Alkalinity

[MERKEY]

Who is to say that what you measured from another kit is right? Or that you are not accidently making an error with the other test's? And then altering the red sea test to make it match. That's a very slippery slope. For the record, I am not arguing that red sea is the best. Imo it's about .5-1dkh either way off from my hanna. But altering a test just to make it match another may just mean duplicating inaccurate results.

I came to this conclusion after using multiple red sea kits while simultaneously using other manufacturers kits to see what a base line average was.

According to the ones I used....red sea was always 1.5 or 2dkh higher this is also while using a trident.

Let's say red sea says I'm at 12 dkh and giessmann says I am at 10 dkh.

If I used the red sea and wanted to aim for a 7-8 dkh in my tank I would need to lower my dkh by 4-5 dkh.

This is where my problem lies. If I use giessmann and it says my dkh is at 10 and I lower it 4-5dkh then I'm in a dangerous area.

I did this so I would not get into that dangerous area with red sea.

Yes I'm over thinking it but I did not like that area of variance. My tanks are much happier after not using red sea to test for alk. This is just a personal opinion.

I hope that made sense.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Relax folks. This isn't rocket science. I expect the confusion is just a poor translation, as is the best explanation I can think for for other issues from Red Sea where what they say does not actually make sense.

The kit says nothing about subtracting any drops needed to get to the start color, and there's no reason you should.
So the point is, do you start counting after the first drop is added(after achieving the start color) or does that first drop already count as one drop?? Lol y doesn’t nobody understand that that is the only thing we want to know

Just follow the directions as written, and ignore the fact of seeing a difference at step 3.

What matters in a titration kit is the liquid needed to get to the endpoint color (step 4), not what happens along the way.



KH Test – directions for use Red Sea’s Marine Care KH test kit provide an easy measurement of °KH with a resolution of either 0.5 or 1 °KH as desired

1. Using the syringe provided, place exactly 10 ml of the water to be tested into the glass vial in order to measure °KH levels in 0.5 °KH resolution, or 5 ml of the water to be tested in order to measure °KH levels in 1 °KH resolution.

2. Draw KH indicator into the dropper.

3. Add 1 drop of KH indicator and shake for 10 seconds. The test sample will obtain the titration “start” color as shown on the instruction card.

4. Continue to add KH indicator one drop at a time (shake for 10 seconds after each drop) until the color of the sample in the glass vile changes to the corresponding “end” color as shown on the instruction card. Count the number of drops required to reach the end color.

5. Return any unused indicator to the bottle and ensure that the bottle is closed tightly.

6. Each drop of indicator corresponds to 0.5 °KH (0.18 meq/L) or 1°KH (0.36 meq/L) depends on the water sample volume. 7. If the last drop gave the overdose color instead of the end color reduce the calculated level by 0.25 °KH (0.09 meq/L) for 0.5°KH resolution or 0.5°KH (0.18 meq/L) for 1°KH resolution.

The point is
Do we start counting drops after when the first drop is added to achieve the STARTING color or after adding that first drop? That’s all we’re asking.

 

[Miller535]

At this point I suggest watching the YouTube video red sea put out a few years back showing how to use their test's

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The point is
Do we start counting drops after when the first drop is added to achieve the STARTING color or after adding that first drop? That’s all we’re asking.

I answered it very clearly. Count all drops of acid added.

I'm not saying whether this kit is accurate or not, but that is the way all alkalinity kits are designed . There is no uncertainty here on the method.