slimfish

preceeding a fishless cycle ,i bought a 10 dollar API dip stick test kit in walmart. (now i know i need the api master tk) Although the the word is these are somewhat inacurate , i am curious to know a little about the color indicators. I midaswell use what i can before i get the better kit so i notice there is not that much instruction on color comparison. See , the colors don't really tell me if "say' the pH is low and needs to be increased or decreased. The color chart indicates ideal color / conditions. Simple enough. Lets say the colors come up darker or say more vivid. as opposed to washed out and pale in comparison to the chart. dOES A DARKER COLOR MEAN HIGH. DOES A PALE COLOR MEAN LOW? I'm just trying to get what i can from the 10 bucks it seems i wasted. can anyone explain the scheme in the color comparison. for instance , after a 3 day fishless cycling has been started in a 10g and a 3 gallon , the colors come up identical on the dipsticks in both tanks because i have done everything to both tanks simultaneously from the start. the(both , alk and ph) color seems more pale than the chart says it should be. also , the nitrite and nitrate indications as well as the hardness seem much stronger and more vivid in color on the dip stick than the chart. I realize i have dragged out this question so sorry for the long , tedious ,explanation but are there any easily understood instructions for this so i canb at least learn a little with this cheap , somewhat inacurate test kit? thanks for your patients. I'lltry to keep things more condensed in the future.

KyWildFish

Alright I'll make it easy for you.

The pH and water hardness aren't an issue unless they start to fluctuate after you have fish in the tank. If you want fish that are suited for different conditions you will want a liquid test any way.

As for the strips they are garbage in my opinion. I had many different testing supplies as I am scientist and had them at work. I tested the strips for accuracy and found they are about as accurate as a sawed off shotgun. They will let you know something that is vital. Any presences of either ammonia or nitrite and your cycle isnt complete. You will want to at least purchase a liquid Nitrate test to accurately measure the amount in the water after you finish your cycle.

Also three days is a very short period of time. It can take months for a tank to fully cycle. My larger tank took two months. You need to have some patience with this hobby and wait it out.

As for the color scheme/chart. I mentioned earlier that they arent accurate. If they show any presence in any one direction of the scale toward having either ammonia or nitrite consider it a positive reading and keep waiting. Without an API master liquid kit you arent going to be able to detect how much is there with any kind of accuracy.

Red1313

I know that my local Petsmart uses strips when testing water and they say a tank has to have been running for almost a month before they can get a reading with them. I figure that if I can get readings from day 1 with a liquid test kit then the strips aren't worth the money.
Sorry I couldn't help with you're question.