Do you happen to know the date it was manufactured?

Nutrafin tests rarely make it to their "good-until-one-year-after-manufactured-date" claim.

I know I've had to throw out a nutrafin kit. It hadn't worked accurately since the day I opened it. That was a different kit than pH however.

I'm not saying your kit is innacurate but it might be a good idea to test it against a substance with a known pH level just to be certain.

i know it says good until 2014 so its still relatively new...i didn't check the manufacture date but i should have. i like your idea about testing something with a known ph.....maybe i'll go test lemon juice. that seems like a fairly stable pH substance. CRAP i thought i was buying a good kit. you know i never even took into account that there was more then one kind of "master test kit" so every time i heard someone saying use a master kit or get a master kit it was the first one that came to mind. i'll test something with a known pH and if its right i'll be really happy but if not this would be a big waste of money

looking online i can see a few people posting that we have higher pH water here in edmonton....maybe this kit is accurate. now to go and test lemon juice lol

I thought I had a pH problem years ago then I stopped testing. Now I have no problem. I'd worry more about keeping your calcium and alk in check. Your tank will buffer at what it wants to and trying to mess with it will only cause a rollercoaster effect. It's better to be stable whether a little high or low. PH will also fluctuate depending on the time of day and the type of livestock. I wouldn't worry to much.

thanks and i think your right. its more about the consistency then it is about getting the exact ph. mine has been really consistent so im pretty happy with that. what is alkilinity and how is it tested?.....i know its really newbish.......

you will need an alkalinity test for that, I would also get calcium, and eventually magnesium

if you want as you get closer to ready to stock i could come over and run the wak of them for you. shoot me a pm if you want

You sound a bit clueless about reef aquarium chemistry. Here are some articles to give you a good foundation.

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

i wouldn't say "clueless" but i would say still new and learning as i go along

I would say new too. LOL. I'm still figuring it out as well