I have been using Red Sea products since I started and found them very good overall. I did have a problem with a Calcium test kit where one of the reactants was defective, causing me to chase my tail for a week or two. It turned out to be a bad batch. Red Sea kindly replaced all the reactants, which is commendable and appreciated.
Recently I found that the magnesium levels in my tank seemed to be "stuck" at about 1360 ppm (i also use the Red Sea test kit for this). I queried this and other reefers informed me that magnesium is an element that is overall used slowly in some tanks.
Recently I also notice some corals sulking, not extending, opening etc.
After six weeks of the magnesium not budging I decided to get another kit, also Red Sea, my current one was almost finished anyway, and re-tested.
The test showed a value of 1100 ppm. Retesting with the old kit, 1360 ppm. The product claim is 20ppm accuracy, this is a 260ppm difference from two supposedly identical products from the same company.
I did notice that the nozzle on the reactant B bottle got obstructed sometimes, which indicates to me that the reactant might be crystallizing, diluting the solution. It might be prudent to shake the bottle a bit before each use I guess, I did not see any mention of this anywhere on the product though. I would guess if this is the case the test kit would get more inaccurate with time.
These two experiences have left me a bit worried about the accuracy of test kits in general. How much can we rely on them?
I have pushed the Mg up to 1260 ppm so far and the corals which were sulking is happy as a clam gain. Whether it was the Mg or not, I am not sure, but if not, it is quite a coincidence.
Recently I found that the magnesium levels in my tank seemed to be "stuck" at about 1360 ppm (i also use the Red Sea test kit for this). I queried this and other reefers informed me that magnesium is an element that is overall used slowly in some tanks.
Recently I also notice some corals sulking, not extending, opening etc.
After six weeks of the magnesium not budging I decided to get another kit, also Red Sea, my current one was almost finished anyway, and re-tested.
The test showed a value of 1100 ppm. Retesting with the old kit, 1360 ppm. The product claim is 20ppm accuracy, this is a 260ppm difference from two supposedly identical products from the same company.
I did notice that the nozzle on the reactant B bottle got obstructed sometimes, which indicates to me that the reactant might be crystallizing, diluting the solution. It might be prudent to shake the bottle a bit before each use I guess, I did not see any mention of this anywhere on the product though. I would guess if this is the case the test kit would get more inaccurate with time.
These two experiences have left me a bit worried about the accuracy of test kits in general. How much can we rely on them?
I have pushed the Mg up to 1260 ppm so far and the corals which were sulking is happy as a clam gain. Whether it was the Mg or not, I am not sure, but if not, it is quite a coincidence.
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