Sarcastic

Shawnie

yes the kits will expire...im not sure what the experation is but you can contact the company or maybe someone else here knows...I saw one in my LFS that had the date of 2004 on it...im thinking about 1 year is all id trust it for...and no I just rinse my tubes in hot water...but thats me

Butterfly

The tubes that came with my API test kit were glass so you you could probably boil them. A better way would be to soak in a bleach solution the rinse in heavily dechlorinated water.
we have to use chlorine/chloramine test kits at work and we are not allowed to use them past expiration date. so i imagine the same would be good practice for our water test kits.
Carol

angelfish220

Isnt like the last 4 numbers in that little code thing the expiration Date?

Sarcastic

Thanks for the replies, all. No one has had a specific loss of faith in their kits? I've been having some odd chemistry readings lately - I'll probably bring up the issue in another thread once I pare it down to something readable.

I thought of that, but the last four numbers are -0104, which is before I bought the kit - and matches up neatly with the year of copyright.

Butterfly

Could your water company have changed something that would have caused your tests to skew?
Carol

angelfish220

did you shake the 2 bottle REALLY good?

Sarcastic

Good question, I wonder. Do you have any thoughts on what that might be?
Yes, quite vigorously. The Nitrate level has been higher than it has been historically (40-50ppm), and I bought a Tetra test kit to double check that one. Leaving that one alone, for now, false readings for Nitrate seem to be falsely low readings according to accounts I've heard/read.

The first thing striking me as odd is that the Ammonia level is fluctuating - one week its at 0.25, the next back at 0.00, and then back up to 0.25 the following week. Never higher.

Then there's the pH - a month ago it was comfortably at 6.8, and then all of a sudden it plummeted and its been hanging at 6.0 (or less, given the lower barrier on the API test kit is a 6.0). I use Seachem pH adjuster to adjust up the water I'm making changes with so it should be at 7.0, or at the least rising.

Not related to the standard kit, but since I've opened up on the details, kH has been at 1°dkH (or less), and I use Electro-Right with every water change. I'd think that the Electro-Right was "stale," except that one week I increased the dose to try to compensate and had a correspondingly large jump in gH (to 12°dkH), but still no change in kH.

Butterfly

Quite frequently in the summer months city water companies put more chlorine/chlorimines in the water because of low water reserves and possibility of bacteria getting into the water supply.
I personally wouldn't play with the ph unless you are caring for extremely sensitive or wild caught fish. Fish are much more comfortable and healthy in a stable Ph than one that fluctuates like it usually does with ph adjustors.
They usually fluctuate one way or another when it's time to add adjustor.
Hope that helps
Carol

jdhef

I think I saw on API's website once how to read the expiration code on the bottles. But they do have a definite shelf life

Sarcastic

I agree with you. However, I developed the pH adjustor habit when I switched from using distilled water to R/O water because the tank was at 6.8 consistently for a long while, and the R/O water comes out at 6.0. It's worth noting that I use exactly the same "recipe" (1 tsp pH Adjuster, and 2 tsp Electro-right) for the water I use for changes each week and pH readings have been 6.8 (with perhaps a .2 variance once in a while) for many months. I kept it up for consistency purposes since I was already on that track.


Any chance you remember the link? I poked around the site for a while, and didn't spot such a thing....now the workweek is underway and my free time is too greatly diminished. Bloody jobs getting in the way of my fishkeeping.

jdhef

Okay, I googled it and it turns out the info was on this site. (Imagine that!)

Important Information for API Freshwater Master Test Kit Users!

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KyWildFish

Coming from a scientific career, here's my advise. All chemicals are subject to change in thier containers. I personally wont use any testing supplies past thier half life with out questioning thier accuracy. (half life being half of thier shelf life). Its impossible to say when the API kits are made so you should pay close attention to actual expiration dates to ensure accuracy. The low pH reading is indicative of a bad test solution. I usually keep around some other form of test solution in case I question the first. Anyone know about how long these things really last?

Slug

I purchased a new API kit because i was using one that was close to 5-7 years old. I can tell a difference. So i'd say they do expire, or at least go bad. Keep those test kits up to date!

Sarcastic