does anyone use aquarium pharmaceuticals test kits?

[Angryeric116]

i have been gettin strange reading from my aquarium pharmaceuticals nitrite test kit, i fill the test tube to the line, add five drops, and wait. it used to give readings that were just fine, but now the water turns dark purple right away, and before the five minutes that they say to wait the water goes from dark purple to either green or a greyish color!
any help?
~Angryeric

 

[Lotus]

It sounds to me like there is something wrong with the test. Try it on tapwater or de-ionized/distilled water if you have some, just to check that it isn't working right.

If you just bought it, I would call AP and complain. They often send out new ones if you have a problem with them.

 

[Angryeric116]

i sent a complaint to ap at almost the same time i made the thread. i may have mixed up the test tubes for my ammonia and nitrite kits, but i dont see why that would make a diffrence since they bolth need the same amount of water to test with (the fill line is the same on bolth) and i always rinse bolth thorughly after each test
~AngryEric
Ps thanks for the help

 

[Lotus]

I always use the test tubes for different tests after rinsing them, so I don't think it should have caused that problem. It sounds to me like your test is out of date or somehow messed up in another way.

 

[revfred]

Yes, should make no diff if you rinse the tubes well in tap water, and then rinse again before use in the aquarium water ... discard the aquarium water you rinse it with. Rinse the caps as well. Some kits may have exceeded their shelf-life or if the bottle caps were loose, the indicator chem may have oxidized. Are you getting funky readings on the other tests?

 

[Angryeric116]

no, only with my nitrIte test kit.
i hope i get a new one quick! how am i gonna know when my fishless Cycle is done! Eeep!

 

[Angryeric116]

nope, just my nitrIte other than that everything is fine.
i hope i can get a new one soon, my fishless Cycle should be coming to an end soon
~AngryEric

 

[Angryeric116]

oops i accidentally posted twice crappy school computers...

 

[revfred]

Hmmmm... maybe check a water sample at your LFS for nitrites and see if you get the same readings. I know from using an AP test kit that if the nitrites readings are high, you will get "purple" almost instantaneously without waiting the five minutes. It seems to me that if the rest of the test chemicals are OK, that it would be unlikely that the nitrite indicator solution is bad, unless it was the only one that may have had a loose cap.

 

[Angryeric116]

Well i tested my tapwater and it worked fine,
If i test my tankwater it goes dark purple like i said for the first 30-sec to 1min then it dosent go green or grey now it is reading like there are no nitrites.... so im not shure what to think about that... should i wait on getting fish or should i go for it and trust the test
~AngryEric

 

[bigfoot150]

Your best bet is to have it tested by your lfs just like mentioned above. You may have high nitrites and that indicator is just going on to the next color range even though it is not indicated on the chart. It maybe correct but you still should have it verified by your lfs. It certaintly can't hurt.