Tetra Test Strips.

I picked up a brand new carton of tetra test strips from a charity shop today for £1.50p. A bargain I think  Just to try them out I tested my 200l tank. I've always struggled to read the nitrate test using the APi liquid reagents but knew it was somewhere between 40-80ppm, however the test strips show my nitrates at 50ppm and considering my tapwater is 40ppm I don't think thats bad.

Just remember I've had frogbit in for a few days now so maybe I should test with the API test too.

Is it easier to decipher/see the graduation of the nitrate colours on the test strips. All I seem able to do is tell if it's getting too red when using the liquid test (API). Is it worth trying them to see if I can differentiate the reading better, are the colours in a graduated strip or in steps like the liquid test comparison chart as I think a graduated strip would be simpler to read.
Edited, just seen the strips on t'interweb and that has answered my question in the negative I think. Surely someone somewhere must be able to come up with a better method for testing nitrates?.

I am lucky because my tapwater has nitrate in the colour gap between 0 and 5 ppm so even allowing for nitrate building up in the tanks, it is still in the easily distinguishable colour section.

I have read just today that the Salifert nitrate test is easier to read, if more expensive to buy.

I find the test strips much easier to read for nitrate and nitrite than liquid-based tests, although have never tried Salifert.

Fiona, assuming you have 5-/6-in-1 test strips, I'd be interested to know how your other readings compare with your liquid-based ones, especially for hardness/PH. Both JBL and Tetra test strips tend to give me a lower reading for PH than liquid-based test kits, while both and especially the Tetra one tend to give me a much higher GH than either the liquid-based test kit or my water company data.