Is anyone using the Fluval nitrate test?

If you've used it I'm just wondering how accurate you think it is compared to others. Just tested my tank water using a new Fluval test and it's barely registering any nitrates yet my old Sera nitrate test is registering about 25ppm. Not sure which one to believe.

Edit: Nevermind I just found an API nitrate test that I forgot I had and it's registering about 40ppm so I guess I can disregard the Fluval one.

 

Fluval, Sera, JBL and several other have their tests produced by a single other company on commission. Only thing varying is the scale they deliver it with.

I would tend to believe Fluval and Sera in this case as both register a safer number than the API. But that may be connected to not having much experience with API at all.

 

Fluval, Sera, JBL and several other have their tests produced by a single other company on commission. Only thing varying is the scale they deliver it with.

I would tend to believe Fluval and Sera in this case as both register a safer number than the API. But that may be connected to not having much experience with API at all.

I don't know which is better but the reagent combinations are different:

Sera - 3 liquid + 1 powder (Made in Germany)
Fluval - 3 liquid (Canada)
API - 2 liquid (USA)

 

Sera - 3 liquid + 1 powder (Made in Germany)

Then they sell a different version outside Germany, mine has no powder.

 

Then they sell a different version outside Germany, mine has no powder.

That’s interesting. This is the nitrate test that I have:

 

Same sans the powder. Strange.
But actually a clever solution, as the powder is otherwise mixed in with one of the other reagents, which leads to the well-known error due to lack of shaking the bottle.

 

It's concerning that there is such a wide disparity between the 3 brands.

 

It's concerning that there is such a wide disparity between the 3 brands.

Yes, concerning, and frustrating. But they are hobby kits, I'm not sure how much I would have to spend to get a kit that I could really rely on.

 

Thing is nitrate really isn’t that bad. Many here in the U.S. never change their water and have nitrates over 180. They only have problems when adding new fish . Yes we know why . But if not adding new fish the existing fish do live long lives because they’ve adjusted to the water. So none of these companies put much effort into the test kits. If your water tests higher they can sell you something to decrease it. For any company that’s a win win. Funny is the API kit really doesn’t care! There just selling the kit. Most people don’t shake the second bottle enough so their nitrate is never high. Next there color chart changes as the dye to make it gets changed. I’ve got kits from the90s (wasn’t even in the master kit back than) that are the same color but each chart is different. Newer all being lighter. Our hobby is fish keeping and if keeping fish you MUST change water! Just goes hand in hand. You walk your dog clean your litter and change your water. This removes your nitrates . Yes for a few incoming nitrates from tap can be a problem. I keep discus and never check nitrates!! If you like to test test but as written right here 4 different test kits 4 different results.I don’t think accuracy really matters to the companies only sales. It is nice to see this is world wide and not just in the U.S. .

 

It's concerning that there is such a wide disparity between the 3 brands.

Actually not. The tests we use in the hobby are neither accurate nor precise by laboratory standards. In comparison to lab results we are often considerably off. One has to keep that in mind. One of the reasons I usually say e.g. a pH difference of +/- 0.5 is negligible.

 

It’s not a big deal but nevertheless annoying for me. I know I change enough water for the sake of my fish. I test nitrates and phosphates occasionally to get an indication of whether I need to adjust the type or amount of nutrients to add like if I notice some changes in plant or algae growth. In this case I’d come home from a holiday and was curious about the levels. It’s a high light CO2 injected tank.