Expired test kit

fraz04 · #1 01-03-2017, 02:54 AM

hello hello,

I'm about in my 3rd week of cycling my tank, been about 8-9 years since my last tank. Been testing the water with a test kit that i had 8-9 years ago. i didn't even think about the test kit being expired. i did a little research and see that they do have a self life of about 4-5 years. i will be getting a new kit but the old one does seem to be giving me readings that would be correct to cycling a tank. Just wondering if anyone has has any problems with an expired test kit or if its kinda like expired milk (you usally get a few extra days after it has expired).

thanks

iamfrontosa · #2 01-03-2017, 03:36 AM

Why risk killing expensive livestocks based off an expired test kit?
Test kits are one of the most important things in this hobby.

DKoKoMan · #3 01-03-2017, 04:41 AM

IMO I would just get a new test kit and go from there. Test kits already aren't the most accurate so I wouldn't want to compromise with an expired kit and have the values even more off. This is very important whe it comes to dosing with false readings... don't want to risk a tank crash.

That being said I could see them still being somewhat accurate but I would not trust the reliability and would have a hard now sleeping at night!

DKoKoMan · #4 01-03-2017, 04:43 AM

Oh and almost forgot!

fraz04 · #5 01-03-2017, 05:44 AM

Yes I'm getting a new kit for sure, was just curious about expired ones. Thanks for the replies!😃

Myka · #6 01-03-2017, 01:33 PM

Older kits, even within expiry, are prone to giving false high or false low readings. Better brands like Salifert and Elos are better IME, but still risky.

Fwiw, don't bother buying a nitrite kit, just buy ammonia and nitrate for cycling. Nitrite isn't toxic in saltwater like it is in freshwater, so there's no need to monitor it. For that matter, I wouldn't even bother with an ammonia kit, I just buy a SeaChem Ammonia Alert once a year and keep it in the sump (write the date on it with Jiffy). Once the ammonia is all gone and nitrate had fallen (rather than continuing to rise), take a water sample to your LFS and get them to test nitrite just to make sure it's not like 50 ppm.

1 or 2 ppm nitrite isn't a problem. While you're there, you may as well get them to double check ammonia, and I'd get them to test phosphate too if you don't have your own kit. I wouldn't want to add light to a tank that has high phosphate, so I'd want to make sure that is ok before turning the light on. You do have the light off while it's cycling, right?

Reyphox · #7 01-07-2017, 07:13 PM

Light off is definitely the way to go. It's not needed to cycle your tank and will only grow algae. Don't wait to start running phosphate removal either. Run it straight of the get go so your live rock doesn't absorb it and then leech it into you water later on.

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