Calcium Test Kit?

[CeeGee]

I was wondering if the elos calcium kits are any good?

I am currently using lamotte alkalinity and really like it and was going to order their calcium kit and it has really bad reviews which is surprising.

I have used salifert in the past and stopped after all the problems they had a while back and bought a seachem and it seemed accurate but was cheaply made and went bad before I could even use the whole kit so I am looking for something better.

Any recommendations would be welcome.

Thanks,
C.G.

 

[bertoni]

Elos kits have gotten some good reviews, and I think the calcium likely will be fine. The API kits also get good reviews.

 

[sedor]

Elos is a top of the line test kit and has had great reviews, then again so has Salifert and Lamotte. Its really up to you, try the Elos out and if you like it stick with it

 

[CeeGee]

anyone had any experience with the elos? I actually liked salifert but they had a bad batch of test kits a while back and withdrew their fourms on reef central and refused to answer emails by people that got burned by them. That is the reason I am trying to find something else.

I hated the seachem. Which is too bad because I have generally found all their products to be excellent. Their test kits are another matter.

 

[Toadally]

Api

 

[Billybeau1]

CeeGee, I test a lot of kits. Here is the straight poop on calcium test kits IMO.

Salifert is still top of the line for me.
API is an inexpensive but accurate kit that will get you within 20 ppm or so either way.
Elos was accurate but not quite as precise as Salifert.
Seachem......... forget it IMO.
LaMotte was a little harder to use but was pretty accurate which to me did not justify the price.

I've tested others which did not turn my head.

 

[Bryan]

Hi BillyBeau

How in gawds name were you able to distinguish the endpoint on the lamotte CA. I just don't see a change from purple to blue until it is well in the 600-800ppm range of titrant used.

 

[CeeGee]

CeeGee, I test a lot of kits. Here is the straight poop on calcium test kits IMO.

Salifert is still top of the line for me.
API is an inexpensive but accurate kit that will get you within 20 ppm or so either way.
Elos was accurate but not quite as precise as Salifert.
Seachem......... forget it IMO.
LaMotte was a little harder to use but was pretty accurate which to me did not justify the price.

I've tested others which did not turn my head.

does that apply to alk as well? I find the lamotte alk test quite good.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How in gawds name were you able to distinguish the endpoint on the lamotte CA. I just don't see a change from purple to blue until it is well in the 600-800ppm range of titrant used.

Which LaMotte kit #?

Some LaMotte kits read in ppm calcium carbonate equivalents. So be sure that is not the case. If so, 1000 ppm calcium carbonate = 400 ppm calcium ion.

This has more:

The Units of Measure of Reefkeeping
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-08/rhf/index.php

from it:

ppm calcium carbonate equivalents

ppm calcium carbonate (CaCO3) equivalents is an ambiguous unit used for a variety of measures by reef aquarists, including alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and total hardness. In the case of alkalinity and calcium, the unit refers to the amount (in ppm) of calcium carbonate that would have to dissolve into pure water to give the same calcium concentration or alkalinity (even if that would be impossible to accomplish). For calcium, 1000 ppm calcium carbonate equivalents equals 400 ppm calcium ion. For alkalinity, 100 ppm calcium carbonate equivalents equals 2 meq/L or 5.6 dKH. In the case of magnesium, the concentration refers to the amount of calcium carbonate that would have to dissolve to provide the same number of calcium ions as magnesium ions are present. For magnesium, 1000 ppm calcium carbonate equivalents equals 243 ppm magnesium ion. In the case of total hardness, the unit refers to the amount of calcium carbonate that would have to dissolve to provide the same number of calcium ions as the total of calcium and magnesium in solution. Using ppm calcium carbonate equivalents for magnesium and total hardness is poor practice as they are hard for most aquarists to understand, but they are used for historical reasons by certain testing companies (e.g., Hach, Figure 3). A calculator for converting between different alkalinity units is online here. A calculator for determining how much of different supplements to add to boost alkalinity, as well as calcium and magnesium, is online here.

 

[Billybeau1]

Hi BillyBeau

How in gawds name were you able to distinguish the endpoint on the lamotte CA. I just don't see a change from purple to blue until it is well in the 600-800ppm range of titrant used.

This is one of those kits you just have to get a feel for. Many have had good results and swear by them. I just can not get the hang of it for some reason.

 

[Billybeau1]

does that apply to alk as well? I find the lamotte alk test quite good.

The LaMotte alk kit always reads about 10% lower for me than the Salifert and API. I've been told this has something to do with seawater samples vs. freshwater samples.

I also have a problem reading the end point of this kit in seawater.

 

[Bryan]

When i first bought the CA kit I couldn't get a accurate reading and then I got the hang of it, then again can't distinguish the end point. I think the kit is very sensitive to Mg in the sample. I called Lamotte today and they suggested adding a couple drops of titrant to the sample before adding the sodium hydroxide drops or the indicator tablet. Add the couple drops of titrant to the final figure. Will give it a try tonight and see if it helps.

 

[Billybeau1]

When i first bought the CA kit I couldn't get a accurate reading and then I got the hang of it, then again can't distinguish the end point. I think the kit is very sensitive to Mg in the sample. I called Lamotte today and they suggested adding a couple drops of titrant to the sample before adding the sodium hydroxide drops or the indicator tablet. Add the couple drops of titrant to the final figure. Will give it a try tonight and see if it helps.

Now that's a new one, and I thought I've heard them all before. :lol:

I might try that myself just for fun. I still have my LaMotte kit.

Let us know if it makes a difference. I have my doubts.

 

[Bryan]

How in gawds name were you able to distinguish the endpoint on the lamotte CA. I just don't see a change from purple to blue until it is well in the 600-800ppm range of titrant used.

Which LaMotte kit #?

Some LaMotte kits read in ppm calcium carbonate equivalents. So be sure that is not the case. If so, 1000 ppm calcium carbonate = 400 ppm calcium ion.

Thanks for jumping in Randy. it is kit 3609. Here is two quotes from the pdf instructions.


>>NOTE: Read the LaMotte Direct Reading Titrator InstructionManual before
proceeding. The Titrator is calibrated in terms of hardness expressed as parts per million (ppm) calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Each minor division on the Titrator scale equals 4 ppm CaCO3.
<<

>>
While gently swirling the tube, slowly depress the plunger to titrate the
sample until the red color changes to purple then to blue. Read the test
result directly from the scale where the large ring on the Titrator meets
the Titrator barrel. Multiply by 5.16. Record as ppm Calcium as Ca++.
<<

Have I and many others been calculating the titration wrong?:idea::idea:

 

[tuckdawaytoo]

Seachem is ok have to keep the powder dry. I keep the container in a ziploc with some rice as dessicant.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Have I and many others been calculating the titration wrong?

That is somewhat confusing, but it sounds as if when you do the 5.16 multiplication, you are getting results in ppm calcium ion, so seawater = 420 ppm.

 

[Bryan]

Yes, rather confusing. The instructions state the measurement in Freshwater is ppm calcium carbonate and the Seawater is CA++.

So looks like hoping it was reading high because it was returning a value in calcium carbonate does not appear to be for the seawater test.

 

[Bryan]

Now that's a new one, and I thought I've heard them all before. :lol:

I might try that myself just for fun. I still have my LaMotte kit.

Let us know if it makes a difference. I have my doubts.

No difference that I could note. However I did try and double the amount of sodium hydroxide solution from 6 to 12 drops. Seemed to help.

Then another test I added 8 drops of a <10% solution of sodium hydroxide from my API test kit and the end point was quick and a deep blue. It tested out my sample at around 350 ppm. Not sure how accurate it is, but surprising at the result, the kit became easy to read.

 

[Billybeau1]

That does not surprise me since my API is very close to my Salifert within 1 dkh either way.

I just can not get the lamotte kit to read the same and I've tried 3 different kits. ouch $$$.

 

[Bryan]

No, I meant I substituted the API sodium hydroxide reagent and used a few drops more instead of the Lamotte sodium hydroxide reagent. I think the Lamotte suffers from Mg interference.