"StringerBell" wrote in message ...
I was also wondering about the test itself. Mine is Red Sea---Ihe ammonia
test always starts yellow (good) but ends up at .25 after the directed 15
minute wait.Theres also 19 total drops of chemical to be made into the test
tube. I`m a total novice----but these factors seem like they could leave a
lot of room for innacuarracies.

If you are not sure of the test, and it happens for some test showing
fake residual ammonium (on the first level above 0 on the color scale)
than just test freshly made sal****er with tap water or - better -
your RO/DI water and see if the test will show zero ammonia...
It shoud show zero (undetectable).

Is there another relatively inexpensive test kit that leaves less variables
to human error?

No. All aquarium grade test work on the same principle of
comparing color of the sample to the printed color scale.