Something wrong with nitrate test?

[kuklachica]

i am currently fish-lessly cycling one of my tanks. I am at the middle-end of the process but am unsure if my nitrate test kit is working properly (I have the API master kit). When I put the FIRST set of drops in, it turns a brown tea color. Then I shake the SECOND set of drops for the 30 seconds, put them in, shake the tube for 1 minute, and it becomes a light orange. It looks like I have 5 ppm of nitrates but is not changing. And it is an orangish color, but not really a "clear" orange.

My question is:
Is the first set of drops SUPPOSED to change color right away? And is this compromising the integrity of the test?

Other params are:

Amm ~1 (after adding 3 drops); nitrIte ~2

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[glassmouse]

Mine turns yellow with the first set of drops then I get a shade of orange with after the second set of drops, but never brown. I don't know what's up with that.

[kuklachica]

My first drops USED to turn yellow before I had any nitrate. When I started getting nitrate the other day it now turns brown.

I let the tube sit overnight last night because I didn't feel like emptying and cleaning it right before bed. When I got up this morning it was red (like a high reading of nitrate). Is this common?

[kuklachica]

I tested another tank that is not cycled and it went normal. 1st drops were yellow, added 2nd drops, it all stayed yellow.

Here are pics from my questionable tests:

After adding first drops:



Right after adding 2nd drops and shaking:



After waiting 5 minutes:




Does this look right??

[dramaqueen]

Do those drops have an expiration date?

[Oldfishlady]

The API nitrate reagents have had a problem with settling sometimes that can cause skewed results, shake the heck out of the reagents give them a bang on the table and shake some more and then switch hands and shake more...then re-test and see if that makes a difference...you can also contact the company via their web-site/e-mail and ask them questions if needed.

[kuklachica]

I am not sure about expiration date... I dont see one?