Water testing

[Kedar]

This is a general alert for all the folks who rely on water testing at
a local fish store. If you see the LFS testing water with a dip stick
then you can be almost sure that the results will not be accurate (not
even close)

Recently i had my water tested at our local Petco & the guy scared me
by stating that my nitrates were more than 160ppm...i knew they were
high and had tested it previously to be around 30....but this was way
too much. I bought the nitrate tester by Aq Pharma & it showed the
nitrates to be around 20-25....relief atlast.

Moral, do not trust LFS for water testing, get your own stuff...your
fish will thank you.

Reg
Kedar

[carlrs]

Kedar wrote:
> This is a general alert for all the folks who rely on water testing at
> a local fish store. If you see the LFS testing water with a dip stick
> then you can be almost sure that the results will not be accurate (not
> even close)
>
> Recently i had my water tested at our local Petco & the guy scared me
> by stating that my nitrates were more than 160ppm...i knew they were
> high and had tested it previously to be around 30....but this was way
> too much. I bought the nitrate tester by Aq Pharma & it showed the
> nitrates to be around 20-25....relief atlast.
>
> Moral, do not trust LFS for water testing, get your own stuff...your
> fish will thank you.
>
> Reg
> Kedar

I do recommend having your own test kits, it just makes aquarium
maintenance easier and in your case, more trustworthy.
I use (and sell) Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Test Kits myself, but I have
used Jungle and Mardel Test Strips in my maintenance business, with
good results. I am guessing this LFS was using contaminated strips
(easy to do), they also should have asked a few questions when your
Ntrates tested so high.

Carl

[megasycophant]

The other possibility is that they're using perfectly good strips and
you're using a liquid-based test kit which is less accurate (or even
expired -- make sure to check the expiration date). A lot of the test
kits in the hobby are of dubious accuracy.

BTW, some nitrate test kits measure nitrite + nitrate. Perhaps testing
your nitrite level will explain the discrepancy.

[swarvegorilla]

"Kedar" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> This is a general alert for all the folks who rely on water testing at
> a local fish store. If you see the LFS testing water with a dip stick
> then you can be almost sure that the results will not be accurate (not
> even close)
>
> Recently i had my water tested at our local Petco & the guy scared me
> by stating that my nitrates were more than 160ppm...i knew they were
> high and had tested it previously to be around 30....but this was way
> too much. I bought the nitrate tester by Aq Pharma & it showed the
> nitrates to be around 20-25....relief atlast.
>
> Moral, do not trust LFS for water testing, get your own stuff...your
> fish will thank you.
>
> Reg
> Kedar
>

I work at a lfs
when I test water
the water is f'ing tested hey mate
I trust me, customers trust me
If it looks wonky ya always try another kit
probes need to be calibrated
but I do agree whole heartedly
Don't be a cheap ass! Buy the kits, do the tests and write it all down.
takes the guess work out of it
:)