Either my test kit is broken, or I have some serious problems.

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The LOT number at the top of API test kit bottles are the date of manufacture. The API test kits typically expire 3 to 4 years after the date of manufacture depending on the type of test kit. These were the expiration periods that I found from API:

Ammonia Test Solution # 1 - 3 Years
Ammonia Test Solution # 2 - 3 Years
High Range pH Indicator Solution - 3 Years
Nitrate Test Solution # 1 - 3 Years
Nitrate Test Solution # 2 - 3 years
GH Test Solution - 3 Years
Calcium Test Solution #1 - 3 Years
Calcium Test Solution #2 - 3 Years
Phosphate Test Solution #1 - 3 Years
Phosphate Test Solution #2 - 3 Years
Copper Test Solution - 3 Years
KH Test Solution - 4 Years
Nitrite Test Solution - 4 Years
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My test kits should be fine, the date is 10/10
 
Carefree_Dude;5091264; said:
My test kits should be fine, the date is 10/10
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I still hope its the kit haha

For now, add a bunch of potho plants to the tank haha
 
the honest truth is that there is NO safe level of nitrate.. we do water changes to keep it as low as we can, but that is all we are doing. but because it's not caustic or poisonous like ammonia and nitrite are and keeping plants alive in an aquarium is so difficult for some of us (me too.. i kill em all). we are left with doing our best through water changes.

it's kinda like smoking.. if you smoke, you KNOW it's bad for you, but your world is so filled with the smoke that you don't realize how terribly it is affecting your life. and it doesn't kill you right away, it takes it's time and slowly, and quite often painfully kills you.

this is why testing your water and doing water changes is so very important.
 
alright, my test kit was bad. finally got a water sample down to petco, where they used test strips. came up with almost no nitrate in the water. didn't bother with my tanks water, just tested tap water. I went ahead and bought a new API test kit. according to my new test kit, the nitrate in my tap water is <10ppm, and my tank water in my largest tank is <20ppm. I sent an email asking for replacements for my bad ones.
 
did you shake bottle 2 of the nitrate kit like mad? slam it on the table a few times the contents like to become solid in there and then your test goes falsly low. could happen with a test kit that has been sitting on the shelf in a store a long time. i know the people at petsmart does not frequently buy test kits, they cost more than their 20g tanks!
 
Good to hear you don't have 80ppm out of the tap! That would have just been ridiculous. What level of nitrates is safe is highly debated. Me personally, I don't like to have my fish living in poison, even if it's low levels, so I aim to keep it as low as possible. Nitrates in my discus tank are between 0-5ppm.
 
I shake the bottle real roughlike. I shake the tube so rough, some of the contents get out, and I have to shake them in paper towels.

Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
 
Carefree_Dude;5105043; said:
I shake the bottle real roughlike. I shake the tube so rough, some of the contents get out, and I have to shake them in paper towels.

Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
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The idiot who designed the caps for the glass tubes on the API kits should be shot. I ruined a brand new white shirt the very first time I shook it. The cap fits in as good as a drunken homeless man at a formal wedding. :irked:
 
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