I mixed the water in 5 gal pail with an old maxi jet for 8 hrs and then added to tank water was within 5 degrees of tank. I am ordering a salifert nitrate kit because the api im not cofident in. The instructions say to wait 5 minutes for the correct color but i noticed that the longer the vial sits it just keeps getting darker! Then the color is offf the chart. I checked nitrates 3 times and from what i can tell it apoears to be around 80 reading ph,nitrite and amm is ok but the nitrates are a pain to read! If i look at vial after 1 minute its at 40 ppm argh! I can't afford a hanna so i'll try salifert. Would using nitra sorb help until i get a good routine down? And should i do another w/c this weekend? Kind of nervous about doing another w/c right now but nitrates are high