Alk Issues and Hanna Alkalinity Reagent possibly bad ?? follow the investigation

[ash9965]

So I started a new 150 setup about 6 months ago and from the beginning Alk was a little high in the 10-12 range but as I added corals it started gradually going down to the point that it was in the 8-9 range so I figured I would start dosing kalkwasser in my ATO and within a week it jumped back to 11 so I removed the kalk and within 2 months the tank had slowly dropped into the 7 to 8 range and I had added some more corals so I figured time to add kalk again to maintain stability . Alk slowly stabilized between 7-8 and even slightly dropped over a few days so I figured everything was right on point. Tested so much during this time my reagent for my Hanna checker was running low so I ordered more. When it arrived I had a little more left in the bottle so I did one final test with the old reagent to compare with the new re-agent . It tested 7.5 so all is well right ? Wrong !! new reagent tested at 11.5 !!! So now I ordered a sailfert kit arriving later today to compare results ... just imagine if it was 11.5 instead of 7 and my goal was nine I would have taken it above 13 ... not sure what to think ... . On a positive note all corals look good so ????

 

[lapin]

I find that our home tests kits are ok. Not exactly perfect but good enough for hobby work.
I always test new against old to see what the difference is. You dont want to adjust something that does not need it. If corals look good then I dont really do a whole lot of testing any more

 

[ash9965]

agreed but still scary to see that big of a difference

 

[piranhaman00]

keep the alk at 8.5 to 9, plus or minus 1 and you still good

 

[X-37B]

I always have at least 2 ways to check whatever im testing.
My current 4 bottles of Hanna, same lot numbers, are around 0.5+ higher than the last batch.
I use Salifert and Nyos as referece.
Both read 7.5 and Hanna is 8.2.
This works for me as long as im in range I dont worry.
Hanna reagents tend to be off, higher, for me. I go through at least 2 bottles a month.
I try to buy 4+ bottles at the same time with same batch #'s.
I do get them that read right on as compaired to Salifert and Nyos.

 

[ash9965]

keep the alk at 8.5 to 9, plus or minus 1 and you still good

yes but when one kit says 7 and the other 11 that is a big difference the proof will come when I get the sailfert kit today . 7 or 11.5 ? is the question any bets ??

 

[X-37B]

yes but when one kit says 7 and the other 11 that is a big difference the proof will come when I get the sailfert kit today . 7 or 11.5 ? is the question any bets ??

A good way to verify is to make up a gallon of fresh salt water.
I know exactly what the alk is on my fresh salt makeup.

 

[ash9965]

if the test kit is bad it would still be bad on fresh salt but I get your point ... hopefully the saifert reads the same as my new hanna reagent or I basically have a brand new bottle of reagent thats worthless

 

[ash9965]

So received the sailfert kit and alk tested at 12.5 matching new hanna reagent perfectly so now I know where I stand vs the old hanna reagent that tested at 7 big difference glad I didnt add alk to adjust levels to my goal of 9 . so I have removed kalk and will just monitor tank weekly until my levels slowly level off hopefully closer to the 9 range. Thanks for everyones input !!

 

[elorablue]

Have you considered dosing 2 part instead of the Kalk? Might be easier to keep things stable as you'll know exactly how much you're adding. Just a thought.

 

[ash9965]

When I thought I was at 7 I was adding ESV bionic Little did I know I was really at 11 already now sitting at 12 so now just adding l
RODI water in the top off nothing else till things settle back down

 

[monicalooze]

I just had this happen.....but my corals are NOT happy. I have not been able to figure out whats's been going on for months. All my other parameters were in line, except my alkalinity dropped from 8.5/9.5 to 6-6.5 over a couple weeks. I have a 10 g nano, and I have softies and two very small hammer frags, so I didn't think the alk should have changed that much...I'm still a beginner (tank up for almost a year), but I waited a LONG time to get corals. I assumed I was doing something wrong or my rock had been leaching alk... I kept up with my water changes, thinking that would keep thinks stable on a nano.

When I noticed my corals getting angry (really angry) and the dkh going down I started dosing all-for-reef, but no matter what I did, over weeks, the alk wasn't rising.

When the tissue on one of my hammers started receding to the point of showing some of its skeleton, I started to get suspicious. Tried a new reagent that was in my drawer. Alk tested at 12 (avg from three tests). So I have no idea how many swings I put my poor corals through, but I'm going to start testing with multiple test kits from now on. I really hope the hammer pulls through after all this.

Out of curiosity, what was your lot number on the bad Hanna reagent? I thought about emailing them, but they'll probably just offer me a new bottle, when I really only care about the $100.00 frag I might lose.

What alk test kits does everyone trust? I don't trust Hanna anymore.

 

[jimk60]

Hanna alk checkers have been known for this for years. There are numerous threads on here testifying to this. Wide swings not only between different bottles but even the same bottle over time.

 

[monicalooze]

Hanna alk checkers have been known for this for years. There are numerous threads on here testifying to this. Wide swings not only between different bottles but even the same bottle over time.

What test kit would you recommend? I use Red Sea for calcium, nitrate, and magnesium. I wish I had known...so many people recommend Hanna checkers...

 

[jimk60]

What test kit would you recommend? I use Red Sea for calcium, nitrate, and magnesium. I wish I had known...so many people recommend Hanna checkers...

I still use the Hanna but verify with a Red Sea if it looks unusual. People say to discard the Hanna reagent when you've used about 3\4 of the bottle. I've also had bottles with some kind of floating debris that shows up in the curvet. Also a know problem but doesn't seem to affect the results

 

[jimk60]

What test kit would you recommend? I use Red Sea for calcium, nitrate, and magnesium. I wish I had known...so many people recommend Hanna checkers...

Go to the vendor forum and scroll down to Hanna. You'll see a bunch of threads on these topics. At least there used to be

 

[monicalooze]

Go to the vendor forum and scroll down to Hanna. You'll see a bunch of threads on these topics. At least there used to be

Thanks. The research truly never ends. I'm just going to use multiples. Learned the hard way. But that seems to happen no matter how much I've read

 

[Reef.]

What test kit would you recommend? I use Red Sea for calcium, nitrate, and magnesium. I wish I had known...so many people recommend Hanna checkers...

salifert is very good, just stop when you see the sample change to lavender and not the pink in the instructions.

Or Aqua Forest is good too, that comes with a reference solution so you can run that test to see what colour you need to aim for.