Do the liquid test kits go bad?

[Robin12265]

I have an older test kit (I don't know exactly when I bought it). It's an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit. When I test my water it says 0 for ammonia (colorless per the color card) and my nitrite also says 0 (light blue per the color card), but when I took some water into my LFS they said my ammonia and nitrites are really high!

I follow the instructions to the letter (correct number of drops/correct timing etc), so I know it's not HOW I do it. Could the chemicals have gone bad?

[gm72]

The reagents do go bad but I'm not sure as to the time span. I would think maybe after a year and a half to 2 years?

[sailor]

I am waiting for a reply to an email I sent to Aquarium Pharmaceuticals yesterday on this subject so I will post their answer once I get it.


Sailor

[smaug]

Most certainly,I had an issue with the nitrate test,it said I had liquid fertilaizer for water LOL [40-50] a professional water company tested me at 3-5 .I only had mine for 4 months lord only knows how long it was at the LFS on the shelf though.I have since switched to salifert tests with much better results.

[NickFish]

lol you've jinxed me!
There's been a couple posts on expired tests in the past few days, and doing my nitrite test just a few minutes ago found it at 5ppm. That's odd because my fish aren't dead! Its been at 0 forever so i can safely assume the test has expired. I think i had that one for about 8 months.