# API GH test kit????



## Mr. Leg (Feb 2, 2011)

I Just picked up the API test kit. and i am having trouble with the GH test. directions say its supposed to go from orange to green. 

1. first the solution is greenish to start. and when I add to the test tube it does not start off orange. Just clear or slightly yellow.(this is the same with my tap, RO and tank water that is mixed tap and RO).

2. next how green should it be? 

the KH test works just fine.
Thanks is advance.


Oh I just bought the kit today, but it had a ton of dust on it. could that be a factor?

I guess its an old test kit and the GH stuff went bad.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

First, check the lot number of the bottle. It will be printed on the top of the bottle just over the label. The last 4 numbers will be the month and year it was bottled. If it's over 2 years or so, junk it and get another.

If it's not, make sure you're following directions carefully. You're saying that when you fill the test tube with 5mL of water, the first drop you put in is nearly green? And there's zero difference in shade between tap and RO water? If that's true, it means your tap water is extremely soft - which is the case in certain areas. You'll probably want to increase it a bit, though it depends on what you have in your tank. RO water *should* be green to start with.

As to the shade, well, it's greenish. When you put it against a white background and have to pick a basic color that it most closely matches, and the answer is green, that's how green it should get. It will still be see-through.

You may want to make a post in the Cali forum asking if there's anybody in your general area who knows what the water GH is.


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## Jadelin (Sep 30, 2009)

The solution is green as it comes out of the bottle. The color in the test tube is very light, especially if your water is soft to begin with. It is much lighter than the other pH, ammonia, etc. test kits you may have used before. It's fine if it's yellowish, as long as it is not green yet. Taking the lid off and looking down through the test tube intensifies the color a bit and makes it easier to tell what color it is. Make sure you hold it over something white and have good lighting. 

The green will be a light spring green when it changes, not dark green. Sometimes after a few drops one drop will change the color a bit, and then the next one will change it all the way; I just count that as GH = 3-4 or whatever.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

I just went through this today.the gh is a pita to test.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I found the API GH test kit to have a very short usable life. When I first got mine it worked. A few months later it didn't work, and acted just as yours does. I bought a new one, and it didn't work either. So, I bought a different brand. It also didn't work. I switched to another brand, and finally could measure GH. I decided I have zero interest in measuring GH.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> I found the API GH test kit to have a very short usable life. When I first got mine it worked. A few months later it didn't work, and acted just as yours does. I bought a new one, and it didn't work either. So, I bought a different brand. It also didn't work. I switched to another brand, and finally could measure GH. I decided I have zero interest in measuring GH.


i do have an interest in accurately measuring gh, can you provide the brand name through pm please. thank you Hoppy


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## Landau (Mar 24, 2010)

For these types of tests I find a bright light behind me (or a bright window) and holding up the tube in front of a white sheet of paper makes it much easier to read for the first few drops. After that the color is saturated enough it is easy to see.

I've also tried holding the tube in front of my PC monitor showing a white page. That works too.

I've never used the API GH or KH tests (I have their PH test though) but I do find the Tetra GH and KH tests work very well.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

Landau said:


> For these types of tests I find a bright light behind me (or a bright window) and holding up the tube in front of a white sheet of paper makes it much easier to read for the first few drops. After that the color is saturated enough it is easy to see.
> 
> I've also tried holding the tube in front of my PC monitor showing a white page. That works too.
> 
> I've never used the API GH or KH tests (I have their PH test though) but I do find the Tetra GH and KH tests work very well.


i find that the best way to see the color is taking off the cap and looking down it onto a white paper. but my problem with the gh test is that when i put the first drop in it pretty much turns clear immediately instead of turning a color. 

Hoppy, do you have a calibrator for gh by any chance?


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## jahmic (Jan 30, 2011)

I actually don't use the test tubes for the GH and KH test kits...instead I use a syringe to measure 10mls of water, then run the test inside a white tea cup under a bright light.

The white cup makes it easier to see when the color changes (for me at least), and running the test with 10 mls of water gives you some extra sensitivity. Instead of detecting GH in increments of 1 degree...you are able to (somewhat accurately?) detect 0.5 degree increments, as each drop equates to 0.5 degrees of GH.

You could try using 10mls...or maybe even 15 or 20 mls (though I don't know that you will get much color at all from the first couple drops into 20mls due to the dilution) to try to determine whether you have a bad kit, or if your GH really is that low. RO water will turn green immediately...but we already know that it's a GH of zero, the test doesn't truly confirm that though since you can't differentiate between that drop meaning a GH of 1, or a GH of 0. With your tank/tap water, that 1 drop means your GH is somewhere between 0 and 1. Try lowering the increments by increasing the volume of water you're testing...at least then you might have a better idea of what's going on with your water and your kit


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I just looked through my box of aquarium junk. I found a Red Sea and a API GH test kit. I'm almost sure those are the two that didn't work. And, I'm pretty sure the one that did work was a Tetra kit. I suspect it is the age of the kits that determines if they will work.

You might ask why I keep the old kits, that don't work. That would be a good question.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> You might ask why I keep the old kits, that don't work. That would be a good question.


lmao


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Jadelin said:


> The solution is green as it comes out of the bottle. The color in the test tube is very light, especially if your water is soft to begin with. It is much lighter than the other pH, ammonia, etc. test kits you may have used before. It's fine if it's yellowish, as long as it is not green yet. Taking the lid off and looking down through the test tube intensifies the color a bit and makes it easier to tell what color it is. Make sure you hold it over something white and have good lighting.
> 
> The green will be a light spring green when it changes, not dark green. Sometimes after a few drops one drop will change the color a bit, and then the next one will change it all the way; I just count that as GH = 3-4 or whatever.


+1 this is what I do as well. You'd think they'd actually stick to their word about the orange to green or whatever.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

Jadelin, 
The "light spring green" is a yellow-green right? Or does it have to be completely green with no yellow tone?


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## sarahspins (Sep 24, 2012)

Amandas tank said:


> Jadelin,
> The "light spring green" is a yellow-green right? Or does it have to be completely green with no yellow tone?


I find that the first drop is often yellowish, the second is more of a golden yellow, and the third drop it finally looks "orange".. when it changes it's definitely green... when your GH is lower (like 4-5 degrees) it looks about the same shade as the first positive ammonia result (.25ppm) on the API kit.. which is visibly green, not yellow, and when it's higher it's much darker.

ETA, tested 5˚ GH, showing test tubes from 1 drop to 5... it starts off a pale yellow... when it changes, it changes


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## etgregoire (Oct 28, 2009)

Maybe a dumb question - but you're not color blind are you? Orange and green could fall under the common "red/green deficiency." Although based on what you're describing it doesn't really seem like that's what's going on. I just thought I would throw that out there. I have to ask for help on some of my test kits


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

Thank you SaraSpins for posting that picture. Maybe I should do the same. My green does not look like that, it is very light yellow-green. Your picture looks like pure green to me. If mine looked that way, it wouldn't be confusing.


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

sarahspins said:


> I find that the first drop is often yellowish, the second is more of a golden yellow, and the third drop it finally looks "orange".. when it changes it's definitely green... when your GH is lower (like 4-5 degrees) it looks about the same shade as the first positive ammonia result (.25ppm) on the API kit.. which is visibly green, not yellow, and when it's higher it's much darker.
> 
> ETA, tested 5˚ GH, showing test tubes from 1 drop to 5... it starts off a pale yellow... when it changes, it changes


Hey, your kit is probably very fresh. Mine never looked that distinguishable 
even when it worked.


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## "Got light?" (Dec 16, 2012)

*"when color changes, it definitively changes"*

I just tested my GH with API kit.... the _exact_ same colors drop-by-drop as in your pic below

*my bottle stamped EXP11/2014 :wink:



sarahspins said:


> ETA, tested 5˚ GH, showing test tubes from 1 drop to 5... it starts off a pale yellow... when it changes, it changes


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## crisp330 (Dec 1, 2011)

"Got light?" said:


> I just tested my GH with API kit.... the _exact_ same colors drop-by-drop as in your pic below
> 
> *my bottle stamped EXP11/2014 :wink:


For anyone else having issues, I was trying to use mine which expired about 10 months ago. I was having a really really hard time seeing the color change (everything was just really pale). I shook the ever living $%^& out of the bottle for several minutes, banged it against my desk for a while, etc etc and it's actually very usable now and the color change is much, much more noticeable. I will still be buying a new (non-expired) kit next time I'm out though.


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