? on Salifert's Alk. test kit

[tinydove]

Ok, I just got my Alk test kit in and did the test to #5 able to follow up to that point no problems.

I look at the 1ml syringe and the amount of regent left in states 0.4ml. How do I figure out what my alk or dkh is. any info will be a big help....I must be slow.

 

[Froggy]

Hello, when turning the syring up to read and the top of the black piston reads .40 left in the syringe you can either look at the chart or do this calculation. 1 minus reading ( .40 ) multiplied by 16. This would give you a DKH of 9.6. For Meq/L reading 1 minus reading ( .40 ) multiplied by 5.71. Your case 3.426 meq/L

Hope this helped

 

[Froggy]

That is when testing with 4 ml of tank water. If testing with lower resolution and using 2 ml of tank water instead of 4 multiply the values by 2 for your reading at the end.

 

[Caillou]

There should be a piece of paper in the test kit that has the conversion chart. Depending on if you did the "low resolution or the high resolution" it comes as the following.

KH in dKH ( 1 - (your reading(.4)) x 16 = 9.6

Alk in meq/L (1 - (your reading(.4)) x 5.71 = 3.43

That would be for the regular test with a test sample of 4 ml of water. If you only did the 2 ml of water than multiply your results by 2

The chart is super easy to follow but if you don't have it the equations above will get you there as well.

 

[Caillou]

Froggy must have beaten me to the punch while I was typing!

 

[Habib]

The others gave a fantastic explanation. :thumbsup:


However, I would like to add a comment.

I look at the 1ml syringe and the amount of regent left in states 0.4ml.

Just in case it was overlooked, the readings must be taken at the black ring so not at the liquid level.

 

[magnum420]

You can find the instructions and the chart here.

http://www.hobbyoutletsales.com/Salifert/from2006/Alkalinity.pdf

 

[ErikS]

Just in case it was overlooked, the readings must be taken at the black ring so not at the liquid level.

Huh? Not that I'd doubt your expertise in this matter :lol: but....

If I draw it into the syringe until the liquid is at 1 w/ a bubble & the stopper is above that wouldn't I read the position of the liquid remaining?

 

[aquaman67]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6917754#post6917754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ErikS
Huh? Not that I'd doubt your expertise in this matter :lol: but....

If I draw it into the syringe until the liquid is at 1 w/ a bubble & the stopper is above that wouldn't I read the position of the liquid remaining?

To answer your question, yes, if you draw in liquid to the 1 ml level then read the top of the remaining liquid.

But you don't have to draw in so much. You can leave the air bubble and use the black rubber ring as your "mark"

This is for the calcium test, but gives you the idea.

 

[tinydove]

What would be the best alk. reading you would want for a reef w/ fish set up?

 

[ErikS]

Thanks for the clarification - that's what I had assumed but wanted to make certain.

 

[aquaman67]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6917856#post6917856 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tinydove
What would be the best alk. reading you would want for a reef w/ fish set up?

Here's a chart.

8 - 12 dKH

http://ozreef.org/content/view/5/2/

I know the chart "blue" level is 7 to 11, but 8 - 12 are the numbers used here on RC.

 

[Froggy]

Just to clarify a bit further in regards to reading the number using the black piston and not the reagent level.....

Keep in mind, when you draw the reagent into the syringe, there is an amount of air between the black piston and the reagent level. This is caused by the air in the plastic tip put on the syringe and does not affect the test readings.

I believe this is what Habib was referring to when he said " The readings must be taken at the black ring so not at the liquid level ".