The Api Water Test Kit Color Chart Is Inaccurate

That looks like a good yellow to me!

That's definitely good to hear.

Also, attached is a photo of my betta. I love this lil fella.

 

That's definitely good to hear.

Also, attached is a photo of my betta. I love this lil fella.

He’s beautiful! Looks good to me and your plants look great as well. These are all good signs that you have a healthy tank and a healthy betta!

 

He’s beautiful! Looks good to me and your plants look great as well. These are all good signs that you have a healthy tank and a healthy betta!

Thank you!!!!

 

I had the same question... I'm adding a picture of my Nitrate reading (the same test tube in two different lighting situations)... so if i'm interpreting this thread correctly, the reading against the white background, which would equal 10/20, is the accurate reading... not the reading against the light which looks more like 0? This is a pretty wide difference, is it time to clean the tank, or are there no nitrates?

Based on this thread I'm guessing the answer is 10/20 which is a bummer, because this reading is right after a 50-60% water change.

Sounds like the Seachem kit is easier to read?

 

I had the same question... I'm adding a picture of my Nitrate reading (the same test tube in two different lighting situations)... so if i'm interpreting this thread correctly, the reading against the white background, which would equal 10/20, is the accurate reading... not the reading against the light which looks more like 0? This is a pretty wide difference, is it time to clean the tank, or are there no nitrates?

Based on this thread I'm guessing the answer is 10/20 which is a bummer, because this reading is right after a 50-60% water change.

Sounds like the Seachem kit is easier to read?

View attachment 542123 View attachment 542124

Pour it in a white bowl and it should give you a more accurate reading.

 

I had the same question... I'm adding a picture of my Nitrate reading (the same test tube in two different lighting situations)... so if i'm interpreting this thread correctly, the reading against the white background, which would equal 10/20, is the accurate reading... not the reading against the light which looks more like 0? This is a pretty wide difference, is it time to clean the tank, or are there no nitrates?

Based on this thread I'm guessing the answer is 10/20 which is a bummer, because this reading is right after a 50-60% water change.

Sounds like the Seachem kit is easier to read?

View attachment 542123 View attachment 542124

Pic 2 is correct. Have the card in back of the test tube in the white section, but against the light so the liquid is 'lit up'.

If your tap water doesn't have nitrates, you could dilute the test solution with 50% tap to help tell the difference between 10 and 20ppm.

I'm seriously considering going with Seachem or Nutrifin test kits!

 

Putting it directly against the card doesn't give a true reading I would go between 0 and 5, you are holding it in natural light which in pic 1 is correct, another good way to check is take the top off and look down the vial while holding it away from a white backdrop and natural light

 

I had the same question... I'm adding a picture of my Nitrate reading (the same test tube in two different lighting situations)... so if i'm interpreting this thread correctly, the reading against the white background, which would equal 10/20, is the accurate reading... not the reading against the light which looks more like 0? This is a pretty wide difference, is it time to clean the tank, or are there no nitrates?

Based on this thread I'm guessing the answer is 10/20 which is a bummer, because this reading is right after a 50-60% water change.

Sounds like the Seachem kit is easier to read?

View attachment 542123 View attachment 542124

Always read the API test results against a white background in bright light. The results in test #2 are the accurate results (20ppm).
A reading of 20 ppm is fine for most fish. If your tank is not overstocked, and you do regular, consistent weekly 25-30% water changes, that level should remain consistent. If you want it lower, like around 10ppm, do one more 50% water change and then continue weekly 25-30% water changes.

 

Putting it directly against the card doesn't give a true reading I would go between 0 and 5, you are holding it in natural light which in pic 1 is correct, another good way to check is take the top off and look down the vial while holding it away from a white backdrop and natural light

The API test kit specifically instructs you to read the test against "the white area on the card". That's the importance of reading ALL the directions and following them exactly for whatever test kit you use!

 

It’s a terible kit!! Also if the first one was on the white of the card I think it would show lighter. 1st one is outside in sunlight 2nd one is in the house in a darker setting. That’s the deference it’s all your lighting. I think your fine. Test again tomorrow. As said 20ppm isint bad. Change water weekly or when it hits 40ppm.

 

It’s a terible kit!! Also if the first one was on the white of the card I think it would show lighter. 1st one is outside in sunlight 2nd one is in the house in a darker setting. That’s the deference it’s all your lighting. I think your fine. Test again tomorrow. As said 20ppm isinglass bad. Change water weekly or when it hits 40ppm.

I like it better than any others I've used personally.

 

Truth is I rarely ever check my water. If it wasn’t for this site I would never check it. I have an apI kit from the late 90s and it’s 3/4 full. Everybody here said it’s no good!!. So I bought a new one. Both test the exact same!! I’ll never finish either in my life time. Change your water weekly and you’ll be fine. It’s all about maintenance of the tank .

 

Did you wait a while before taking the second pic indoors?

Yea it's best to read the results in daylight, or at the very least read in a well lit area with 5000k-6500k daylight spectrum bulbs. So a mix between pic 1 and 2

My bathroom is bright painted white and it has a window, so it makes a good place to read it.

 

Truth is I rarely ever check my water. If it wasn’t for this site I would never check it. I have an apI kit from the late 90s and it’s 3/4 full. Everybody here said it’s no good!!. So I bought a new one. Both test the exact same!! I’ll never finish either in my life time. Change your water weekly and you’ll be fine. It’s all about maintenance of the tank .

Tbh, I was changing 40% out every week to every ten days in my 120g. I never registered nitrates because it had a low bioload and lots of stem plant growth. Last year I doubled the bioload and the newbies started eating and ripping out my stems, so I had mostly rooting plants. I decided to test nitrates (I hadn't in a long time) and nitrates were at 30ppm! Which isn't terrible, but it caught me by surprise since it has never registered before. Regardless I don't want to keep them there and glad I tested when I did because a 40% water change was not enough.

I took action to bring them down by adding probiotics, keeping filters and substrate clean, added plants growing emerged, added floating plants and stems my fish don't mess with, but I still had to do a bunch of 75% water changes and now I'm down to 60% weekly.

 

Tbh, I was changing 40% out every week to every ten days in my 120g. I never registered nitrates because it had a low bioload and lots of stem plant growth. Last year I doubled the bioload and the newbies started eating and ripping out my stems, so I had mostly rooting plants. I decided to test nitrates (I hadn't in a long time) and nitrates were at 30ppm! Which isn't terrible, but it caught me by surprise since it has never registered before. Regardless I don't want to keep them there and glad I tested when I did because a 40% water change was not enough.

I took action to bring them down by adding probiotics, keeping filters and substrate clean, added plants growing emerged, added floating plants and stems my fish don't mess with, but I still had to do a bunch of 75% water changes and now I'm down to 60% weekly.

I have a 125 g with 20 African cichlids, a common pleco and a catfish (half grown at 6 inches) and 11 rainbowfish and with a few anubias and java fern and my nitrates are consistently at 30ppm every 7-10 days when I do 30% water changes so pretty consistent with a progressively increasing bioload (all the fish were < 3 inches when introduced). The pleco has doubled in size in just 5 weeks (8 inches now) as has the catfish and the biggest cichlids (z-rock) are about 6" long now, the rest are 3.5" to 5.5" long plus there are fry in the rocks I see pop out occasionally. So pretty stable even though overstocked, with just consistent water changes.

 

You're correct that the API brand is "highly recommended." I supppse the reason is a mix of both parroting other people as well as convenience, in that it tends to be more readily available. That doesn't make it the best out there, though. I personally prefer Elos Freshwater test kit over the API, although a bit more pricey. The color charts are a no-brainer compared to API's. I've heard Siefert to be of better quality too. But since you have the API, might as well stick with it. Very little reason to test your water once you cycle a tank. I can't recall the last time I've done one myself.

 

I do high maintenance. Always changing water. So I never test.

My water bill is astronomical. I've used both the API fresh and salt water kits in the past. No more; not because they don't work well, but because they drove me crazy chasing numbers. So now, I use Seachem's Ammonia Alert so that I can see if something died and it caused a problem. Otherwise, I just change water and that takes care of the nitrites and nitrates ( there might not be either in the tank, but I wouldn't know). I should mention, that I over-filter; that is, every tank has a filter that is rated for a much larger tank. Now, if I were doing a marine tank now, I'd probably use something like a Seneye Reef monitoring system or similar.

 

You're correct that the API brand is "highly recommended." I supppse the reason is a mix of both parroting other people as well as convenience, in that it tends to be more readily available. That doesn't make it the best out there, though. I personally prefer Elos Freshwater test kit over the API, although a bit more pricey. The color charts are a no-brainer compared to API's. I've heard Siefert to be of better quality too. But since you have the API, might as well stick with it. Very little reason to test your water once you cycle a tank. I can't recall the last time I've done one myself.

I found Elos more difficult because of hand tremors and fine dexterity deficits I had problems getting the powder into the tube w/o spilling it or bumping the sides and also 'swirling' a tube ridiculously difficult for me. It's easier for me to just cap it and shake it. I didn't find any difficulty differentiating the colors but also have no difficulty with the API kit either. I don't like having to wait 5 minutes for test results though. I wish they'd make a test that was accurate and resulted faster

 

I found Elos more difficult because of hand tremors and fine dexterity deficits I had problems getting the powder into the tube w/o spilling it or bumping the sides and also 'swirling' a tube ridiculously difficult for me. It's easier for me to just cap it and shake it. I didn't find any difficulty differentiating the colors but also have no difficulty with the API kit either. I don't like having to wait 5 minutes for test results though. I wish they'd make a test that was accurate and resulted faster

Here you go:

https://www.waterlinkspintouch.com/spin-touch-ff.html

 

Here you go:

https://www.waterlinkspintouch.com/spin-touch-ff.html

I waaaant that! That would be perfect!
Probably costs a fin and a tail though! Thanks! Now I have something other than all those bigger tanks to drool over!

 

Did you wait a while before taking the second pic indoors?

Yea it's best to read the results in daylight, or at the very least read in a well lit area with 5000k-6500k daylight spectrum bulbs. So a mix between pic 1 and 2

My bathroom is bright painted white and it has a window, so it makes a good place to read it.

The pictures were a minute apart at most. One turned to face inside the room so the outside light from behind me would hit the card, and one turned to face outside the window with it next to the card, but both inside.

 

The pictures were a minute apart at most. One turned to face inside the room so the outside light from behind me would hit the card, and one turned to face outside the window with it next to the card, but both inside.

Ok thanks. I just asked cuz the inside pic looked almost like nighttime vs daytime. I know the color may darken after the 5 mins, the color is correct right after the 5 mins.