# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Frustrating Nitrate Tests



## Booswalia (May 15, 2003)

Hi,
Maybe one of the chemists out there can help me with this. 

I'm using a Seachem nitrate test and I can't get a clear reading on my tank water. 
When I use the reference water that came with the kit, it's fine, it reads 10ppm and when I take a reading from my tap it reads 7ppm, (same the water company results). When I take a reading from my tank the result turns kinds of a peachy/orange colour that's not on the chart. It starts out pink but after about a minute it starts turning orange and then fades away to almost clear.

I'm not adding any nitrates to my tank, and algae is minimal, so I'm not real worried about it. .....it's just annoying. 

What else am I using in the tank?
100% flourite gravel
1ml flourish/week
3ml Seachems Trace/3x week
1ml Seachems Iron daily
13 drops Fleet enima / week
Nu-Salt Potassium according to Chuck's Calculator.
pressurized C02

Any ideas what could be causing this?


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## Booswalia (May 15, 2003)

Hi,
Maybe one of the chemists out there can help me with this. 

I'm using a Seachem nitrate test and I can't get a clear reading on my tank water. 
When I use the reference water that came with the kit, it's fine, it reads 10ppm and when I take a reading from my tap it reads 7ppm, (same the water company results). When I take a reading from my tank the result turns kinds of a peachy/orange colour that's not on the chart. It starts out pink but after about a minute it starts turning orange and then fades away to almost clear.

I'm not adding any nitrates to my tank, and algae is minimal, so I'm not real worried about it. .....it's just annoying. 

What else am I using in the tank?
100% flourite gravel
1ml flourish/week
3ml Seachems Trace/3x week
1ml Seachems Iron daily
13 drops Fleet enima / week
Nu-Salt Potassium according to Chuck's Calculator.
pressurized C02

Any ideas what could be causing this?


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## nino (Oct 2, 2004)

You are not alone. Check these out :
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8501

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7731

It seems that is the main problem with Seachem nitrate test kit. But I tell you that all brands have their goods and bads. Many complain also regarding RedSea. These 2 brands are very accurate and reliable on all their test kits except nitrate test IMO.

I myself use AP test kit. It's decent and quite consistent when your nitrate level is between 0 to 10 which what I have. The problem is it has 5ppm intervals and the colors above 10ppm is hard to tell. If you have a very high nitrate level, you will have a hard time matching 20ppm or 40ppm etc.

I don't know which nitrate test kit is perfect and would like to know myself


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## Steve Hampton (Feb 13, 2004)

For those who want to know and like to monitor nitrate levels accurately and with some precision you can't beat the LaMotte NO3-N test kit. The big advantage is not having to depend on the color cards. Instead the test vial is compared to colored fluid samples. Here's a picture of the "comparator".










Note that the sample vial slides into either the second or fifth slot for comparison. Also this test is a NO3-N test kit. Meaning the result is Nitrate as Nitrogen, so the actually test result must be multiplied by 4.4 times. So if your tank water tests matched the fluid in 1.0 sample of NO3-N then you would multiply 1.0x4.4 for a nitrate reading of 4.4 ppm. Note that NO3-N of 1.0 ppm is equal to NO3 of 4.4 ppm.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I use a Lamotte kit and don't have those problems. As long as the reagents are good, I'm pretty confident about the readings. You get what you pay for.

The AP kit was a problem for me. The readings I got with it were much different than with my friend's Lamotte. It sure _looked_ like nitrates were too high, but the AP kit didn't say they were. The Lamotte did. Good kit.

I had the same issue with the Seachem nitrate kit. No idea why that orange color shows up. I still use their phosphate kit. No problem there.


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

I use the Hach NI-14 kit and I'm really pleased with it. The kit tests both nitrate and nitrite in the range of 0-1 mg/l or 0-10 mg/l. The kit comes in a durable, heavy plastic case pictured here:









The kit is packed with stuff, including sealed foil pouches for the dry reagents, and a very effective color comparator.








As near as I can tell the shelf life on the reagents is effectively unlimited. It's a two-reagent kit and the various mixing, pouring, shaking and waiting steps take about 15 minutes to complete.

The actual color comparison setup is shown here:









The treated sample goes into the vial on the right and an untreated sample goes into the vial on the left. There is a color wheel inside the comparator, shown here:








You turn the wheel until the color in the left viewing window matches the color in the treated sample (right viewing window). It works real well.

Yesterday I measured the NO3-N level in my 55 gallon tank at 0.1 mg/l (0.44 mg/l NO3) and was pretty confident about the color match.

The Hach kit (and the LaMotte for that matter) is more expensive than hobby kits. I recall it was about 54$ plus shipping from Colorado. If you use a nitrate kit to help manage your aquarium then the consequences of a bad test might mean loss of hard-to-get plants or a month or so of recovery time. I found the cost to be well justified.

SeaTest sells a nitrate kit that uses the same process as the Hach and LaMotte kits. It uses a set of colored plastic standards molded into the test vial as the color comparator. The SeaTest kit (marketed for Reefs) is the best hobby level nitrate kit I've used.

Hach also sells a similar "color cube" kit for hobby use.

Roger Miller


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## Booswalia (May 15, 2003)

At least I know it's not a problem in my tank water.

I have often thought about getting a LaMotte or Hach kit, but the price is a little scary and I haven't had any luck find a supplier in Canada.

Maybe I'll try a ReadSea kit next time.

Thanks for the info.


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## Steve Hampton (Feb 13, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> I have often thought about getting a LaMotte or Hach kit, but the price is a little scary and I haven't had any luck find a supplier in Canada.


I failed to mention that it's really an investment. Like buying a light fixture. You have to replace bulbs but not the whole fixture. The Hach and LaMotte kits simply need to have more reagents purchased when you run out rather than purchase of a whole new kit. A fresh set of reagents for the LaMotte NO3-N kit runs about $10, (not sure what the Hach replacement reagents run) so that $60 initial purchase is an investment in the comparator and plastic "field case".


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## Steve Hampton (Feb 13, 2004)

Marine Depot ships to Canada. Here's a link to the LaMotte NO3-N kit.

https://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=LM1115


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## imported_MatPat (Jan 18, 2004)

I know where you are coming from Booswalia. It is very frustrating reading the colors when using the Seachem kit! I could never get good readings with it. After adding KNO3 to my tank for several days (7ppm/day for nearly a week) and not getting a reading close to what I should get, a friend let me use his Lamotte kit. I compared the Seachem kit (10ppm at best guestimate) with his Lamotte kit (35.2 ppm). 

To make a long story short, he ended up giving me his Lamotte kit (he wanted a newer kit) and I ordered some refills. I have since given up on the "hobby" kits and ordered a Lamotte PO4 kit to go with my NO3 kit. I am now contemplating ordering a KH and GH kit from Lamotte also as my AP kits do not seem to be very accurate. 

While the Lamotte kits are initially expensive the refills are about as much as other kits. I would rather have the security of the Lamotte kits then always be wondering if I matched the right color on the chart.


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## Booswalia (May 15, 2003)

Hey, thanks for the link Steve.

Their price is not even that scary. The last time I looked into getting a LaMotte kit, it was going to be well over a $100 by the time it got here. 

I think I may just have to order m'self a kit.


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## Booswalia (May 15, 2003)

WHY? Why does it have to be such a hastle to oder stuff from the US? I can tolerate the price of 43.99 ending up being 59.00. I can even tolerate the duty that I'll pay on that. (Likely another 10 dollars). The shipping: now that's another story. If I have it sent FedEx it will cost me $40.00. Luckily they can also send it UPS for $15.00. I can live with that. Now they won't send because my shipping address is a PO Box ......which is also my billing address and they have to match or "no way".

I can appreciate that fraud is an issue at times, but this is rural Canada here. We don't have street addresses. 

I can't believe their actually going to refuse my order.

Sorry, I'm blowing off steam here.

Deep breathing now.........


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

Booswalia,

I don't know about LaMotte, but you can get Hach products from Canadian retailers. The Hach site has a list of suppliers in Canada. I don't see any in PE, so you probably will have to order rather than walk in to buy one.

I know nothing about their pricing or shipping policies.

Roger Miller


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## Booswalia (May 15, 2003)

Thanks Roger. I'm going to go look into that.


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## loxman1956 (Aug 18, 2003)

steve
was looking at your post concerning la motte nitrate test kit.i just bought one from reef splendor.you have model 3109,mine says 3354.you have more verables.mine goes 0,1,2,4,6.so did i get the correct nitrate kit or is yours an older model?also reefslpendors price is $37.


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## markstr (Feb 23, 2004)

Ditto, on Loxmans question.....
I think there is just more variables on the
readings ( steves kit ) like you mentioned..
The testing seems to be the same in general..
Personally,
I would have liked to have gotten
the one Steve has just because it looks like
you have more flexability but I think mines ok..


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## markstr (Feb 23, 2004)

I was going to mention,
Just for the heck of it, I had the opportunity
to get a Nitrate Test kit by " Nutrafin" which
is hagen I think..
New kit, Looks like some things were changed
on it possibly....
Anyways,
I like it, and it seems fairly easy to
read. Color wize, I just maintain between 5-10
on the colors, even though "number wize", it is
not as accurate, it works..........


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## imported_bellisb925 (Jul 2, 2004)

I grow turf for a living and quartely we are doing tissue tests on the grass and soil tests. Nitrogen is not even tested in the soil because it is so variable and the same goes for the tissue tests we conduct. I know turf and aquariums aren't exactly related, but maybe there is a link in the chemistry.


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## aviel (Sep 12, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> If you use a nitrate kit to help manage your aquarium then the consequences of a bad test might mean loss of hard-to-get plants or a month or so of recovery time.


Roger,

Regarding losing plants,

Do you mean losing because of too low nitrate or because of too high? If we run nitrate @ 30-50 ppm could we lose plants? Have you experienced such a loss?

Aviel.


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