Quote Originally Posted by Rpalt1 View Post
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
Sounds like they're pretty hi! If I may make a suggest ,you should look into creating a good biological answer to the issue. I use pro bido Bio Digest,does wonders and feed it Britwells Bio reef. Both products Are developed to start the nitrifying process and to keep it going, this is the best way to control No3 in my book,along with a good skimmer. There is other products like Microbacter7 that will also do a very good job! I have used nitrate reactors bio pellete's you name it ! Changeing my thought processes and showing some patience truly paid off ! I have a more then heavy bio load and feed huge amounts of my frozen homemade food and still maintain undetectable levels ! I don't think you have a bad test kit honestly just new tank issues that are normal for everyone . Honestly the API test is much easier to read then the others IMHO,it's just hard to sit and watch it get darker by the minute! But man does it feel great when you watch it turn clear yellow and stay there !! Good luck.