Let’s talk test kits.

[coralseas]

That looks great! You have a great grasp on your tank and what it does. I wonder if it was your ALK dip? I use salifert for alk. Im to cheap to buy the hanna.

Man I wish I knew. I’m about to buy some icp test. But it takes for ever to get results .

Red Sea 12dkh
Elos 9

Idk

 

[coralseas]

Any one else wanna chime in on what test kits they like?

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I started ATI Essential 11 days ago. I just sent my test in yesterday. I'll let you know how long it takes. I like ATI because it tests your RO also.

 

[coralseas]

I started ATI Essential 11 days ago. I just sent my test in yesterday. I'll let you know how long it takes. I like ATI because it tests your RO also.

I just ordered ICP analysis out of Colorado/coral view. I opted because I was hoping for fast turnaround time. I would love to know how fast ATI will be.

Also i’m going to mix up 5 gallons of Reef crystals and test with Red Sea test kits

to see if I’m close to the default levels.

Here’s some more bass recession on a red planet

I’d love to hear what others are using for test kits and how they eel they work.

Planning on going to buy some salifert test till I can get the icp testing back

 

[Ocdreef]

Sorry to hear about your recession issues, I know how it feel. And it feels even worse when you can’t pinpoint it. I’ll include the list I use but first I’m not sure if this has already been discussed but have you already eliminated bugs and aefw? Aefw is pretty obvious but oftentimes acro bugs can be extremely hard to spot.
I’ve been using the mix below for years and they’ve never failed me. Alk is usually at 7.8-8.3 and this seems to work for me. Alk of 10 shouldn’t be the issue with your receding. Good luck with everything:
Ca, Alk, Mag- Salifert
Nitrate- Red Sea pro
Phosphate- Hanna
Chlorine ULR- Hanna
PH- Apex probe

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Didi you add anything new in the last month or two?

 

[coralseas]

I added/replace the hydra 52. But I don’t think that would have anything to do with widespread recession. I treated for red bugs last year and don’t have any now. And do not have flatworms.

Thank ocdreef for the info.

I’m really taking everyone’s recommendation for test kids seriously. I’ve been using Red Sea for such a long time but never felt confident. But kept my parameters very consistent so even if they were low, corals are adaptive to satiability

 

[Ridgeback]

Interesting that the topic should come up for me now.
I run a calc reactor and I use a hannah alk checker. Im always testing alk with varying results.
Anyway, I decided to use a dosing pump to drop a few ml of kalkwasser in the middle of the night. To a) reduce the ph/ kh swing and to b) a tiny little boost for the calc reactor.
Before implementing my kh result was 7.6. A jump of 0.6 from 2 dayts ago. In order to test the strength of my kalkwasser, I take 1 litre of tank water and add 4mls of kalkwasser. Wait 10mins and test. Result on the hannah kh was 7.01.
It had dropped in 30mins after adding kalkwasser.
I suspect my hannah checker is unreliable.
I have had it checked by hannah so it is possibly doing its job but for such a discrepancy in this situation really causes me to lack trust.
Im fully aware that human error plays a big part, ie dirty vial, inconsistent sample size/ reagent amount but I've done several hundred hannah kh tests so Id like to think I get it right most times. In

Its disappointing as I am color blind, so the digital read out makes it so much easier than a colorr change.

Im hoping there's another accurate kh test which is almost as easy to read. I also use hannah phos. My icp results suggest that checker i s way out too. The other tests are just ballpark figures for me given the colorblind thing. But that's my experience! [emoji16]

 

[coralseas]

I just did test on Friday so Water, Reef crystals. Using my Red Sea alkalinity calcium and magnesium test kids and my results are

Dkh 10.5
Cal did not change after using the the whole syringe
Mag 1600

Looks like these test kits are bad.

Going to go buy salifert and run same test. BRB

 

[XNavyDiver]

I wanna know what you sps gurus use for your testing. I have been using Red Sea test kits for a couple years now and periodically my kids seem to test extremely inaccurate/wide difference from other test kit.

I’ll tell ya that I have kept my

Alk 10 dkh
Cal 465
Mag about 1600

Seems high to some buy that has bin the sweet spot for my sticks, I have good growth and pretty decent color. And normally don’t loose anything.

In the last couple of weeks I have bin having a little base recession happening on some of the larger colonies. But in the last few days it has increased to losing about a quarter inch a day.

So I took my water to my lfs and has them test it using elos test kits(I use Red Sea pro kits) the numbers we got were highly different.

Alk 8.5
Cal 400
Mag 1200.

Very disappointing!! Who’s is right?!? Now I’m going to buy either triton or Ati icp. But both will take days to get and a week or better to get the results.

I’d love to hear what you highly experienced SPS keepers have to say!!!

Please let’s here it!

Also I’ll post pix

Your tank and corals look terrific, btw. I use Hanna for Alk and po4. Salifert for Ca+ and Mg+. Red Sea for no3. I don't have a kit for pH, probe for that. I've never tested for Iodine, potassium.

 

[coralseas]

Interesting that the topic should come up for me now.
I run a calc reactor and I use a hannah alk checker. Im always testing alk with varying results.
Anyway, I decided to use a dosing pump to drop a few ml of kalkwasser in the middle of the night. To a) reduce the ph/ kh swing and to b) a tiny little boost for the calc reactor.
Before implementing my kh result was 7.6. A jump of 0.6 from 2 dayts ago. In order to test the strength of my kalkwasser, I take 1 litre of tank water and add 4mls of kalkwasser. Wait 10mins and test. Result on the hannah kh was 7.01.
It had dropped in 30mins after adding kalkwasser.
I suspect my hannah checker is unreliable.
I have had it checked by hannah so it is possibly doing its job but for such a discrepancy in this situation really causes me to lack trust.
Im fully aware that human error plays a big part, ie dirty vial, inconsistent sample size/ reagent amount but I've done several hundred hannah kh tests so Id like to think I get it right most times. In

Its disappointing as I am color blind, so the digital read out makes it so much easier than a colorr change.

Im hoping there's another accurate kh test which is almost as easy to read. I also use hannah phos. My icp results suggest that checker i s way out too. The other tests are just ballpark figures for me given the colorblind thing. But that's my experience! [emoji16]

I thought I had it tough... I am losing faith in all these test.
Thank you very much for your info.

Everyone input helps either me or the next guy .

 

[coralseas]

So I went and bought salifert alk cal and mag..

Here it is

Red Sea.
Alk 12.32 due to the duffing I did
Cal 480
Mag 1600+

Salifert
Alk 13.5
Cal 500+
Mag 500+

Elos
Alk 12
Mag 1300
Cal 350

So what is a guy to think???

Anyone wanna comment?

 

[Ocdreef]

Salifert Mag is 500? Huh? Is that a misprint? I would try that one again. It has to be higher than that.

 

[coralseas]

Salifert Mag is 500? Huh? Is that a misprint? I would try that one again. It has to be higher than that.

On misprint. Are used all the reagent without it changing color. And then I added a little bit more and then it finally changed. A little meaning 1/10th I have a syringe

 

[Ocdreef]

On misprint. Are used all the reagent without it changing color. And then I added a little bit more and then it finally changed. A little meaning 1/10th I have a syringe

So then it’s a little over 1500ppm I take it... better

 

[madweazl]

I think when using different test kits it still needs to be the same person doing the test. For example most test kits are color change dependent. This means what you perceive as the color change someone else may not. By the same person doing both test kits eliminates that variable of what they think should be the change point.

For calcium and magnesium, you should be reading the results when it has fully changed with this kit (same for Salifert).

Interesting that the topic should come up for me now.

I suspect my hannah checker is unreliable.
I have had it checked by hannah so it is possibly doing its job but for such a discrepancy in this situation really causes me to lack trust.
Im fully aware that human error plays a big part, ie dirty vial, inconsistent sample size/ reagent amount but I've done several hundred hannah kh tests so Id like to think I get it right most times. In

Its disappointing as I am color blind, so the digital read out makes it so much easier than a colorr change.

[emoji16]

I started using a syringe to measure the 10ml for the Hanna checker months ago and it has been much more consistent than me trying to eyeball the meniscus. Might be worth a shot for you.

In regard to my preferences:

Alkalinity - Hanna is easy to use when filling the cuvette with a syringe instead of eyeballing it.
Calcium - I had been using Salifert for years but hated one of the reagent bottles because it was hard to get consistent drops so I moved to the Red Sea Pro kit and like it much better. Results have been consistent between the two.
Magnesium - I stick with Salifert on this one
Phosphates - I use the Hanna ULR (see more below on this one)
Nitrates - Use Salifert but next to useless (i.e. unreadable) with the low levels I have

November Triton results (most recent) vs my own using the kits above:

------Triton----Me
Ca---464-------450
Mg--1364------1365
PO4-.010------.058

I've had three Triton analysis' done and phosphates were never close between my Hanna and Triton. The others were:

Triton----Me
.049------.150
0----------.049

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Just a thought. What are your NO3 and PO4? If you are currently ULN you may want to consider bringing ALK down to around 8. Also If you are ULN you may need to dial the lights down a bit. Or dose NO3. I never would have ever thought I'd dose NO3, but I just ordered some. NO3 zero, my PO4 is .12 (it was .04). Im going to add a little NO3 to naturally bring the PO4 down.

 

[coralseas]

On misprint. Are used all the reagent without it changing color. And then I added a little bit more and then it finally changed. A little meaning 1/10th I have a syringe

Salifert
Mag 1500+

Sorry

 

[40B Knasty]

ELOS test kits hands down. Not a stick Guru, because I am not a fan of them. I am a fan of an accurate test kit though.

 

[coralseas]

I had my lfs test my phosphate last and I think he said .6 or .06... sorry was in a panic . And my no3 is 0.

Good call on lowering my alk. I normally run it around 10.5

I’m going to let it slowly drop between 11-10. Get my cal back to 45O and for my mag... let’s hope it comes down out of the clouds.

All three test were some what close for the alk. And the salifert and the Red Sea where close on the cal and mag. But elos is so far down and I don’t here any Acro guys with good experience with elos saying anything...

The weird thing is my coralline Algae has died off in the last few weeks so I question the mag.

Dose anyone have thoughts on ULN and coralline?

And thanks for you guys that have shared. Makes me feel a little better about this process