Red Sea Foundation Pro Test Kit Coral Reef Aquarium Reliability

[gavij012379]

I was using a 10 year old test kit which was giving lower result specially Ca and Mg. I bought a new test kit and I think the results are higher. Below are the numbers a day apart

Alk Ca Mg

New Test Kit 9.2 450 1550

Old test kit (Next day) 8 .4 410 1220

I tested the water at LFS using salifert test kit and the numbers were 40 ppm lower in Ca when Red Sea was reading 490 ppm. I didn't test Mg at LFS which I should have.

Has anyone using red sea test kit thought their numbers were too high? I am dosing Ca and Alk but can't explain my Mg numbers since I don't even dose Mg. When I opened the solution of the new test kit, some plastic like substance did fell down which I thought was from the cap but shouldn't make a difference.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Elements are determined by the salt mix we use. Some have high mg.

 

[bertoni]

The older kits might be reading lower because water has evaporated from the titration agents. That seems to be fairly common. I would trust the newer kits.

For hobbyist test kits, a difference of 40 ppm in the calcium results isn't that bad. Is the Red Sea a drop-counting kit? If so, what is the ppm per drop?

 

[gavij012379]

The older kits might be reading lower because water has evaporated from the titration agents. That seems to be fairly common. I would trust the newer kits.

For hobbyist test kits, a difference of 40 ppm in the calcium results isn't that bad. Is the Red Sea a drop-counting kit? If so, what is the ppm per drop?

Yeah it's basically a drop count kit. 1 drop =.01 ml = 5 ppm Ca and 20 ppm Mg. I trust the newer kit but high Mg is kinda throwing me off. It's almost off the chart and I am not even dosing it.

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, well, I would hope for a bit closer than 40 ppm, but not that much closer. What brand of salt are you using? 1550 ppm seems higher than most.

 

[gavij012379]

I was using Reef Crystal's for a long time but switched to red sea coral pro since last water change, changing 30 gal every 4 weeks in a 180 gal. I was using Bionic 2 part until 6 weeks ago which adds some magnesium but that can't explain the number.

 

[bertoni]

I think Red Sea Coral Pro should be about 1400 ppm according to their web site. I might try mixing up the dry salt a bit, if that's easy, to see whether that helps.

 

[gavij012379]

I think Red Sea Coral Pro should be about 1400 ppm according to their web site. I might try mixing up the dry salt a bit, if that's easy, to see whether that helps.

Red sea have this feature called Mybatch where they give you the numbers for that batch of salt. It says 1396 for Mg. When I measured it last I got 1480.