...
Uh, yeah. I found those, too. I just never noticed that the cartoon had someone shaking the bottle (or, now that I think about it, maybe I did and thought that was a mistake -- embarrassing).

djbids said:
oh my gosh....I too went and retested my water the correct way and I could tell I had nitrates right away. Thanks so much for sharing. Your error shared with other newbies like myself will save me so much time and frustration. I have only been testing for nitrates for a week and I too showed 0 because I was shaking the test tube for 30 sec not the bottle. My reading is 10. thanks again.*thumbsups
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Thanks for saying so. Thanks for everyone who has. I still feel silly that I've been making this mistake for so many weeks, but I'm happy that I've helped someone. :)
 

Kissyboots

Kissyboots

Superstar Fish
#11
Dec 17, 2007
1,889
1
36
Arizona
cid-461aece5d238e494.spaces.live.com
#11
I did the same thing the first time I tested. But when I did it right the reading didn't change...hmmm...

But my card says as follows:

1. add 10 drops of #1
2. shake solution
3. shake #2 for 30 sec.
4. add 10 drops of #2
5. shake solution one min.
6. wait five min.
7. read

Did you shake after adding #1? Did you wait five minutes before reading? I screwed that whole thing up the first time I did it...hehe :D
 

Lone Wolff

Lone Wolff

Medium Fish
#12
Feb 4, 2008
73
0
0
Lincoln, NE
#12
Well, I never had an issue with the instructions but I did have a problem with the caps for the test tubes never being tight enough. Every time I go to shake the tube for the Nitrate test for 60 seconds, it would always leak down the side.

So I finally got fed up and went to the hardware store and bought 3 rubber stoppers that fit down inside the tubes, not just capping over the outside.
Now when I have to shake the tubes, there's no mess.

If anyone else has that problem with their caps being so loose that they leak, try the rubber stoppers. They were only $.19 each at the local Ace Hardware.
 

Whiskers

Whiskers

Large Fish
#13
Feb 29, 2008
425
1
18
central Michigan USA
#13
Good call Lone wolff. Wish i wish i had thought of that. I've had that problem too and i'm sure we aren't the only ones. i adventually went to test strips to get away from the mess and using all the drops.
 

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I

iapetus

Large Fish
#15
Jan 15, 2008
572
0
0
34:09:39N, 118:08:19W
#15
Whiskers said:
Good call Lone wolff. Wish i wish i had thought of that. I've had that problem too and i'm sure we aren't the only ones.
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No, you're not the only ones! And, yes, good call; it's a really annoying problem. I'm dropping by the hardware store tomorrow to have them cut some glass to serve as a cover for my 2.5G. Maybe I'll look into some rubber stoppers, too. *thumbsup2
 

E

emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
#16
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#16
wait? what?! lol. I've never followed those instructions... I just

1. Add 10 drops of Soln 1
2. Add 10 drops of Soln 2
3. Shake
4. Wait 5 minutes
5. Read


I still get nitrate readings though. When I get home, I'm going to check the instructions, and do the tests both ways!!!!
 

brian1973

brian1973

Superstar Fish
#17
Jan 20, 2008
2,001
3
38
Corpus Christi, Texas
#17
well that does explain alot,I have often questioned how you had 0 nitrates, thanks for posting it since seems more than just you has made this mistake. Plus clears up the mystery of why i see others with 0 Nitrates and mine stay around 5ppm in a planted and lightly stocked tank.

FYI I have a hard time distingushing between the colors on some of the cards, so i hold the test tube up in front of the color stripes and it makes it easier for me to tell the difference.
 

Kissyboots

Kissyboots

Superstar Fish
#18
Dec 17, 2007
1,889
1
36
Arizona
cid-461aece5d238e494.spaces.live.com
#18
brian1973 said:
well that does explain alot,I have often questioned how you had 0 nitrates, thanks for posting it since seems more than just you has made this mistake. Plus clears up the mystery of why i see others with 0 Nitrates and mine stay around 5ppm in a planted and lightly stocked tank.
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I'm sure some have seen my thread about me not having nitrates and then all of a sudden I do.

Summary: The test strips I used to use always gave me around 20ppm. Then I started the API and it always told me 0ppm. At the last wc, API tells me 5ppm on the 20g but not on the other two tanks. I am testing correctly, just like it says on the card. Did I miss something?? :confused:
 

I

iapetus

Large Fish
#19
Jan 15, 2008
572
0
0
34:09:39N, 118:08:19W
#19
brian1973 said:
well that does explain alot,I have often questioned how you had 0 nitrates, thanks for posting it since seems more than just you has made this mistake.
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Well, I am a little surprised that someone remembered my claiming this. Still, honesty and that slight possibility seemed to demand that I come clean. :eek:

brian1973 said:
FYI I have a hard time distingushing between the colors on some of the cards, so i hold the test tube up in front of the color stripes and it makes it easier for me to tell the difference.
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I have a very hard time with this if it's over 20 ppm. That's one of the things I like about using the strips.

Speaking of strips ...
Kissyboots said:
Summary: The test strips I used to use always gave me around 20ppm. Then I started the API and it always told me 0ppm. At the last wc, API tells me 5ppm on the 20g but not on the other two tanks. I am testing correctly, just like it says on the card. Did I miss something?? :confused:
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What are the gradations on the strips? Does it go from 0 ppm to 20 ppm? Or, does it have readings in between? Also, is it possible that you lowered your nitrate levels through water changes?
 

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