Expired test kit

[Myka]

Older kits, even within expiry, are prone to giving false high or false low readings. Better brands like Salifert and Elos are better IME, but still risky.

Fwiw, don't bother buying a nitrite kit, just buy ammonia and nitrate for cycling. Nitrite isn't toxic in saltwater like it is in freshwater, so there's no need to monitor it. For that matter, I wouldn't even bother with an ammonia kit, I just buy a SeaChem Ammonia Alert once a year and keep it in the sump (write the date on it with Jiffy). Once the ammonia is all gone and nitrate had fallen (rather than continuing to rise), take a water sample to your LFS and get them to test nitrite just to make sure it's not like 50 ppm. 1 or 2 ppm nitrite isn't a problem. While you're there, you may as well get them to double check ammonia, and I'd get them to test phosphate too if you don't have your own kit. I wouldn't want to add light to a tank that has high phosphate, so I'd want to make sure that is ok before turning the light on. You do have the light off while it's cycling, right?