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Comment by Jonny Cash on January 19, 2012 at 10:35am

Got the test , tried it out, pretty cool, wish I had more tues as there are 2 tanks....

Comment by Jonny Cash on January 15, 2012 at 10:53am

So Allison, what do you do if you find the levels off, what do you add? I like the idea of recycling and keeping costs down, I keeped all windows from when I redid my windows, for three years in the garage until this summer when I started on the GH. Any prolems with your goldfish? I have een getting the feeders but alot seem to die.

I am also experiencing a bug prob (Aphids) any ideas?

Comment by ALLISON DUHAIME on January 13, 2012 at 11:39am

i bought the kit from petsmart it was roughly 45 with taxes...its an 5 in 1 freshwater API test kit, comes with the solutions and 4 test tubes (my husband had previously bought an ammonia test, which came with test tube, now we have 5 tubes and 5 tests...it is quite simple to use...fill the test tube with the required water level (5ml), i use a turkey baster to fill my test tudes, i find it easier that way then dunking the tube directly in the tank....the ph is 3 drops of solution to 5 ml of water; then you mix the solution so that it spreads throughout the water to give a proper reading then you compare it to the card they provide...high ph is 5 drops of solution then mix & check...ammonia is 10 drops of each solution, bottle 1 and bottle 2 then mix and let sit for 5 mins so the solution is fully set in the water, Nitrite (NO2) is 5 drops of solution, shake the capped test tube for 1 min then let sit for 5 mins and check...Nitrate (NO3) is 8 drops of bottle 1, make sure its spread throughout the test tube, shake bottle 2 for 30 seconds then add 10 drops to the test tube, shake capped test tube vigorously for 1 min then let sit for 5 mins and check...that simple.....we bought a few solutions from petsmart, but after finding this site we have been going to our local hydroponic store when we can....we about pump & aeration products from there and walmart, where ever we could find low cost materials...we are doing this project on a budget....we bought our seeds from STOKES Seeds in Thorold Ontario Canada, and building materials for the system, where salvaged by my husband from the construction that took place in our apartment, (recycling/reusing/re-purposing is our view)...we bought our fish from petsmart, we are starting out with goldfish, 1 koi, 1 rosie minnow and 2 golden dojo loaches...it is a great place to get a inexpensive start to APing

Comment by Jonny Cash on January 13, 2012 at 8:46am

Hey Allison, like your set up, I have no idea how to test for anything, is the kit quite simple to use, then are you added things? If so do you buy averything from pet smart?