Test Kits

fishyman19 · Jul 20, 2017

So I've been testing my water almost daily to get it back in check and was curious what tests you guys like the most. I've been using the Salifert tests for years and they seem to do a pretty good job. Last week I picked up a Red Sea test kit for Mag, Cal, and Alk to compare with my current readings and just to have some extra tests. The calcium and Mag tests between the two kits test pretty close if not exact to each other, but the Alk tests between the two kits is almost a point off. My salifert test is testing out at 9.3 alk and the Red Sea test is completing at 8.3 alk.

One other question I've always had is what defines a complete test? Is it when the test first starts to change to the desired color? Or is it when the full color change has happened? Always wondered that.

Thanks for the help.

Killer Karma · Jul 20, 2017

The drop between beginning to change and the final change is where you are testing at. So its somewhere between those two amounts. You would need much better equipment than one of those to definitively say my tank is at a 9.3 Alk. Instead you will always know a range you are in. Now if you wanted to get a laboratory grade titration set you could get that accurate.

fishyman19 · Jul 20, 2017

So basically you are saying that from color change start point to full color change is the range my water quality is in for that test? Well that just makes dosing fun lol.

Killer Karma · Jul 20, 2017

Sorry I did not make that clear. I usually judge from between the last drop before full color change and the color change drop. Not from when the color change initially begins.