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#16
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which nitrate test kit is the best??
My Tetra goes from lemon yellow to red.
Fuchsia is from another way of measuring Nitrates... Philippe "Dave M. Picklyk" wrote in message news:40gqc.18370$j6.10667@edtnps84... Hi Graham, When holding the tube directly against the chart I get the weird off-color fucshia hue which doesn't match with any of the colors on the scale. When I hold it back it matches more. Maybe there is something in my water affecting the method of how the testing chemicals react...or maybe it's just a defunct kit? Dave. "Graham Broadbridge" wrote in message u... Hi Dave, One thing I forgot to mention about the Tetra test kit is that you must always follow the instructions which tell you to compare the colour when holding the test tube *against* the colour chart. If you hold the test tube even 1 inch from the chart you will see a paler colour which will mislead you. Many folks (myself included) expect a certain result and will move the test tube back and forward until it matches their expectations. If you do that the test is invalid. I've just diluted a test sample from my stock 20ppm to 5 ppm and again I can confirm that the test kit is accurate at 5ppm. Tom must have used an out of date test kit, as I cannot find anything wrong with the results from my Tetra Nitrate Test kit. Graham. BTW I have no association with the manufacturer - i just use their Phosphate and Nitrate Tests because they are nice and cheap. |
#17
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which nitrate test kit is the best??
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I found that most errors are in fact due to the defect on printing. I have many sets of colour charts of different brands, they all printed differently, and some really don't match at all. Cheers Kenneth "Dave M. Picklyk" ¦b¶l¥ó news:nOcqc.11447$RM.7002@edtnps89 ¤¤¼¶¼g... Hi Graham. Maybe the kits are different here in Canada. The color charts do not match at all very good with the sample in the tube. The water turns a fuschia-pink color while the chart colors are hues of purple. So I'm not sure if a brighter color of pink means a deeper darker color of purple or if it's a lighter color of purple since it's so bright??? Anyways, I'm looking into getting some LaMotte ones. Dave. "Graham Broadbridge" wrote in message ... " wrote in message om... Tetra kits are pretty much unless. Hi Tom, I've never disagreed with you before but I have to disagree with you in respect of the Tetra kits. They're cheap, yes - but in my experience they are accurate enough. I asked a friend of my who is a clinical pharmacologist to test the accuracy and she told me it was within the resolution. In other words, if the color of the test says 10ppm and the next higher and lower tests were 5 ppm and 20 ppm she said in her tests the color was accurate for 10ppm. After reading your post, I performed my own test. I created a solution of 3 teaspoons of KNO3 in 500 ml of water. I then diluted that as 1ml solution in 1000 ml of water which should result in 20 ppm nitrate. I asked my wife to then judge the color against the Tetra color chart and she said 20 without any input on my part. Maybe the tetra test sold here in Australia is different to the one in North America? In any case it seems accurate enough for me :-) Graham. Lamott test kits are one of the few worth while kits out there. Cost a lot more, but if you want something that actually measures the levels in a meaningful way, then it's worth it. Cheap NO3 and PO4 kits are, well, cheap. If you need to see if there's presence or absense, they are not really good there either. Seeing if a kit is any good is not too complicated, make a known solution with the weight of KNO3 to a known volume of water, then you can figure out how much NO3 is in there. Lamott held up well, I have not found others that do well in the ranges folks need for planted tanks, many times people think they have enough NO3 bwecause the kit reads 15ppm or something, when they are really at 0.0ppm and this can cause algae indirectly and other issues. Regards, Tom Barr -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *** Usenet.com - The #1 Usenet Newsgroup Service on The Planet! *** http://www.usenet.com Unlimited Download - 19 Seperate Servers - 90,000 groups - Uncensored -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |
#18
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which nitrate test kit is the best??
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#19
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which nitrate test kit is the best??
"ET69" wrote in message And that is the crux of the matter: What precision do you actually need. "Which nitrate test kit is the best??" can be explained as: "What test is the most precise?", but it could also mean: "What test gives me enough precision for my needs for the least amount of cost?" I use the Tetra/eSHa 5-in-1 test-strips as those give me a general idea of the Nitrate-levels in my freshwater tanks. It allows me to distinguish between 0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and over. For most of my tanks anything under 50ppm is just fine. The right answer depends on your requirements. Well said ET69--your answer is spot on. Horses for courses, as they say. |
#20
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which nitrate test kit is the best??
Just throwing in my 2 cents..
The Hagen/Nutrafin test are dreadful. The colour chart is terribly unhelpful and fades over time, so the bad match you already had ust gets worse. Their #3 reagent bottles were also defective for a long time. I don't really like Tetra tests because of their droppers (then again they may have changed them in the past few years) - the drops come too easily and too fast. I picked up an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals kit and so far I love it. The colour chart is easy to read (gets a little more tricky above 30-40ppm, but by then you probably want to be getting the siphon anyways). The charts are LAMINATED, so they won't discolour, and thus far they've seemed very accurate in both fresh and sal****er. I never know what chart to use for my brackish tank though. :P |
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