5+/- year old API Dry Tab test kit, to use or not?

[AnnetteG]

I have a never opened API Dry-Tab Master test kit that is probably 5 or more years old, but has never been opened or used. I can't find an expiration date on anything in it. (we bought my tank from a guy who never set it up and just had all this stuff the previous home owner had bought and left there - it's amazing! brand new Oceanic tank, never had anything but dust in it!)

Anyway, would you use this kit or do you think it won't be good anymore? I mean, it's still got the $39.99 price tag on it, so it'd be nice if I could use it.

Thanks!

 

[Pavo71]

dip strip type tests are not that great when they are new let alone when they are ~5 years old.

 

[AnnetteG]

it's NOT a dip strip test. And I know that. It has dry tablets and test tubes that you drop into the water and shake & wait to read the color.

 

[Robert04]

If the box says expired then no. The chemicals goes bad to.

 

[amf600]

The dry tabs were touted to last much longer then the liquid version of test kits; at least that was the marketing hype. Each test was a dry tablet or two, sealed in its own foil package so they were pretty well preserved. However, I don’t know if they would still be good after 5 years. I never really liked the dry tab tests because I could never get the tablet to fully dissolve in the test tube, so I always felt uneasy about the accuracy of the test.

What you have to decide is if the $40 is worth missing a problem to could result in you losing the investment you have in your tank. I probably would just buy a new test kit and use it alternately with the dry tabs. If you ever have any questionable results with the dry tabs, then you can always crosscheck it with a test from the new kit. That way you would know that at least every other test you make is using the fresher chems.

 

[fsn77]

5 years is kind of pushing it, IMO.
You may want to contact API directly to find out their opinion. If you provide them with the lot numbers on the individual test reagents, it should tell them exactly when those reagents were packaged.
Or, if you have a LFS that tests water and does so accurately (there are some that despite how frequently they test water still don't do it properly -- one locally told a friend the pH in his nicely stocked and growing reef tank was 6.0), you can take a sample of your tank's water to them to test, run those same tests with your kits on the same day (as close in time as possible), and compare results.

 

[AnnetteG]

well, I had a feeling it probably wasn't the best idea, so I went ahead and bought a new kit. Now I'll use both and compare the results! Just for curiosity sake. ;-)

 

[fsn77]

In the end, you probably made a good choice, although some of the older tests could still be good.

If you don't mind, it would be nice to see how the results from the old kit compare to the new kit. It would be great if you posted some of the comparison results.

 

[ryverrat]

When I worked in a water quality lab at school we disposed of any reagents (chemicals) that were beyond the expiration date- some of them were dry reagents. Not only do you risk getting inaccurate results some chemical degrade over time and can become hazardous to use. Don't know if the test kits would pose a risk but not worth finding out to save $40.

 

[AnnetteG]

that's the thing, I couldn't find an exp. date anywhere on the package or inside. I will look again, but it's no big deal, I bought a new kit anyway. I want to do a big water change tomorrow and then I'll start testing. Thanks!