On Sat, 09 Jul 2005 09:08:28 GMT, Cyril The Squirrel wrote:

Very interesting Jan, I've just checked my Ammonia kit and it is out of
date (86A1101). A long time out of date and it probably was when I
bought it so without checking the others I'd say they were all out of
date. I bought the kit over the internet

I've had better luck over the net than locally. I usually write the company
a note in the comments area (if they have one) regarding the lot no. and
not to send me any old test kits. If they don't have a comments area I
write them an E prior to ordering. Nutrafin produced by Hagen out of
Canada.... now those kits don't try to hide their dates in a Lot No. They
have the expiration date right on the box and claim they last longer than 2
years. Last summer I purchased their pH kit with an expiration date of
7/2008 on it. In my case, I go thru pH faster than anything else, using
most to all of it in a season as I compare pH in pond & tanks when moving
fish in or out.

As far as using them after the date. When we had the KHA class, the older
ones were less accurate when using a standard to test them against. Strips
being the worst, since they're so sensitive to being left in the sun, heat,
cold and they just die after the expiration date (had that happen to me, so
I don't waste the money on them any more).

By the way, the fish eventually died

Sorry to hear about the fish, but nice to know there was a reason that you
couldn't have prevented. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~