# Fun with test kits... Overcome visual matching problems



## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

Pretty impressive!


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## Squid (Mar 15, 2008)

wow, that is awesome, i have a lot of problems matching colours as i have glasses and i think they distort colour for me.
With that said, i think the 20ppm vial is closer in match to the 10ppm colour shown on the card. What a mistake i would make if i were to add more nitrates thinking it was 10ppm instead of 20ppm. Now i know why i don't do testing and rely on how the plants are looking and growing instead.

Cheers
Kerrie


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That is pretty cool! Instant calibration... I agree with Squid about the 10ppm vs 20ppm issue if the vial were stand-alone against the card!


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## i4x4nMore (Mar 31, 2008)

*re: comments*

Thanks for the comments. I did discover that as the nitrate concentration goes beyond 20ppm, the dark red color gets very difficult to delineate.

I'm curious based on your comments: Are you really in the habit of adding and maintaining MORE than 10ppm nitrates in your tanks? To me, the test kit operates well in the 5ppm-20ppm range. I would just interpret the darker red colors as a "red flag" (hahah, NPI!) to indicate that I over dosed the tank with nitrates - or something in the tank was severely decaying.


Cheers!


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Very nice post.

5ppm is pretty low for nitrates, IMO. Most go for 10-15ppm and up to 20ppm.


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## imeridian (Jan 19, 2007)

I actually did this test myself way back when. I didn't take any photos though, d'oh. It's a good way to both calibrate the test kit and give some memory as to what the colors really look like.

I try to keep at least 10ppm at all times, but it isn't something I ever really test, it's more just adding 5ppm everyday. EI is just so lovely that way, one doesn't need to worry about testing, the weekly 50% water change will work to correct any overage, the goal is to just make sure there's at least enough.


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## i4x4nMore (Mar 31, 2008)

macclellan said:


> 5ppm is pretty low for nitrates, IMO. Most go for 10-15ppm and up to 20ppm.


Thanks! Along with your post, I'm starting to get that impression... about maintaining higher nitrates than 5ppm. I have to admit that I'm still one of those converts that is gun-shy when it comes to nitrates and phosphates. There's so much bad info and _misinterpreted_ info about things that cause algae. When I first started dosing 5ppm nitrates, I thought was being a rebel and gonna create some killer strains of turbo-algae! To my surprise, all that 5ppm of nitrate was gone the next day!... and the next... and the next... _Who knew?!_

Cheers!


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

i REALLY wish there were some type of digital read out for all the test

I'm color blind and differentiating between those little retarded color squares and the vile is hard and i always resort to asking the person nearest me. its frustrating


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## imeridian (Jan 19, 2007)

Oh, but there is... they're called Colorimeters, they just aren't exactly, uhm, affordable when compared to this sort of test.


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## cowboy (Mar 14, 2007)

Jeremy,

Any plans to work this experiment with other test kits or tests?

AC


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## snakesat (Mar 29, 2008)

I have question about how people hold the tube up to the card. I am also trying to monitor my nitrates closely to help with algae. My question is do you hold the tube against the card or a little in front of it. If I hold it against the card it reads 20ppm, if I just move it away from the card slightly it reads 10ppm. Which reading do you think is right. thanks in advance for any replies.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Slightly away with a very bright white light. I put them on a sheet of paper on my window sill in full sunlight next to the card.


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

3 things:

1) Good Job! :thumbsup: 

2) Has anyone ever figured out how to compare the vial to the card? Is it held against the card (white area)? An inch away from the card? Beside the card? Seeing light through it? See the light reflecting on it? Sheesh, there has to be 20 different possibilities. I emailed API this question many moons ago--of course, no response.

3) I don't think a lot of people have your photography knowledge/skills. Any chance that you could work with your skills and printer and try to come up with a printable picture like above that we could all just download? I realize that printers vary, but I'm willing to assume some usefulness for the masses here......



:thumbsup:


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