A New Test Kit

[Braves Fan]

I bought a new test kit today and need some help with the results. Hope I used it right. Its a Salifert KH/ALK Profi Test, not sure this is a test kit I needed but its the only one my LFS has that I didn't have. The readings on my syringe says 0.05, the chart dosn't have a 0.05 so I used the next number down which was 0.04, now for the test I did, it told me to double the number in the KH and ALK chart. Those numbers would be KH 30.8 ALK 10.98. Do these numbers make since and if they do, what do they mean? One more question, the kit came with a solution that the test did'nt call for me to use. The bottle says on it: ALK check Solution 7.4 dKH +/- 0.03.

HELP lol

 

[alien_frag_farm]

the bottle you didnt use is to test the test. if you use the liquid in the bottle as your testing sample, the dkh should be around 7.4.

 

[Braves Fan]

OK, I am lost, lol. The bottle I didn't use, the instructions didn't say how to use the bottle. I worked my way thru the test until the water in the test tube turned a redish color, then I turner the syringe so the tip was facing up and the fluid left in the syringe was at 0.05, wjat should I have done next?

 

[lkjr409]

If you only used 2 ml of tank water and used 0.05 of indicator solution to make the color change from blue-green to orange-red, then you can take the values in the middle of 0.04 and 0.06 (which would be 0.05). This would be the middle of 15.4 and 15.0 (which is 15.2) and multiply by 2 to get KH. So your KH would be 15.2 x 2 = 30.4 (which would be very high!!)
My two cents, there is less error if you used 4 ml of tank water and then just read off the sheet.

 

[lkjr409]

What you would do with the standard bottle is pretend it is your tank water. So, either use 2 ml or 4 ml (as the instructions say), add your indicator soution, swirl, then start to add KH reagent with the small syringe.

 

[Braves Fan]

I hate these test, and I am still lost. I used 4ml of tank water for the test. This is how I did the test, maybe that will help. I put 4ml tank water in the test tube added 2 drops of KHInd, water turned blue, then filled the small syringe with the big bottle of the KH solution added that to the test tube 1 drop at a time and swished it around then another drop and so on till the water turned a redish color, then I turned the syringe up side down and the number on the syringe said 0.05. What I didn't use was the other bottle in the test kit (ALK check Solution 7.4 dKH +/- 0.03.) there weren't any other instructions on how to use this last bottle. Hope that helps in figureing out what I am doing wrong.

 

[cee]

If you add 4 mL of the ALK test solution and repeat your procedure you should get 7.4 dKH. If you don't get that or something close to it you are performing the test wrong or the test kit is faulty. Salifert has a forum on the other site that may be able to offer some additional help directly from the manufacturer. It sounds like you performed the test correctly but, if so, your alkalinity is quite high. Good luck!

Dave

 

[Braves Fan]

I am going mad here, lol. The test tells me to put 4ml of tank water in the test tube. I only have three bottles of solution and none of them say ALK unless you are talking about the one that says ALK check Solution 7.4 dKH +/- 0.03. and I can't belive that would be the one, because I am supposed to get 100/200 test with this kit and that bottle only has about 32ml in it (just a guess) and I would run out way before 100/200 test.

 

[alien_frag_farm]

the alk check solution is suppose to be used instead of your tank water to make sure your test kit is accurate.

 

[lkjr409]

Only multiply the KH values by 2 if you used 2 ml.
When you fill the small syringe with the KH reagent make sure there is no air in the syringe tip and if you are holding the syringe with the top of the tip up, the top of the black plunger should be at 1,0 to start. After your vial water turns pink, hold the syringe up and see where the top of the black plunger is now. For example, if it now reads 0,4 your dKH is 9.6. see chart.

You can check the accuracy of the test kit by using 4 ml of the Test reagent liquid and pretending its tank water. Run the test and the value you get for dKH should be close to what it says on the bottle.

I think you may be misreading the units on the syringe...0,5 = 0.5 (not 0.05) because the syringe is 1.0 ml capacity...the black plunger would be half way down the syringe.

 

[lkjr409]

last try...the big bottle with the red cap that says "KH" is the solution you use to titrate tank water with...a "real" test...

The small bottle with the white cap that says "alkalinity check solution" 7.3 dKH +/- 0.3 is a check/test solution. You use this only if you want to make sure the kit works well. You will not get 100 tests out of the check solution bottle...I only have used this once when I first got the kit to see if it was working OK.

 

[Braves Fan]

Ok, lets leave this test alone for the nite and I will start fresh in the morning. Now lets take a look at my Salifert Calicum test, lol. I am just learning how to use these kits if you haven't figured that out yet. I did the test with 2ml of tank water. The syringe when the water turned from pink to blue was half way between 0.1 and 0.2. That should mean that my calcium level is at 495, right or wrong. My goal is to grow SPS corals in my tank, thats what I am working towards. If the 495 is right, is that a bad number ?

 

[alien_frag_farm]

sounds a little high

 

[Braves Fan]

I will take just alittle lol.

 

[Braves Fan]

All I have in my tank which is going on a year old 125g tank, are some zoas and polyps and a few soft corals about 7 fish no sps or lps corals and 230 pounds of live rock. I have been over feeding my fish for along time and my nitrates about a month ago were at 200, that number is now down to 20. I was putting two shot glasses of a two part calcium buffer in the tank each week which is why my calcium is most likely high. I did a bunch of water changes to get the nitrates down to 20 so I can just guess how high my calcium was before I started the water changes.I will do another AKl/KH test tommrow and see what I get. I was just thinking I wasn't doing the test right because I wasn't using the bottle that said ALK check Solution 7.4 dKH +/- 0.03

 

[xmjxflipx]

wait wait guys is that how you read the salifert chart??

it doesnt say to subtract anything on the DKH.......on the syringe when mine turns the pink color it is right on .44ml..........so on the chart it reads about 9dkh......i double checked this with an API DKH and it was close to the same.........

if i subtracted 1-.44 i would get 56 which is 7.0 dkh........which is really way off...but in the directions it has no indication of subtracting one from the number on the syringe. Ive only seen this on magnesium and calcium

 

[lkjr409]

It would make sense to me to do this because what you want to do is measure how much liquid came out of the syringe....so if you started the plunger at 1,0 and it went to 0.4, then you used 0.6 ml. If you did it this way then multiply the amt of liquid used by 16 to get dKH....per Salifert instructions.

 

[xmjxflipx]

well phew.......looked at marine depot website...........theres 2 ways...........for dkh.......you can do 1- reading on the syrine x 16 =dkh..........or you can use the chart that is included on the instruction sheet............if ur syringe is on .46 it already calculated the steps and your dkh is 8.64

 

[Braves Fan]

Good mornig all, lets see if ya''ll can help me figure this test out this morning, lol. When the water in the test tube turned from blueish green to a redish color the test shoud be over right? My syringe says at this point 0.5 when I look at the chart to find 0.5 there isn't a 0.5 the chart starts at 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 and so on. My syringe says 0.5 and I am sure that isn't the same as say the charts 0.04 or 0.05, but lets say it is that would mean my KH is at 15.2 and my Alk is at 5.56. Am I reading this test right and if so, what do these numbers tell you, if not what an I doing wrong??

 

[lkjr409]

xmjxflipx is right...you can do it either way (read off the chart directly or do the 1-reading and multiply by 16). I'll edit one of my previous posts to reflect that so it doesnt confuse people. Thanks!

strout, Yes there is a 0.50 on the left column...about half way down...if the plunger is now at 0.5 this equals dKH of 8. So you are fine (7 to 11 is OK). :) I think we got it now..yahoo! :)