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Glock23
03/07/2012, 11:55 PM
For the liquid test results, do you hold the test again the white part of the chart under bright light? I noticed my color is darker in a weaker light which can make my parameters higher. How much bright light you need?

bjensen1253
03/08/2012, 12:10 AM
i always hold it up to the color chat typically if it in that range it will almost be completely transparent to it

Glock23
03/08/2012, 12:18 AM
if my bathroom lights are on, the color is darker than when i hold it up to desk light.

bjensen1253
03/08/2012, 12:28 AM
just hold it along the color lines showing you should almost not be able to tell a difference from the test paper through the tube it will blend, as far as light goes... idk i think your making it difficult lol

iwishtofish
03/08/2012, 12:36 AM
I have found it extremely frustrating to try to decipher the colors with the pH test kit. If I hold the tube against the white of the card, it reads completely different than if I hold it a couple inches away. And all that changes, either method, if the lighting is different or coming from different angles. Drives me nuts. I ended up buying a pH monitor.

Maybe I ought to get my tank pH from the PinPoint monitor, and then use the API kit (unless I threw it out, lol). The perhaps I could figure out exactly hot to read it! :)

No problem with the color changing kits, like alk or Ca.

reefest
03/08/2012, 02:03 AM
I also use API and am having a hard time reading the results. it does say put against the paper but i dont think that helps

Danny_B
03/08/2012, 03:08 AM
i had the same question, i emailed them. this is the response.

Thank you very much for contacting us regarding our products. All of your comments and questions are valuable. We use your feedback to create the most effective line of aquarium and pond products available.

Danny to determine the correct level you will want to hold the test tube directly against the white background of the color card and look through the test tube.

If you have any other questions or wish to discuss this further, please email back or give us a call at 1-800-847-0659.

Best Regards,

Nathan Fekula
Technical Service and Research
Mars Fishcare

All6Fish
03/08/2012, 06:01 AM
HaHaHAHA no kidding Nathan...............Guess he miss the point of the question and used an auto reply to a question they must get alot. Dont stress your self, normal lighting and hold it against the color coded section you shouldnt make it harder than it is.


Good luck

iwishtofish
03/08/2012, 08:33 AM
I still don't think it is quite that easy. You can hold the vial directly against the card, but, at least IME, if you change the orientation of the card/vial to the light source, the shade of color changes.

Maybe I'm the only one with that problem, haha.

BigCountry74
03/08/2012, 08:49 AM
No, API is cheap. Unfortunately we all get sucked into buying them because they are a pretty good bang for the buck if your desperate...lol

Their NO3 test is off though. It's always 10-15PPM less than my Sera test kit! For example, it always reads yellow (zero), but my Sera will read 10-15...crazy!

I think some of their kits are just scaled down too low for big tanks. NO3 for example needs more than 5ML of water. 10ML I think to get a good test.

iwishtofish
03/08/2012, 09:37 AM
Great. I just but an NO3 test yesterday - yes, because it was cheap. Well, I imagine it will tell me if my NO3 is off the charts! :)

Glock23
03/08/2012, 09:49 AM
I was doing the phosphate test, i swear all the green shades look alot.....probay cuz i am part colorblind.

cjk76
03/08/2012, 10:53 AM
This is why I bought a few Hanna checkers. They work awesome! Too bad they don't make magnesium or nitrate tests yet...

bnumair
03/08/2012, 01:07 PM
i hold the test and chart side by side in daylight.

TL1000RSquid
03/08/2012, 05:45 PM
This is why I bought a few Hanna checkers. They work awesome! Too bad they don't make magnesium or nitrate tests yet...

I just got one of the ph hanna's pretty cool I plan on to slowly switch over to them. Be nice if they put out a combo kit with a bit of price break.

I hold my tubes against the white on the cards for the api tests.

zigzag1
03/08/2012, 06:00 PM
If using the API Nitrate test kit, shake the component number two for 5 minutes or more. It is really difficult to get the active ingredient into solution properly. You'll get much more accurate results this way. JMTC & GL!

f3honda4me
03/08/2012, 06:47 PM
I have no problem with using API tests. Hold it against the card. As for light what matters most is consistency. I believe there is a sticky on how you can get different readings with any kit, not just API. I always read my tests under the same light the same way. I never have issues with reading them consistently.

00Warpig00
03/08/2012, 08:52 PM
I had a really hard time reading the shades at first an the API kits. After I used the kit for several months and saw different readings and got the idea how they were supposed to look it became really easy to decipher the results. Now I have no problem reading them at all.

Nick