WARNING: Salifert Test kits

[surfn]

seems there are big problems with the newer batches of Salifert test kits. most notably the alk, calcium and magnesium ones.

just an FYI....don't buy the kit if it has batch #0507-D.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1242465



i don't think i've had any problems with mine, as i bought my kits about a year ago (i stocked up). but the problem seems to be the new ones that came with this reference solution.

although, i wonder if my nitrate kit is bad.....i've had it for 2 years and never gotten a positive result out of it on any tank.

 

[Hypertek99]

Thanks for letting us know

 

[Pitcom]

I dont think i'll ever use a salifert product again. My tests kits are all very inaccurate and i thought i had bad readings until i went and got cheap run of the mill test kits. The Salifert test kit kept telling me my alk was 20 when it was 9 and it read calicium as 465 when it was 305.

 

[detguy123]

i keep seeing more and more threads about salifert test being bad..and i had a alk test that was really off but the ones i have now are good but i too plan on going to a new brand when i need new ones..not sure on which one yet though

 

[J. Montgomery]

just an FYI....don't buy the kit if it has batch #0507-D

F***!, I just checked and thats what I have. I haven't used it yet, but d@mn . . . the last thing I need is to be flushing money down the toilet with inaccurate test kits.

 

[surfn]

F***!, I just checked and thats what I have. I haven't used it yet, but d@mn . . . the last thing I need is to be flushing money down the toilet with inaccurate test kits.

i would tell Marvin its a bad batch, and refer him to look at the Salifert forum. marvin will probably refund your money, and he will take it up with salifert.

thats the same as how he handled the tunze nanostream fiasco....and then just stopped carrying them.

last time i was in there, i noticed he had the bad batches but didnt want to say anything. he also had some test kits in different boxes....and i hear that is another problem salifert is having. (i.e. mg test kit inside copper test kit box)

 

[surfn]

F***!, I just checked and thats what I have. I haven't used it yet, but d@mn . . . the last thing I need is to be flushing money down the toilet with inaccurate test kits.

oh yeah, make sure to test it against an old test kit too.....and give that info to marvin to prove its a bad one.

 

[rackyrane]

Thanks for the heads up. Thought I was nuts because I kept getting extremely high Ca++ results with my new kit so I compared it with an old Instant Ocean kit and got vastly different results. Won't be using that kit again!

 

[twon8]

i would tell Marvin its a bad batch, and refer him to look at the Salifert forum. marvin will probably refund your money, and he will take it up with salifert.

thats the same as how he handled the tunze nanostream fiasco....and then just stopped carrying them.

last time i was in there, i noticed he had the bad batches but didnt want to say anything. he also had some test kits in different boxes....and i hear that is another problem salifert is having. (i.e. mg test kit inside copper test kit box)

the reason the mag kits are in different boxes is that it is easier to ship the contents here separetly and put them together in the us, and they ran out of the boxes. apparently importing stuff from the netherlands, especially chemicals, is time consuming.

there were some batches that read high, but i think part of the problem is people don't tightly close the cap of the kh reagent and it evaporates over time, giving false low readings. when buying a new kit, the new kit will read higher alk. until this started how many of you had tested with a new kit and and old kit at the same time? There is also the question of at what point is the color change that we are looking for.

salifert has come out with a new kit, only one solution, no dropper, works well, and comes with reference solution to check.

i got a new kit and tested the water from my 180 against two older kits, one was a "problem" kit, 11-06F, the ones that started this whole episode this past may. another kit was 06-05, so more than a year older.

the oldest kit tested my alk at 2.1, next at 2.4, newest at 2.8

i used each test kit twice and got the same results, also i used the high resolution method. i used the two newest kits on the reference solution and got 7.4 and 7.2( supposed to be 7.0+-3)

i know i leave the caps off longer than i should sometimes, and probably don't always close it as tight as i should

 

[surfn]

if the cap on the dropper solution was not on tight, and the liquid allowed to evaporate.....that would cause the liquid in the dropper to concentrate.

wouldn't that artificially inflate your readings?

i don't know the reaction nor their ingredients......but more concentrated drops need more titrant to cause the solution to come to equilibrium.....

 

[shred5]

To bad I have been ussing them for years and lately have been hearing about all kinds of problems... I remember they changed one of the kits a year or so ago. I did a reading with my old vs new and they were way different.

Honestly hach and lamotte are the best but harder to use.


Dave

 

[da6d2003]

I've been using saltifert for years so I don't even know what to switch to. Is there a single company that does good test kits for Ph, Alk, Mg AND Calcium?

 

[gflat65]

LaMotte is my choice...

 

[shred5]

LaMotte is my choice...

Thats what most people are switching too that I know. I probably will after these kits run out.

Dave

 

[da6d2003]

LaMotte is my choice...

which test do you use for calcium?

Where do you get yours?

 

[surfn]

yeah, if i'm going to need to switch brands, its going to be for EVERYTHING. not just 1 or 2.

aren't LaMotte's allot more expensive?

 

[BigBadZoaDaddy]

What about Tropic Marin Ca and Mg Test anyone use that?

 

[twon8]

if the cap on the dropper solution was not on tight, and the liquid allowed to evaporate.....that would cause the liquid in the dropper to concentrate.

wouldn't that artificially inflate your readings?

i don't know the reaction nor their ingredients......but more concentrated drops need more titrant to cause the solution to come to equilibrium.....

not the dropper, the reagent, the clear liquid.

 

[surfn]

not the dropper, the reagent, the clear liquid.

so if the water out of the clear liquid reagent evaporated, that would cause the chemicals left in the solution to actually concentrate the solution. thus you would need less drops to establish an equilibrium.....causing an artificially low reading.

gotcha

(edited b/c i forgot what we were talking about....lol)

 

[SaraB]

I wish we didn't have to question our test kits we use!

I have a new Tropic Marin CA kit that I'm going to run against my Salifert kit. I'm also getting a full test kit package from Sera, a German company, and will test it against the Saliferts for CA, Mag and Alk.