Red Sea Test Kits

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Hi.
I have recently purchased 3 Titration Red Sea test kits namely Ca ~ ALK~Mg..
Found the readings very different to my previous test kits..has anybody found the same..namely Ca 800 ~Alk 18~ Mg 1160.
Did a water change and found the readings slightly lower....

Open for comment...
 
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I found them to be pretty spot on. Which point on the syringe are you using to read the titrate used? Also, with the magnesium kit, you must not carry on adding the titrate after the colour changed the first time (it will revert from blue back to pink); this can mess up your readings.
 
i found that the RED SEA test kits work pretty well. best way to test is mix a cup of RO water with marine salt. i use RED SEA Coral Pro which has all the levels of Ca, Mg and Alk printed on the label (i've never used another salt so i can not comment on that) leave the newly mix water to stand for about 30-40 min and test with the red sea test kit. the readings you get should be exactly what it says on the label of the salt.
 
Think you may have done what I did when I first got the Red Sea test kits

Are you measuring the amount of liquid used or amount left in the syringe?

eg. Say Ca is 350 your syringe should sit at 0.3ml and not at 0.70
 
like Toolboysa says you have to calculate the total titration liquid used. for example you start at 1ml in the syringe and by the time you finish the test you have 0.30 left that means that you've used .70ml and on the back of the card you'll find the corresponding value for liquid used
 
Hi all
thanks for your comments..iI answer as folows all in one
butcherman...tropic marine and the those particular results were Ca 420 ~ Alk 10 ~ Mg 1160
tekkengal....will remmebr that in the future as well but was not the case this time round
hot sauce... i am not current using Red Sea salt as i still have in stcok but are moving over to it soonest..i shall try and get some for a test as you mention
toolboysa..thanks i am sure i used it the correct way as this thought went thru my mind the first time ..did the test serval times over as this was new to me and wished to make sure i was doing it correctly...

Thanks guys for your input..hope i have answered you all correctly.
 
when you say that you did the test several times over did you get the same result every time.? or were the readings off. if you got the same result every time I can even think that the readings are correct and your calcium levels are very elevated
 
in all honesty I find the Alk test very hard to use because I'm never sure of when the color changes to orange and when is it orange enough like on the comparator card ... all other test are a breeze
 
Ja when is blue ~ blue...the results were the same...I also took a water sample to a LFS and the result varied but also over the top...
 
it is possible that the elements are just very high that happens. there is a way to get a accurate reading in such case if you dilute one part of aquarium water with 15 parts RO water but ive never had to do that myself. i think the best way to get everything to optimal levels is if you do a small water change every day like let say 10% but of course that can become expensive if your tank is very big
 
it is possible that the elements are just very high that happens. there is a way to get a accurate reading in such case if you dilute one part of aquarium water with 15 parts RO water but ive never had to do that myself. i think the best way to get everything to optimal levels is if you do a small water change every day like let say 10% but of course that can become expensive if your tank is very big
1500 litres...I hear what you saying but why does another brand give a much lower reading and within the parameters
 
I've found the Red Sea test kits to be reliable enough. However, like with any test kit, you really do have to follow the directions carefully. And you can't be sloppy. You really do have to rinse out the sample viles and all that.

When I'm testing my water, I usually do each test at least twice (if not with different test kits, then with the same test kits).

No home test kit is going to be perfectly accurate. Fortunately, for most purposes, we only need them to be roughly accurate.
 
No. I actually died in an unfortunate spelunking accident 8 months ago-- this is my ghost haunting MASA. :eek:


j/k But seriously, you know, I'd post more if more people posted in my forum! :p
 
No. I actually died in an unfortunate spelunking accident 8 months ago-- this is my ghost haunting MASA. :eek:


j/k But seriously, you know, I'd post more if more people posted in my forum! :p
Oh dear....:eek:

Where on WWM? I pop in now & then...;) LOL kidding yeah I suppose.
 
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