Frank’s Blog

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How many times have you tested a particular parameter of your water and wondered about the accuracy of the test? Since we make changes to our aquarium’s chemistry based on these results, then just how accurate do the test kits have to be? If you are testing a parameter like magnesium and getting a result like 1450 when your target has been 1350, there is hardly a chance that you will have a negative impact on your tank while trying to make the adjustment up or down. Although seawater magnesium levels are closer to 1350, our closed systems allow us to elevate these numbers without having a negative affect. But getting too low could be another story. What if you are testing calcium and you get a reading of 380 when the actual value is 280? Just how bad could it be if you are getting alkalinity results that are 7.5dkh and unknown to you, the real value is 11dkh??? You probably wouldn’t even realize that anything was wrong until you made upward adjustments of 3.5 units thinking that you are now at a comfortable and workable 11dkh although you have now pushed it to 14.5- a number, considered high by every longtime hobbyist that I know! And how old are your test kits? Think they-re like the energizer bunny and that they will keep going and going and going although you’ve had them for years? Although they have been stored in extremely hot or extremely cold situations? Just how reliable do you consider them to be? And what is a ‘drop’? Is the drop that I manipulate from a reagent bottle the same as the drop that you squeeze? What about when you are preparing the test vial or rinsing it between tests? Do you take the time to dry the inside of the vial? Since many of the test kits on the market require such a small water sample, (usually 3-5ml ), then one would think that residual water would definitely affect the actual test. Lots to think about? You bet! Important enough to think about?? Yes, again! From time to time, me and other hobbyists get together at the store and we test our test kits. We test a batch of water with multiple kits and check to see how similar OR NOT the results are. We test brands against other brands but we also test a particular batch of a particular brand against another batch of the same brand. When we do this, we are testing for consistency from batch to batch of the same product. We will be doing this on Saturday, August 1, 2015 from 7-8pm just after store hours. We are asking for several customers to bring their test kits also…..test reagents or electronic test equipment so that we get several results. If you would like to participate, please contact me ASAP so that we can have a seat for you on that day. We will be testing parameters like Nitrates, Phosphates, Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium. Happy Reefing my friends!!

Time to test our test kits Posted by Frank on Jul 19, 2015

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