Red Sea Pro Nitrate Testing

[Falco]

For those who use the Red Sea Pro Nitrate test Kits, do you have any words of wisdom on how you get a good reading? I am not sure what it is with me but I just can't seem to get any sort of reading after trying time and time again. I just got a new set of reagents because the ones I had were expired and after running a few tests (16ml of sample & 1ml sample/15ml RO/DI) I just get a grayish color to the water and clumps of what seems to be the B powder towards the top of the vial.

I am going to try and take some ESV nitrate (1ml / 15ml RO/DI) and test that KNOWING that there is Nitrate in the water to see if I get a reading but I have a decent amount of bubble, GHA and what looks to be Bryopsis mixed in around my 2 tanks so I should be getting some sort of reading (I know the algae is eating up most of it for a false positive) but the clumpy gray powder can't be right.

thanks for the help!

 

[Miller535]

For those who use the Red Sea Pro Nitrate test Kits, do you have any words of wisdom on how you get a good reading? I am not sure what it is with me but I just can't seem to get any sort of reading after trying time and time again. I just got a new set of reagents because the ones I had were expired and after running a few tests (16ml of sample & 1ml sample/15ml RO/DI) I just get a grayish color to the water and clumps of what seems to be the B powder towards the top of the vial.

I am going to try and take some ESV nitrate (1ml / 15ml RO/DI) and test that KNOWING that there is Nitrate in the water to see if I get a reading but I have a decent amount of bubble, GHA and what looks to be Bryopsis mixed in around my 2 tanks so I should be getting some sort of reading (I know the algae is eating up most of it for a false positive) but the clumpy gray powder can't be right.

thanks for the help!

I don't know, maybe you have a different kit then mine. But mine is 16ml of tank water for low Nitrate results, or 15ml RODI +1 ml tank water for High Nitrate test. Not 16 and 1.

One important step is when you put part by in, shake the heck out of it, and time it for the whole min, that's important.

 

[Falco]

I don't know, maybe you have a different kit then mine. But mine is 16ml of tank water for low Nitrate results, or 15ml RODI +1 ml tank water for High Nitrate test. Not 16 and 1.

One important step is when you put part by in, shake the heck out of it, and time it for the whole min, that's important.

sorry for the confusion. I have done both tests. Twice wjth 16ml of thank water and then twice with 15ml/1ml.

I will try again and really shake b hard but I did try to make sure I didn that on each test

 

[Shirak]

Hmm I haven't had any issue running 16ml tank water. 5 drops of A, swirl for 15 seconds, 1 scoop of B cap and shake for 1 min, scoop of C shake for 15 seconds and let sit for 9. Should get a pink color

 

[Miller535]

Hmm I haven't had any issue running 16ml tank water. 5 drops of A, swirl for 15 seconds, 1 scoop of B cap and shake for 1 min, scoop of C shake for 15 seconds and let sit for 9. Should get a pink color

Yes, it should be pink, not grey. And if it is not turning pink, do not waste your time with the high nitrate test.

It's possible you have bottomed out your nitrates. If they are bottomed out, the vial should stay clear, to kind of whiteish.

 

[taricha]

lots of bubbles, gray particles, and no pink is how this test looks at the low end of what it can detect. (a couple of tenths of a ppm)

 

[javisaman]

Did anyone solve this issue with the grey particles? I just bought a new complete test kit and I'm getting the same grey clumps mentioned here.

 

[Dan_P]

Did anyone solve this issue with the grey particles? I just bought a new complete test kit and I'm getting the same grey clumps mentioned here.

Taricha’s seems to have the likely explanation.

 

[Shirak]

A lot of particles? I use the NYOS nitrate kit primarily now since I try to keep my NO3 a few PPM or so. If I recall there would be a little sediment at the bottom after sitting for the requisite time period but nothing more than a little dusting at the bottom of the vial.

 

[javisaman]

Taricha’s seems to have the likely explanation.

Yea I just tested it again with a little bit of sodium nitrate and it seems fine and the grey chunky bits are fewer. The reason I got the red sea kit is my other one (Tropic Marin) was claiming my nitrates were zero and I thought it was giving me inaccurate readings. My SPS coral colors are kind of drab and my LPS started STNing so I decided to see if was nitrate. Both kits were showing zero out of the box. So I dosed 600mg of Sodium nitrate into a 90g water volume to get 1ppm. And the Red Sea measured that as 1ppm.

 

[Shirak]

I like the red sea pro for low levels. I think it's pretty good at differentiating down to 0

 

[RickG]

Hey any idea? Having the same gray particles, wondering if it's normal

 

[SamMule]

I had the same issues. Clumps every time and very inaccurate results. Tried multiple different dilutions and ended up with the exact same color every time.
Gave up on it, switched to Nyos, and never looked back. Much easier and way more accurate.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

So my nitrates per a ICP test from ATI were 0.01 last month (phosphates 0.13). I've been feeding heavy and even dosed some nitrate. I got it to a point where i could get some color on an API test for nitrate, somewhere between 1 and 5ppm, maybe?? I wanted something more accurate. Phosphates range between 0.08 and 0.11 during this time.

A few weeks later, i got the nitrate pro test. Haven't dosed nitrate for a few weeks. Phosphates still range between 0.08 and 0.11 (basically haven't change given margin of error with hanna checker).

Ran the nitrate pro test several times on both high range and low range. All i get is little greyish/blue speckles. The reagents don't expire until next year.

Just trying to confirm that the likely issue is that nitrates are undetectable again?

It's 20 gallon nano with a pretty heavy fishload, but it seems nitrates are just sucked up quick? Anyone have similar experience with this test kit? All the corals look great except one green stag is losing some color. Other acros and SPS grow well. LPS and softies all happy. One gonipora is a little more closed up, lighter in color but may be light issue. Xenia grows like a weed as do monitora.

I do dose phyto regularly. I feed pellets, reef roids, frozen black worms, frozen mysis, reef nutrition pod stuff, aminos, etc., twice a day and more than what is eaten (maybe 5-10ml slurry).

There is no algae problems and no dino problems. The only thing that makes me want to change anything is the loss in color from the the green stag (9-10 inch colony).

 

[Dan_P]

So my nitrates per a ICP test from API were 0.01 last month (phosphates 0.13). I've been feeding heavy and even dosed some nitrate. I got it to a point where i could get some color on an API test for nitrate, somewhere between 1 and 5ppm, maybe?? I wanted something more accurate. Phosphates range between 0.08 and 0.11 during this time.

A few weeks later, i got the nitrate pro test. Haven't dosed nitrate for a few weeks. Phosphates still range between 0.08 and 0.11 (basically haven't change given margin of error with hanna checker).

Ran the nitrate pro test several times on both high range and low range. All i get is little greyish/blue speckles. The reagents don't expire until next year.

Just trying to confirm that the likely issue is that nitrates are undetectable again?

It's 20 gallon nano with a pretty heavy fishload, but it seems nitrates are just sucked up quick? Anyone have similar experience with this test kit? All the corals look great except one green stag is losing some color. Other acros and SPS grow well. LPS and softies all happy. One gonipora is a little more closed up, lighter in color but may be light issue.

I do dose phyto regularly. I feed pellets, reef roids, frozen black worms, frozen mysis, reef nutrition pod stuff, aminos, etc., twice a day and more than what is eaten (maybe 5-10ml slurry).

There is no algae problems and no dino problems. The only thing that makes me want to change anything is the loss in color from the the green stag (9-10 inch colony).

The specks are sometimes seen in kits that use zinc metal. They can affect color formation, but I have not heard about or experienced complete lack of color because of their presence.

I would say your nitrate level is low.

 

[arking_mark]

I could never get my Hanna Nitrate Tester to work either. I always ended up with grey sediment. I believe they also used zinc.

 

[Shirak]

Guess you could always add a drop or two of nitrate to a sample of tank water and see if reads differently. At least then you should see a measurable color change and know if the test kit is working.

Personally I like to have a second kit from a different manufacturer if I think something is wonky with my normal go too kit. My go too for Nitrate is the NYOS test kit. I think the yellow color change is easier to decipher and I like that it is fast and easy and seems to work well

 

[Dan_P]

I could never get my Hanna Nitrate Tester to work either. I always ended up with grey sediment. I believe they also used zinc.

Your results sound as if the filtration step failed. Did the filter paper holder give you trouble? If the paper is not seated correctly, the zinc will pass through.

 

[DirkCourage]

Did anyone solve this issue with the grey particles? I just bought a new complete test kit and I'm getting the same grey clumps mentioned here.

I always got grey clumps until I REALLY shook the bejeezus out of it.

 

[arking_mark]

Your results sound as if the filtration step failed. Did the filter paper holder give you trouble? If the paper is not seated correctly, the zinc will pass through.

I believe you're right. However, after watching the videos, and reading the instructions for the 10th time, and another 3 failed tests, it was time to try something else...