testing issues...

dinthbrgh · 09/10/2012, 06:23 PM

hi all!
if you recognize the name you might know about the issues i've had recently. if not, well...it really doesn't matter. i've been testing my water every day for about 2 weeks and the params were as expected. then the params kind of stalled for 2 days when i was really expecting changes. then tonight when i tested the n03 test stayed completely clear. no color at all...not even 0. it has been working fine until now. using red sea marine lab. so i ran out and picked up test strips just to compare. test strips pretty much agreed on all params except n02 and n03. strips said no2 was lower than red sea and n03 was ideal . red sea gave me no reading on no3.

normally i would trust the kit over the strips anyday, but i'm not too sure tonight. has anyone ever had test kit chems just stop working overnight?

thegrun · 09/10/2012, 07:19 PM

No, the decline is typically slow. Did you repeat the test with the Red Sea kit?

dinthbrgh · 09/10/2012, 08:07 PM

no, grun, i didn't. mostly because last night the test color was also very light. but it still showed a reading. it's just the color was very faint. tonight...completely clear...like water. i figure i'll check it again tomorrow.

i'm frustrated right now. at myself, at the lfs that sold me ammonia sw, at the lack of the nitrification process...just frustrated...feels like i'm not getting too much help here either. so...thank you for the reply!

thegrun · 09/10/2012, 08:32 PM

What are the issues (I don't mean to dredge up an old problem)?

09/10/2012, 06:23 PM	#1
dinthbrgh Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 163	testing issues... hi all! if you recognize the name you might know about the issues i've had recently. if not, well...it really doesn't matter. i've been testing my water every day for about 2 weeks and the params were as expected. then the params kind of stalled for 2 days when i was really expecting changes. then tonight when i tested the n03 test stayed completely clear. no color at all...not even 0. it has been working fine until now. using red sea marine lab. so i ran out and picked up test strips just to compare. test strips pretty much agreed on all params except n02 and n03. strips said no2 was lower than red sea and n03 was ideal . red sea gave me no reading on no3. normally i would trust the kit over the strips anyday, but i'm not too sure tonight. has anyone ever had test kit chems just stop working overnight?

09/10/2012, 07:19 PM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	No, the decline is typically slow. Did you repeat the test with the Red Sea kit?

09/10/2012, 08:07 PM	#3
dinthbrgh Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 163	no, grun, i didn't. mostly because last night the test color was also very light. but it still showed a reading. it's just the color was very faint. tonight...completely clear...like water. i figure i'll check it again tomorrow. i'm frustrated right now. at myself, at the lfs that sold me ammonia sw, at the lack of the nitrification process...just frustrated...feels like i'm not getting too much help here either. so...thank you for the reply!

09/10/2012, 08:32 PM	#4
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	What are the issues (I don't mean to dredge up an old problem)?