Attention: Habib / Salifert Mg Test?

[patmack]

Yes it will be good when Hanna get their Ca & Mg up and running.......

That would be AWESOME! are they going to make Ca and Mg checkers?
I just got a salifert Ca test kit and it shows my Ca levels to be at 450+ I use Reef crystals and dont dose anything at this point. I wonder if the test kit is incorrect? I plan to order another elos test kit but the directions are more labor intensive.

WE WANT HANNA CHECKERS!

 

[rigleautomotive]

Here is some info I got from Habib.I am waiting for a reference sample to test against my kits so I will report back when I get it.


The 5 drops is because of a different dropsize, different dropperbottle.

I suspect that the Mg-3 of the older kit did evaporate on one or more occasions. Evaporation will concentrate the reagent, thus less needing for the color change. Therefore a lower than actual reading.

If you pm me your address the I can send a cerified magnesium reference out to you next week from the USA. I will be there then.

As a FYI, I'm pasting general info about reagent stability:

Depending on the type of test, the expiry date varies from approx 2 years up to 5 years. For example Calcium 5 years, Magnesium 3 years and Phosphate and Nitrate 2 years.

Once in use, that is having been opened, each kind of kit, or to be more precise reagent, has it's own "enemy".

For reagents like Ca-3, KH and Mg-3 evaporation is the "enemy". If after each use the cap is tightened properly then the evaporation during each use can be neglected.
The less reagent there remains in the bottle, the stronger the effect of evaporation will be. Even more important to tighten the cap properly.

Effect of evaporation with Ca-3 and Mg-3 will be finding lower than actual values. With KH it can go both ways.


The PO4-1 reagent in the Phosphate test is quite stable, however the PO4-2 powder will deteriorate in time if allowed to pick up a lot of moisture and oxygen. Tightening the cap properly after each use is again the key to a good enough reagent.

The NO3-1 reagent is sensitive towards moisture , prolonged exposure to replenishing moisture will deteriorate it. Again tightening the cap properly after each use reduces that effect.


Getting back to your question, how long the kit will be OK after initial use depends in part on how it is used. Leaving the cap open for say hours will not be beneficial. Neither will not tighting the caps properly (by mistake) be beneficial.

If used normally, they should be OK untill te expiry date. Accidentally not having tightened the cap properly can reduce the expiry date.

 

[tegee]

I am going to rely on Elos a bit more until this gets straightened out. Elos may have one or two more steps, but imho there is also far less items to clean and dry between uses. With Elos you only have to clean one vial, with Salifert you have all the syringes, etc. So it may be a wash in regard to the ease of use if this makes sense?

 

[jc-reef]

This may be true in some cases but not this one IMO
I have a mg kit exp date 1/2013 which is more the 3/4 full and pretty fresh.Just opened a month ago.Reads 1350 like I would expect.New kit exp date 11/2013 is reading over 1500(close to 1600) which I find very suspect.My level of mg is never that high(over 4 years of religious testing) so I believe the old kit.(verified by lab several times to be accurate)I sent an email to Habib and will report if I get a response.

I was wondering myself if I was the only one having an issue. I too reordered a Mg kit and was shocked to see that when I consistently test 1350-1400 with older kits (still good till 2013) and now the new kit with "5 drops" tests off the scale!! I tried 4 drops and even 6 drops and still....off the charts. I dont get it??? I did notice that the part 2 (powder) is a slightly different color. I RMA'd back to the online store I purchased from and reported the issue. They were not aware of any issues, but will foward to Mnuftr. I am waiting on a replacement kit which will be arriving any day....guess I am not the only one with a Mg test kit issue... :hmm3:

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[Rovuma]

Salifert Mg 12-2013 inconsistent

Salifert Mg 12-2013 inconsistent

I am experiencing the same problem as others have noticed. Values that normally stayed around 1400 are now in excess of 1600.

I open the new test a week ago, expiry date 12-2013, newer version (five drops of Mg-1).

Mg1: batch 1010C
Mg2: batch 1110A
Mg3: batch 1110B

 

[Randallino]

I am having the same issues: with Elos I was around 1200-1300 now its in the 1450 - 1500's
Same batch numbers as Rovuma except for Mg 1 1110B

I am experiencing the same problem as others have noticed. Values that normally stayed around 1400 are now in excess of 1600.

I open the new test a week ago, expiry date 12-2013, newer version (five drops of Mg-1).

Mg1: batch 1010C
Mg2: batch 1110A
Mg3: batch 1110B

 

[Kevin012]

I think one of the issues is said to be that the solutions suffer from differential evaporation over time, so keeping all the bottles closed as much as possible might be all that we can do. Well, avoiding exposure to temperature extremes is useful, too, but easy to arrange in most houses.

lets all wait what the answer would be, however I do 100% agree with the above. when you leave a test kit open (forget to close it for a day ore so) I at least get readings way off.

I'm not telling those with wrong readings left them open, gustwant to remember, those little things that comeoff, need to go back on in my op.

 

[shaggss]

Just started a new Ca Salifert Test kit, while not as bad, I am still getting higher readings with the new kit. Looks like if you want to keep accurate readings you need to change kits even before the expiry date.....

 

[tegee]

Bottom line is these test kits should at the very least last 1-yr imho. I take very good care of my Salifert test kits, I mean VERY good care, and these readings should not be off this much. I close containers immediately, rinse all pieces after EVERY use, etc, etc.

I am slowly switching to Elos. I have use Elos Alk, Cal and Mag over the years, but only monthly or quarterly to test against Salifert. But now I am going to do the direct opposite. Once you get used to Elos it is pretty quick and ironically less to clean after each test.

So I thought I was using Salifert for the speed and ease of use, but once you get used to Elos they are pretty quick too ime. Regarding price, they are both a wash.

HTH

 

[rigleautomotive]

I still did not receive the ref sample from Habib.I just sent him another pm so I will post if I hear back

 

[nanojg]

He never responded from a pm i sent him over a month ago, good luck. He lost this customer, I'm switching brands.

 

[JG1]

I PM'd him over a month ago to. He read the PM but never replied back. Will never buy Salifert again.

I had a problem with a new CA kit reading 100ppm higher then my old kit.

 

[shaggss]

yes I have emailed him as well with no reply. Not good CS for the price we pay for these test kits. Hanna will have Mg & Ca out this year so Salifert will have to do something to keep customers.

 

[Hookup]

Just tried the seachem CA test... (i know this is on Mg, I did the seachem Mg... like it, still use salifert)... anyhow, Ca test from seachem.. PASS... got one for sale if anyone is interested... haha...

Way, WAY to many steps and complicated... use DI water to dilute... common... really?

PS: I'm lazy.. not a good trate in this hobby... so everything needs to be simple, easy, straight forward...

 

[rigleautomotive]

Salifert still has me for a customer.Today I received more then promised from Habib.I got the calibration fluid and a brand new kit along with it.The reply I got from him was right on target and he was correct.The new kit was right on and the old kit was off by 150ppm after closer inspection and numerous tests taking the average.I also noticed a crystalline substance at the top of the bottle like there may have been some evaporation at one time or another possibly from not fully tightening the top.Anyway the new kit along with the free one I did not expect or ask for are right on with the calibration fluid he had sent.Salifert is still the best in my book for the cost and even with the delays in response,customer service is quite proficient.He did state on my original email that he was out of the country and as soon as he was back in the US he would send me the cal fluid.Thank you Habib,I do appreciate it.

 

[mopiko]

where do u guys purchase ur salifert test kits anyway?

 

[Rockys_Pride]

where do u guys purchase ur salifert test kits anyway?

From the local club, wholesalers rule

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[JG1]

I PM'd him over a month ago to. He read the PM but never replied back. Will never buy Salifert again.

I had a problem with a new CA kit reading 100ppm higher then my old kit.

Props to Sailfert and Habib. There was a replacement test kit in my mailbox yesterday.

 

[Habib]

Thank you for the kind words.

I have unfortunately not much time yet to be more active on this forum, hopefully that will change soon.

A pm is te best way.

The distributor does not have a calcium/magnesium reference since we don't sell it yet and they were also out of stock of magnesium kits.

Since mail containing chemicals or syringes and such is unreliable from here I decided to take them along with my recent visit to the USA and ship them from there (or here if you are in the USA ).

I'll check this thread later today to see to what else I can reply to.

Salifert still has me for a customer.Today I received more then promised from Habib.I got the calibration fluid and a brand new kit along with it.The reply I got from him was right on target and he was correct.The new kit was right on and the old kit was off by 150ppm after closer inspection and numerous tests taking the average.I also noticed a crystalline substance at the top of the bottle like there may have been some evaporation at one time or another possibly from not fully tightening the top.Anyway the new kit along with the free one I did not expect or ask for are right on with the calibration fluid he had sent.Salifert is still the best in my book for the cost and even with the delays in response,customer service is quite proficient.He did state on my original email that he was out of the country and as soon as he was back in the US he would send me the cal fluid.Thank you Habib,I do appreciate it.

 

[rigleautomotive]

Thank you Habib.Its refreshing in this time to get a company that sells a product that works well for a good price.Your kits are the best on the market for the price and I will go out on a limb here and say even the pricier kits are not leaps and bounds above salifert.For our purposes(reef keeping) these kits work very well and I have used them for many years with great results.The very few times I have had questions with accuracy,you were quick to send me a reference sample and/or kit.This is something you will not see with the pricier kits and customer service is absent in many cases. :beer:

Thank you for the kind words.

I have unfortunately not much time yet to be more active on this forum, hopefully that will change soon.

A pm is te best way.

The distributor does not have a calcium/magnesium reference since we don't sell it yet and they were also out of stock of magnesium kits.

Since mail containing chemicals or syringes and such is unreliable from here I decided to take them along with my recent visit to the USA and ship them from there (or here if you are in the USA ).

I'll check this thread later today to see to what else I can reply to.