Experimenting With Test Strips And Kits?

We went through what was a very good cycle apparently within 3-4 weeks.. so good that I thought my test kit was faulty because my levels never really “spiked” like they were suppose to.. my last test with a reading was 0 ammonia, .25 nitrite, 0 nitrate and ph about 8.. after that nothing but the ph.. I tried some strips to see if I could get the same readings and I did.. I’m currently experimenting with removing the moss ball to see if I can detect any nitrates.. my curiosity stands wondering if anyone has ever played with their kits?.. as in testing things other than fish water lol.. After getting a cheap pack of test strips and having verified my big kit was fine on top of reading how they go bad quickly, my husband and I got curious if you can test other things.. so we pulled aside one test tube for our experiments (won’t be using it for the fish water anymore) and had some fun.. since the strips didn’t come with ammonia test I sprayed a tiny bit of glass cleaner with ammonia and topped it with a bit of water and got a small ammonia reading so I assume that works.. husband wanted to test ph in vodka and it’s very acidic lol.. Has anyone else tried goofy things like this or just us? Cuz I really want to find a liquid with nitrites and nitrates for testing lol! Only because I hear nitrate tests are the most likely to just not work.. even though I’m starting believe there’s nothing wrong with my test kit I’m having fun with it.. anyone else have a thought on this?

 

We went through what was a very good cycle apparently within 3-4 weeks.. so good that I thought my test kit was faulty because my levels never really “spiked” like they were suppose to.. my last test with a reading was 0 ammonia, .25 nitrite, 0 nitrate and ph about 8.. after that nothing but the ph.. I tried some strips to see if I could get the same readings and I did.. I’m currently experimenting with removing the moss ball to see if I can detect any nitrates.. my curiosity stands wondering if anyone has ever played with their kits?.. as in testing things other than fish water lol.. After getting a cheap pack of test strips and having verified my big kit was fine on top of reading how they go bad quickly, my husband and I got curious if you can test other things.. so we pulled aside one test tube for our experiments (won’t be using it for the fish water anymore) and had some fun.. since the strips didn’t come with ammonia test I sprayed a tiny bit of glass cleaner with ammonia and topped it with a bit of water and got a small ammonia reading so I assume that works.. husband wanted to test ph in vodka and it’s very acidic lol.. Has anyone else tried goofy things like this or just us? Cuz I really want to find a liquid with nitrites and nitrates for testing lol! Only because I hear nitrate tests are the most likely to just not work.. even though I’m starting believe there’s nothing wrong with my test kit I’m having fun with it.. anyone else have a thought on this?

The readings you get and the size 'spikes' you get, when cycling an aquarium, depend on several factors: the size of the tank; -the number of fish in the tank; the bioload of those combined fish (how much they eat and poop); how much extraneous waste is decomposing in the tank (left over fish food, dead leaves and plant parts, hitchhiker snails in the tank etc.); how frequent water changes are being done; your tank pH; whether you seed the tank with cycled media or bottled bacteria starter etc. etc.
All cycled tanks with fish or organic material in them produce nitrates. In rare cases, heavily planted tanks (meaning tank's full of plants with very few fish) will have very low to zero nitrates (the plants consume them as fast as they are produced). Some tanks cycle painfully slowly because of a very low source water pH (pH of 6-6.4) because nitrifying bacteria just don't grow well (or at all) in very acidic water so it may be months before nitrates are detectable if water changes are keeping ammonia and nitrate levels very low and tank stocking is very light (1 betta, no live plants)...
So to answer your question: I have used 5 or 6 different brands of test strips, and every one of them has tested positive for nitrates when nitrates were present. I've only used the liquid API Master test kit and the nitrate test in that kit results are very close to the results from 3 test strip brands I had at the same time. The only problem with the API kit in particular is that if the directions forre doing the nitrate test aren't billed exactly, test result can be erroneous. I have never heard of any problems with nitrate accuracy from any other test kit or strips.
I don't think there's anything wrong with your test kit...but what is your tank pH?

 

The readings you get and the size 'spikes' you get, when cycling an aquarium, depend on several factors: the size of the tank; -the number of fish in the tank; the bioload of those combined fish (how much they eat and poop); how much extraneous waste is decomposing in the tank (left over fish food, dead leaves and plant parts, hitchhiker snails in the tank etc.); how frequent water changes are being done; your tank pH; whether you seed the tank with cycled media or bottled bacteria starter etc. etc.
All cycled tanks with fish or organic material in them produce nitrates. In rare cases, heavily planted tanks (meaning tank's full of plants with very few fish) will have very low to zero nitrates (the plants consume them as fast as they are produced). Some tanks cycle painfully slowly because of a very low source water pH (pH of 6-6.4) because nitrifying bacteria just don't grow well (or at all) in very acidic water so it may be months before nitrates are detectable if water changes are keeping ammonia and nitrate levels very low and tank stocking is very light (1 betta, no live plants)...
So to answer your question: I have used 5 or 6 different brands of test strips, and every one of them has tested positive for nitrates when nitrates were present. I've only used the liquid API Master test kit and the nitrate test in that kit results are very close to the results from 3 test strip brands I had at the same time. The only problem with the API kit in particular is that if the directions forre doing the nitrate test aren't billed exactly, test result can be erroneous. I have never heard of any problems with nitrate accuracy from any other test kit or strips.
I don't think there's anything wrong with your test kit...but what is your tank pH?

Everything I’ve read online says something different of course lol but I’ve seen a few people say the nitrate tests would be the one to fault out but who knows.. I follow the directions very closely when I do my testing but I haven’t banged the #2 bottle against a hard surface like I’m recently seeing.. some says it’s needed and others say it’s not.. but my tank levels out pretty well.. it’s a 20 gallon with what was 3 mollies now 5 with 2 babies added recently and 2 mystery snails with one moss ball.. my ph stays around 8 and my gk kh readings have both been between 120-180..

 

Everything I’ve read online says something different of course lol but I’ve seen a few people say the nitrate tests would be the one to fault out but who knows.. I follow the directions very closely when I do my testing but I haven’t banged the #2 bottle against a hard surface like I’m recently seeing.. some says it’s needed and others say it’s not.. but my tank levels out pretty well.. it’s a 20 gallon with what was 3 mollies now 5 with 2 babies added recently and 2 mystery snails with one moss ball.. my ph stays around 8 and my gk kh readings have both been between 120-180..

That's very light to moderate stocking unless they're sailfin Mollys. I'm guessing you're tank is still slowly cycling. I don't know where people came up with the "banging" the bottle on things lol! If you just shake it vigorously for the 30 seconds it says to, it shouldn't be a problem. It can't be as bad as fingernail polish...
If you have a nitrogen based plant fertilizer around (rose food, fish emulsion etc.) you could test it on some of that, or hot, wet moldering green lawn grass/alfalfa, hot compost sometimes has high nitrate levels if it's been wet and not stirred. Livestock silage that's fermenting usually contains some level of nitrates too if you live on a farm/ranch.

 

That's very light to moderate stocking unless they're sailfin Mollys. I'm guessing you're tank is still slowly cycling. I don't know where people came up with the "banging" the bottle on things lol! If you just shake it vigorously for the 30 seconds it says to, it shouldn't be a problem. It can't be as bad as fingernail polish...
If you have a nitrogen based plant fertilizer around (rose food, fish emulsion etc.) you could test it on some of that, or hot, wet moldering green lawn grass/alfalfa, hot compost sometimes has high nitrate levels if it's been wet and not stirred. Livestock silage that's fermenting usually contains some level of nitrates too if you live on a farm/ranch.

We have just simple black mollies.. we didn’t want to start out with very many cuz they’re live bearers and didn’t want to overrun the bioload but now we don’t know if we should push it or not.. we tried by adding 2 snails and nothing.. our next try is maybe a few blue shrimp.. but before that I might find some fertilizer lol!

 

We have just simple black mollies.. we didn’t want to start out with very many cuz they’re live bearers and didn’t want to overrun the bioload but now we don’t know if we should push it or not.. we tried by adding 2 snails and nothing.. our next try is maybe a few blue shrimp.. but before that I might find some fertilizer lol!

If I were you, I'd watch those nitrites closely. Nitrites are toxic at any level. If they start to rise, you may want to invest in a bottle of Seachem Prime. Prime temporarily converts low levels (</= 1.0 ppm) of ammonia and nitrites to a form that's harmless to fish. While those levels persist, it must be redosed every 48 hours. How big and how often are you doing water changes? If you are removing all the ammonia and nitrites that are produced in your tank frequently, that will significantly slow the cycling process as well. Nitrifying bacteria use ammonia and nitrites for 'food'. Removing all or most of those nitrogen compounds continually will essentially starve the bacteria and suppress bacteria growth and replication. Prime binds them but doesn't remove them, so they remain biologically available for the bacteria to use.

 

If I were you, I'd watch those nitrites closely. Nitrites are toxic at any level. If they start to rise, you may want to invest in a bottle of Seachem Prime. Prime temporarily converts low levels (</= 1.0 ppm) of ammonia and nitrites to a form that's harmless to fish. While those levels persist, it must be redosed every 48 hours. How big and how often are you doing water changes? If you are removing all the ammonia and nitrites that are produced in your tank frequently, that will significantly slow the cycling process as well. Nitrifying bacteria use ammonia and nitrites for 'food'. Removing all or most of those nitrogen compounds continually will essentially starve the bacteria and suppress bacteria growth and replication. Prime binds them but doesn't remove them, so they remain biologically available for the bacteria to use.

Is quick start by apI the same thing? It says to use whenever you change water or detect ammonia or nitrites.. I’ve only done 4 25% water changes maybe once a week.. I didn’t want to do my 4th one today but I have protein in the water that is making a thin layer of foam on top and it doesn’t really help.. it’s been coming and going for about 2 weeks now.. it’s not soap I’m very anal about keep my supplies away from anything that would touch soap but there is a few specks on top of the water but doesn’t look oily... I would think if there's excess then there would be something detected at some point.. I also threw my moss ball back in during the water change AND I found one of my snails died that we got about a week ago.. tested right before the water change and no ammonia was detected.. I assumed he wasn’t dead so I went to move him and his foot fell off and the rest of him came out in a slimy mess before I could even smell him.. I’m kind of scarred after it but I guess it’s not uncommon for them to die after buying.. I'm just confused on why I’m having problems other than the typical chem issues! Lol

 

Is quick start by apI the same thing? It says to use whenever you change water or detect ammonia or nitrites.. I’ve only done 4 25% water changes maybe once a week.. I didn’t want to do my 4th one today but I have protein in the water that is making a thin layer of foam on top and it doesn’t really help.. it’s been coming and going for about 2 weeks now.. it’s not soap I’m very anal about keep my supplies away from anything that would touch soap but there is a few specks on top of the water but doesn’t look oily... I would think if there's excess **** then there would be something detected at some point.. I also threw my moss ball back in during the water change AND I found one of my snails died that we got about a week ago.. tested right before the water change and no ammonia was detected.. I assumed he wasn’t dead so I went to move him and his foot fell off and the rest of him came out in a slimy mess before I could even smell him.. I’m kind of scarred after it but I guess it’s not uncommon for them to die after buying.. I'm just confused on why I’m having problems other than the typical chem issues! Lol

No, quick start is a bacteria culture starter. It's supposed to jump start your tank cycle by adding some nitrifying bacteria. It seems to speed up the cycling process, but usually not by more than a week or two at most. It does nothing Prime does.
Your problems are because of the "chem issues" you're having. Get some Prime. Nitrites are just as toxic for fish as ammonia if not more so. Right now if you keep your ammonia+nitrite total to <1ppm with water changes and dose with Prime until your tank finishes cycling, you should have better luck with your fish. In the future, do at least 25% water changes every week as long as you have critters in that tank. Changing water not only removes excess nitrates, salts and unused minerals that become concentrated due to evaporation, but also replaces minerals (calcium, magnesium etc.) that can become depleted as fish and snails use them.