Reading Red Sea Test Results

[Joel Franco]

This may seem dumb to most of you but I am having a difficult time making sense of my results of the syringe. For example, I use Calcium Pro and the end result was 0.3. Based off of the card what are my results?

 

[JimWelsh]

Well, according to the online instructions I was able to find here with a quick google search, it says that every 0.01 mL of titrant equals 5 PPM of calcium, so 1.00 - 0.30 = 0.70, which makes 70 * 5 = 350 PPM calcium.

 

[naptalene]

The card corresponds too how far the syringe moved/how much titrant you used.

So if you fill the syringe to 1ml and sart adding liquid to the vial and the colour change happens at the 0.7ml mark then you used 3ml of titrant. Look up .3ml on the card and its corresponding number is your Ca reading.
If you moved it and the colour change happened at the 0.3ml mark then that means you used . Look up .7ml on the card and its corresponding number is your Ca reading.

Hope that makes sense?
IIRC theres a demo on youtube by RS themselves. That's how all the Pro kits work.
I also hold the vial up at night against my fridge so I can see the colour change better

 

[Joel Franco]

Thanks for the response guys. I was doing it right but wanted to be sure of it. I would hate to add additional supplements of it didn't have to.
How are you guys maintaining your Calc and Alk? My Calc is 350ppm and 9 dkh. How can I increase Calc without increasing alk too much?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Calcium chloride is the product to use for boosting calcium and not alkalinity. There are many good brands.

 

[naptalene]

I use RedSea as its easy to get for me. I mix the powder to a stock solution and have ca and Kh on a doser. I test regularly and adjust as needed.

My 2c is aim for the values of your salt brand.