api kh&gh testing kit

[blazingazn]

i know this will probably be put under the "equipment and prodcuts" section, but i feel i'll get a better and faster response here. i recently bought the api kh & gh testing kit. im a bit confused about the instructions (it seems straightforward, but man (holy!@#$) oh man something seems wrong >_<) for the kh test, it says that the water will "turn from blue to yellow" but the kh solution itself is orange/yellow. so im just adding drop by drop and its not changing color at all... and the same for the gh test, it says that the water will turn from "orange to green" but the gh solution itself is blue! so once again im just adding drop by drop and its not changing colors... im reading the instructions over and over but im stumped!

[bkw1982]

so it doesn't turn blue after the first drop? are you putting the cap on and turning your tube upside down a couple times after adding the drop?

[blazingazn]

yes, both solutions just drop in without changing colors

[bkw1982]

If it turns yellow after 1st drop then you have 1kh.

If nothing happens and it stays clear then you may have a bad test. Sounds like you're following the directions correctly.

[blazingazn]

1kh for the tank is understandable, but the same happened for tap water. 1kh for tap?! should i let the tap sit out for a while?

[jmhart]

I have 0-1 KH tap. My water is very very soft. If it's the color they say it will change too after one drop, that means it's between 0 and 1.

In a nonplanted tank, you don't need to make soft water harder. In a planted co2 injected tank, you may want to up the hardness. This can be accomplished using baking soda to raise KH and epsom salt(or a hobby level GH booster) to raise GH