API Nitrate test completely unreliable!

[CrunchyLeaf]

Like i said I've been keeping logs since march 11th (been cycling since feb 25th) or so when I got my master test kit; you know water changes when I added filter media from my pet shop which they were nice enough to give me 2 large pieces. So I really hope I can order at least 7 corys by the 1st of next month.

What else are you stocking this tank with? I would recommend adding your other fish first and the cories last. They are more susceptible to ammonia and nitrites because they are bottom dwellers so it would be good to let that cycle stabilize.

[Rocksor]

Do you look at the vial with the white part of the card against it (touching) when comparing to the chart?

[richberstler]

I rinse mine thoroughly under the sink after, then next time I fill the vial I rinse again a couple times with tank water. I also shake the chems and vials like hell and take water from just below the water surface, maybe a few inches.

[richberstler]

BTW I also wrap the vial in a paper towel because the shaking does sometimes leak a bit...

[CrunchyLeaf]

BTW I also wrap the vial in a paper towel because the shaking does sometimes leak a bit...

I do that too. Mine leak out the caps when I shake them.

[dmagerl]

I don't just shake the heck out of it, I whack it on a table top or my knee while shaking. And dont get me started on the misprinted color card where the colors for 10 and 20ppm are identical. I use a color card that's several years old with the correct colors printed on it.

Oh yeah, not shaking it doesn't just affect the current test in progress. It throws off all future tests too as the concentration of zinc particles in bottle 2 changes. So if you havent adequately shaken the bottle in a while, you might as well discard the bottles and buy a new test kit.

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't shake my tests at all. I simply invert the bottle a couple time. What will skew with your results is not waiting the 5 minutes after liquids are mixed ........OR.........not rinsing out the glass vials well enough after previous test. I rinse those vials out 2-3 times.

API is very accurate and reliable and the most used test kit.

[FishGuy67]

Seems like alot of others have issues, I thought mine were messed up because of them leaking sometimes. Thanks to all the helpful advice I got the test to be stable and reliable finally; I just wish the goddamn colors you match to the vial weren't so similar, I find myself guessing sometimes or logging it down as in between.

On the note of what to stock first that CrunchyLeaf brought up; 7-10 stebra corys, 8-10 tetras (waiting to hear what I can order at my LFS) ideally red phatoms, a GBR, and a high end dwarf pleco. Maybe instead of the corys first I should go with the tetras. I'm 4 weeks in and have 2 left before I can get my fish.

Atm I'm in the nitrite spike stage hopefully by 2 weeks my nitrites are really low or gone and I can get the tetras first instead of the corys? I have seed media from the pet shop so I'm hoping that speeds it up a bit or I might not be ordering anything at all on the first.