Save $ With Your Api Test Kit

[Kasshan]

Since I'm a cheapskate and I think math is fun, I did not see the need to waste the chemicals in my test kit. why waste 10 drops (gtt) when just 1 gtt would be sufficient? if you have a lot of fish tanks and do frequent testing like I do every Saturday, then simply following the instructions is going to waste $.

the API test kit recommends filling the 5mL vial to the line, but with a small syringe you can achieve the same results with simple 7th grade math: fractions and ratios

Ammonia test: 8gtt/5mL = 1gtt/0.63mL
Nitrate test: 10gtt/5mL = 1gtt/0.5mL
Nitrite test: 5gtt/5mL = 1gtt/1mL
pH test: 3gtt/5mL = 1gtt/1.6mL

 

[Ms rose]

awesome thanx for the tip+mathdone for me haha

edit to ask: what's gtt? sry I'm not well versed yet on aquarium abriviations(?spelling?)

edit #2: can you explain this as if you were talking to a child hahah? I am not dumb but am very aweful with math

 

[CanadianFishFan]

Interesting! Its morning and the math isn't getting to me but I will try again later. 5ml is quite a bit for the little amount of test stuff so thank you!

 

[mattgirl]

awesome thanx for the tip+mathdone for me haha

edit to ask: what's gtt? sry I'm not well versed yet on aquarium abriviations(?spelling?)

edit #2: can you explain this as if you were talking to a child hahah? I am not dumb but am very aweful with math

I am right there with you about the gtt. I have no idea as to what that is an abbreviation for.

Simply put

test: 8drops/5mL = 1drop/0.63mL
Nitrate test: 10drops/5mL = 1drop/0.5mL
test: 5drops/5mL = 1drop/1mL
: 3drops/5mL = 1drop/1.6mL

The first set of numbers is what the instruction that come with the kit has you using. The second set of numbers after the = is where you use much less testing material in the corresponding amount of water. Drops are product, mls are the amount of water.

Doing it this way is a very good way to do it if one has multiple tanks that have to be tested often. Not as necessary when one just has one tank and only needs to test occasionally.

 

[Ms rose]

thank you so much!!!! I test 4 tanks every to every other day, so this is my new method

edit to ask: so the nitRate est you would double both numbers correct? ( this q is for ammonia as well)

 

[mattgirl]

thank you so much!!!! I test 4 tanks every to every other day, so this is my new method

edit to ask: so the nitRate est you would double both numbers correct? ( this q is for ammonia as well)

correct

 

[bgclarke]

gtt is the abbreviation for the Latin word guttae, which means drops.

 

[Ms rose]

I am right there with you about the gtt. I have no idea as to what that is an abbreviation for.

Simply put

test: 8drops/5mL = 1drop/0.63mL
Nitrate test: 10drops/5mL = 1drop/0.5mL
test: 5drops/5mL = 1drop/1mL
: 3drops/5mL = 1drop/1.6mL

The first set of numbers is what the instruction that come with the kit has you using. The second set of numbers after the = is where you use much less testing material in the corresponding amount of water. Drops are product, mls are the amount of water.

Doing it this way is a very good way to do it if one has multiple tanks that have to be tested often. Not as necessary when one just has one tank and only needs to test occasionally.

ok so I just picked up some syringes. the ml is 1, so how do I measure .63?

edit to add: nevermind I got it lol

 

[Kasshan]

gtt is the abbreviation for drops. I wrote that in the second sentence..... the mL represents the water sample, gtt represents the drops of tester solution

thank you so much!!!! I test 4 tanks every to every other day, so this is my new method

edit to ask: so the nitRate est you would double both numbers correct? ( this q is for ammonia as well)

I divided by ten. instead of ten drops(gtt) you only need to use 1 drop for Nitrate. I'm not clear on what you were asking when you said "double", lol, no further math was required. I already gave the final answers.... I guess that is why showing work is important in school. I also tutor math on the side.

 

[wodesorel]

There is one huge problem that could cause issues - if the reagents are not able to mix thoroughly within the solution inside the bottle, one drop may not contain the same ratio of chemicals as 8 drops do. Medication is similar, a larger dose pill cannot be split 8 ways, as the medication is not guarenteed to be evenly distributed and it can either cause overdoses or not enough active ingredients.

Not so much a math problem as a chemistry problem.

 

[mattgirl]

I divided by ten. instead of ten drops(gtt) you only need to use 1 drop for Nitrate. I'm not clear on what you were asking when you said "double", lol, no further math was required. I already gave the final answers.... I guess that is why showing work is important in school. I also tutor math on the side.

Except for the nitrate and ammonia test you have to add drops from 2 different bottles. So using the original instructions you would be adding a total of 20 drops for nitrate and 16 for ammonia. Using your formula you would need one drop from each bottle so 2 drops for each test.

 

[Kasshan]

There is one huge problem that could cause issues - if the reagents are not able to mix thoroughly within the solution inside the bottle, one drop may not contain the same ratio of chemicals as 8 drops do. Medication is similar, a larger dose pill cannot be split 8 ways, as the medication is not guarenteed to be evenly distributed and it can either cause overdoses or not enough active ingredients.

Not so much a math problem as a chemistry problem.

ye those are drops per bottle, so if there are two bottles, then one drop from each bottle, the ratio still stands. believe me I'm a pharmacy tech that makes IVs for adults and children. my math is NEVER wrong. chemistry is math. stoichiometry is algebraic ratios. there would no huge problem, the concentration is exactly the same and guaranteed to give the exact same results. you are just not looking at the math correctly. 100/25 = 20/5 = 4/1 are exactly the same number

I can tutor up to calculus 1

 

[wodesorel]

It is the same number, there is nothing wrong with the math. This is not a math problem. You have no guarantee from the company making the kits that the same ratio of reagents are in each drop.

 

[david1978]

Since its a liquid suspension it should be equal. Yes pills are a little different.

My only question. Since the accuracy of the ammonia test is +/- .25, would it remain that or 10× that?

 

[-Mak-]

What I believe wodesorel is saying is, especially since some bottles need to be shaken or mixed, one drop could be made up of different chemicals than what is generally inside the bottle.

For example, the bottle may contain a ratio of 3 units of chemical A and 4 units of chemical B.

The drop that comes out may contain a ratio of 3.5 units of chemical A and 3.5 units of chemical B.

By adding more drops, we increase the likelihood of getting closer to the correct 3:4 ratio.

 

[Kasshan]

It is the same number, there is nothing wrong with the math. This is not a math problem. You have no guarantee from the company making the kits that the same ratio of reagents are in each drop.

I'm sorry but you are just incorrect. But for the sake of argument, IF you were correct and the reagents were not the same ratio in each drop, then I would throw out my test kit or ask the company to refund my $ for selling a inconsistent and unreliable product. this is a math problem that uses 7th grade math, it should not be a debate. if you don't believe me go to your local junior high and ask a math teacher.

 

[Fanatic]

Kasshan
Now, this individual is very intellectually talented, you can come up with neat things that some other people may not have thought of, especially myself. I am not a great math person, all I can do is add, substract, and blah! Thanks for submitting this great idea, many people should find it useful and apply it to their testing habits.

 

[Kasshan]

n

What I believe wodesorel is saying is, especially since some bottles need to be shaken or mixed, one drop could be made up of different chemicals than what is generally inside the bottle.

For example, the bottle may contain a ratio of 3 units of chemical A and 4 units of chemical B.

The drop that comes out may contain a ratio of 3.5 units of chemical A and 3.5 units of chemical B.

By adding more drops, we increase the likelihood of getting closer to the correct 3:4 ratio.

apologies, but you are also incorrect in your logic. chemistry and test products are not that inaccurate, if they were the company would get sued for selling a trash product. if you have a syringe that can measure 1mL and is divided by 1/10ths then you measure down to the .05mL accurately( think back to rounding 'significant figures' in math and chemistry). like I said, I offer tutoring in math and science as a side job.
from strange and offbase responses ive received from this post I am left Exasperated (face palm); you guys are making this harder than it ought to be.
dust off those chemistry/math books and focus on titration, stoichiometry, algebra, and ratios, you will see that I am irrefutably correct.

My only question. Since the accuracy of the ammonia test is +/- .25, would it remain that or 10× that?

no change, it remains the same, they are the same ratio and same concentration. because if 10/10=1 and if 1/1=1, therefore they must be the same, making them interchangeable

 

[david1978]

Was just curious on that since that's taking into consideration both minor inconsistency of batches of chemicals and user error.

 

[Kasshan]

the solutions inside the bottle don't need to be shaken. Solutions by definition are homogeneous meaning consistently uniform, that is why in the test kit they are called ''solutions'' and NOT ''tinctures" or "suspensions" one can look this up in a simple dictionary. therefore there should be no settling because it a solution. if your product is settling inside the bottle and requires shaking I would throw it out because it has gone bad.

the only other major problem would be user error.