In a properly cycled aquarium, nitrite is converted to nitrate and then, if there are areas deprived of oxygen such as in live rock and other filter materials, this nitrate is converted back to nitrite and then transformed into harmless nitrogen gas. If this cycle breaks down then nitrites, which are extremely toxic to fish and invertebrates, can form in high concentration. Many nitrite test kits suffer from interference caused by amines e.g. naturally occurring and essential amino acids. This can result in a too low measured value, especially when the nitrite concentration is relatively low. Because of its unique formulation, the Salifert Test Kit does not suffer from amine interference, and offers full color development within one minute. Also, the color is very intense making the detection of even minute traces of nitrite easy. The test kit has two different scales: an ultra-low scale for nitrite-nitrogen which ranges from 0.002 – 0.12 mg/L, and a medium scale for nitrite-nitrogen which ranges from 0.02 – 1.2 mg/L. Sufficient for 50 tests. Can be used for marine water, frewshwater and garden pond water. INSTRUCTIONS for usage Add 1ml of water using the syringe in the test vial. Add to this 1 level spoon of the NO2 powder. Swirl the contents of the test tube gently for 20 seconds. Allow to stand for 3 minutes. Place the open test vial on top of the colour chart on a part of the chart which is white and compare the colours looking from the TOP. Read the corresponding nitrite content. An intermediate colour corresponds to an intermediate nitrite content. IMPORTANT: If the carbonate hardness is above 14dKH (which corresponds to an alkalinity of 3 meq/L) addition of 2 level spoons in step #2 is required. The nitrite values are in ppm values.If you prefer a reading in ppm Nitrate-Nitrogen then multiply the reading by 0.3. HIGHER SENSITIVITYAfter your aquarium or garden pond has cycled you will need a much higher sensitivity. This is easily accomplished by looking through the side when comparing colours. Hold the test tube with it’s side against a white piece of colour chart. THe readings have to be divided by 10. In this way, you will be able to detect 0.01 ppm as nitrite or 0.003 ppm as bitrite-nitrogen easily.
