red sea test kit = no sense

Bradsreeeftank · Apr 25, 2014

So i used 8.5 of titration but the graph dosnt go up to .85 so whywould they make a syringe that dosnt go with the graph? heres my result.

boxer · Apr 25, 2014

you shouldnt go that high. Is the sample ur testing turning blue at 8.5?

Bradsreeeftank · Apr 25, 2014

Yeah it turned completely blue at 8.5, its a newer tank

dougers31 · Apr 25, 2014

You may have made the same mistake I did... I kept getting very high mag. readings because I didn't notice the loopy arrow that tells you how many times you have to add drops and shake the bottle. I even emailed the manufacturer about my "defective" test kit until I realized a day or two later that I missed the loopy arrow

boxer · Apr 25, 2014

The reason i asked is because my test is kinda tricky it doesnt turn a deff. blue its more of a violet. But its accurate when compared to by buddies test kit his turns a deff. blue. What type of salt are you using? Have you dosed anything with Magnesium in it? also are you have to follow the instructions to the tee or you will get a false reading. you cant rush it.

Bradsreeeftank · Apr 25, 2014

Ill admit i didnt do the loopy arrow lol didnt think it would make a diffrence. im reef crystals. no dosing yet

StikHedRon · Apr 25, 2014

Well what you need to do is Read the card, at the bottom it clearly states that .01ml=20ppm. So..... at .85 ml of solution your looking at 1700ppm of Mag

boxer · Apr 25, 2014

Bradsreeeftank said:
Ill admit i didnt do the loopy arrow lol didnt think it would make a diffrence. im reef crystals. no dosing yet

yea it deff makes a diff. When you add the 5 drops of Mg A you need to swirl the vial for 15 sec. after each drop. Then you add 5 drops of Mg B. You can add those drops one after another without swirling in between. After you add the 5 drops of Mg B then you swirl the mixture for 60 sec. Then you add your titration .4ml initially swirling as you go then little by little add titration as you swirl until you get the blue.

Spcoley1 · Apr 25, 2014

I had the same problem with the loopy arrow too. I saw a YouTube video from Red Sea on how to use the Mag test kit properly.

brycntif · Apr 25, 2014

+1 to the drop at a time and shake step, and there is really no need to know how much above 1600 it is unless you are purposely trying to get it above that and then as previous poster noted its just math to figure it out, red sea tests are a pain in the butt imo but accurate compared to others.

Jonreefer · Apr 25, 2014

i just keep it swirling as i am dripping it in..it was a little confusing at first reading it. but I got between 1360 and 1380 for my mag seems to work well to just keep it lightly swirling as you drip

morgan175 · Apr 25, 2014

I was reading mine wrong I wasn't deducting and I though I was at 800 and really was 1200. Now that I learned to use it right it is a good test kit.

redfishbluefish · Apr 25, 2014

One more note on wet chemistry colorimetric titrations…..once you see a color change, note the volume used, add one more drop and see if there is continued color change. If not, you’re done. Otherwise, continue doing the one drop thing until there is no more color change. You are not looking to match the color on the card.

Jonreefer · Apr 25, 2014

yea thats how I was doing it at first cause I wasnt sure of the exact color it needed. but it seems what i thought was the correct color I noted my score but it seems once I hit what i think is blue its usually 1-2 drops more to get it full correct blue that it stopped color changing fully

Alabamareef · Apr 25, 2014

Guilty of The LOOPY ARROW thing also,:frusty:

b_rad_G · Apr 25, 2014

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MofaqM-I6uM

According to this its when you first notice the color change and also you don't have to swirl for 60 seconds.