Quote:
Originally Posted by Kissyboots  Let's see...I don't have strips anymore but I kept the box (I keep everything...) It goes from 0-20-40-80-160-200 |
OK. That's kinda what I was getting at with my questions. I'm hypothesizing that your strips were measuring
some nitrates. Unfortunately, the gradation on those strips aren't all that fine. Any measurable amount would show up as 20 ppm, I'm guessing. So, even though you weren't that high, you had
some and it came up as 20 ppm.
I find that matching the colors on the API charts is rather imprecise, particularly if the readings aren't close to zero. It could be that the API tests were giving you something above zero, but not quite discernible from zero. Maybe a little extra pushed you to the 5 ppm mark. So, you've had some nitrates all along, but the tests have been difficult to interpret for such low levels.
It's important that we think about the limits of our testing equipment when we use it. The way these aquarium tests work don't provide error bars and they have limitations. A color that I think closely matches 0 ppm of ammonia might be interpreted by someone else to read 0.25 ppm of ammonia. So, the subjectiveness of these API tests is another weakness of them. They're good guides, but they're imprecise.
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2.5G QT planted - fancy guppy (m)
10G planted - GBR (m), 7 gold pristella tetras, 2 peppered cories
29G planted - pineapple swordtail (f), 9 rummynose tetra, 3
emerald catfish, 3 juvenile swordtails (f), ~12 swordtail fry, 5 (?) ghost shrimp, 2 otocinclus
Go Rice Owls!!!
It's time to ride.
--- Shawn