You guys are right: test strips don't work. I've been stubbornly using Jungle's 5 in 1 test strips for a long time, but a week ago I finally bought API's individual ammonia test kit, and then a couple of days ago I bought their individual nitrite kit, too (and I'll get the nitrate and pH kits next paycheck). The test strips show the presence of nitrites in a couple of my tanks, but the API test comes out 0...which means I've done a lot of needless panicking (and water changes) in the last 6 months. Oh well, I guess you could say a water change is never a wasted deed.
Partly why I balked getting the test kit before was that I looked at the complete kit, which can run many big bucks - whereas the strips are only $11 for 25. Then I noticed you could get the individual tests, which allows you to buy them one at a time, so you can afford it easier. And now that I've got a couple of them, I see it's really the way to go as it turns out to be WAY cheaper than those strips over time.
