Worthless test kits......

Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and spoke
to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,... these
quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In his
opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice goldfish for
that $12.

--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Koi-Lo wrote:
Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and
spoke to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,...
these quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In
his opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice
goldfish for that $12.


Bearing in mind your black crud problem who do you believe? Did you also
ask him to test for phosphates as per our discussion?

Also have you (and he) considered what might be happening as the water
travels across the mains to you...by all means buy another test kit...if
your results are the same take it back up with the water board...

JMO

Gill

agreed.

those tests tell me I have 40ppm nitrate when it's 8. I was doing crazy
water changes for a year before I switched to reagent kits. what a
relief!

On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 15:59:28 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:

Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and spoke
to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,... these
quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In his
opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice goldfish for
that $12.

Yeah, there should be a warning on those dip sticks. They are used for
all sorts of things in (human) health care settings, but they're not
expected to give precise results. A positive or out of whack dipstick
reading is an indication that more precise testing needs to be done.
They have their place, cheap, throwaway, easy learning curve, but
their readings are only approximations. Their accuracy is also
affected by storage conditions, age, humidity. Drop type test kits are
more accurate, and even among them, some are better than others. As
the price goes up. I'd be curious to learn if your water guy
recommended a specific brand for home testing.

-- Mr Gardener

On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:10:20 +0000, Gill Passman
wrote:

Koi-Lo wrote:
Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and
spoke to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,...
these quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In
his opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice
goldfish for that $12.


Bearing in mind your black crud problem who do you believe? Did you also
ask him to test for phosphates as per our discussion?

Also have you (and he) considered what might be happening as the water
travels across the mains to you...by all means buy another test kit...if
your results are the same take it back up with the water board...

JMO

Gill

Good point. The only readings that really matter are the readings
taken directly at KoiLo's water tap. I wonder if these guys make home
visits.

-- Mr Gardener

In article ,
Gill Passman wrote:
Koi-Lo wrote:
Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and
spoke to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,...
these quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!

You two are not testing the same water! Can you take a sample there
and have him test it? Not what he uses; hobby nitrate kits are, um,
"sub optimal".


--
Need Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home page: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

Salifert kits for alkalinity and calcium and Seatest or Fastest for
all others........
Salifert is probably top of the line for most home type kits.


On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:43:10 -0500, Mr. Gardener
wrote:
On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 15:59:28 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:

Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and spoke
to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,... these
quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In his
opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice goldfish for
that $12.

Yeah, there should be a warning on those dip sticks. They are used for
all sorts of things in (human) health care settings, but they're not
expected to give precise results. A positive or out of whack dipstick
reading is an indication that more precise testing needs to be done.
They have their place, cheap, throwaway, easy learning curve, but
their readings are only approximations. Their accuracy is also
affected by storage conditions, age, humidity. Drop type test kits are
more accurate, and even among them, some are better than others. As
the price goes up. I'd be curious to learn if your water guy
recommended a specific brand for home testing.

-- Mr Gardener

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

"Koi-Lo" wrote in message
...
Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and
spoke to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,...
these quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In
his opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice
goldfish for that $12.

Gil's right you're not testing the same water.

I use the quick dips for testing the pond, but 'real' test kits for most
other things.


--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

"~Roy~" wrote in message
...


Salifert kits for alkalinity and calcium and Seatest or Fastest for
all others........
Salifert is probably top of the line for most home type kits.

I use Salifert for Nitrates and Phophates and AP for most other things. I
used to like the Hagen for Nitrates, but the last two batches were useless.
I suspect they got frozen in transit and the Zinc fell out of solution.


On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:43:10 -0500, Mr. Gardener
wrote:
On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 15:59:28 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:

Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and
spoke
to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,... these
quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in
the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type.
In his
opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice
goldfish for
that $12.

Yeah, there should be a warning on those dip sticks. They are used for
all sorts of things in (human) health care settings, but they're not
expected to give precise results. A positive or out of whack dipstick
reading is an indication that more precise testing needs to be done.
They have their place, cheap, throwaway, easy learning curve, but
their readings are only approximations. Their accuracy is also
affected by storage conditions, age, humidity. Drop type test kits are
more accurate, and even among them, some are better than others. As
the price goes up. I'd be curious to learn if your water guy
recommended a specific brand for home testing.

-- Mr Gardener

--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

"Koi-Lo" wrote in message
...
Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and
spoke to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,...
these quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in
the trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type.
In his opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice
goldfish for that $12.

--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...


So I guess you could say, these dip sticks are not worth the paper they
were printed on, eh? ;~)
--
www.NetMax.tk