Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

[Brew12]

I put on the figurative lab coat and did all sorts of testing. Unfortunately, my ULR phosphorus tester broke, so out of luck there. The goal was to do a ton of alkalinity testing, and that got done. ;Writing

The first thing I tested was the 7.5dkh Alkalinity standard. A good reading would be considered 7.3 to 7.7.

KH Director: 7.5
Hanna Checker: 7.7
Salifert: 7.7
Redsea, New: 7.3
Redsea, Old: 5.9

And, on my tank I got the following results. And, I have to admit, my KH Director was telling me my Alk was dropping but I didn't believe it.

KH Director: 8.2
Hanna Checker: 8.3
Salifert: 8.3
Redsea, New: 7.8

Lessons learned? I was happy with how close the Director, Hanna, and Salifert tested. Redsea was consistently low. Using an expired Alk test kit is a very bad idea. Oh.. and I increased my dose rate.

 

[justingraham]

Brew where did u get the alk standard?

 

[Brew12]

Brew where did u get the alk standard?

I got it from GHL. It would be pretty expensive because of shipping but I had a few other things I needed to order so it made a nice add on.

 

[justingraham]

So that stinks ok I’ll keep a look out for something else as I want to know what my guardian is

The TLF salt says it mixes at 8 dkh the khg says that the water is 10 dkh and my Hannah says it is 9 dkh so who knows I did just pick up the triton DOC test so maby I’ll send that out as it looks like it tells u dkh

 

[Brew12]

So that stinks ok I’ll keep a look out for something else as I want to know what my guardian is

The TLF salt says it mixes at 8 dkh the khg says that the water is 10 dkh and my Hannah says it is 9 dkh so who knows I did just pick up the triton DOC test so maby I’ll send that out as it looks like it tells u dkh

Fauna Marin makes a product they call their "Multi Reference Solution" that lets you test Alk, Calc, and Mag. I don't know where it is available in the US.

 

[Janci]

Those reference testing kits should be something standard in the main kits.
Like a small bottle inside the CA testing kit to allow you to check your test kit once and a while to be sure it detects a known Ca level at all times.
But again, this would make the test kits a little more expensive and not 2 kits of different makers are identical.

So I stick with only one maker, change out the test kit regularly and aim for stable values and not absolute values.

 

[acabgd]

https://www.faunamarin.de/en/multi-reference-100ml/a-167/

Reference solution for:
Calcium – 425 mg/L
Magnesium – 1,315 mg/L
Potassium – 375 mg/L
Salinity – 33.9 ppt (51.6 mS) @ 75°F
Alkalinity – 7 DKH (2.5 meq/L)
Strontium – 7.1 mg/L
Nitrate – 11.5 mg/L
Phosphate – 0.05 mg/L

 

[Brew12]

https://www.faunamarin.de/en/multi-reference-100ml/a-167/

Reference solution for:
Calcium – 425 mg/L
Magnesium – 1,315 mg/L
Potassium – 375 mg/L
Salinity – 33.9 ppt (51.6 mS) @ 75°F
Alkalinity – 7 DKH (2.5 meq/L)
Strontium – 7.1 mg/L
Nitrate – 11.5 mg/L
Phosphate – 0.05 mg/L

I would love to have something like this. Unfortunately, it is not available in the US.

 

[acabgd]

I would love to have something like this. Unfortunately, it is not available in the US.

Don't know how reliable these guys are but here's a US seller:
https://aqualabaquaria.com/products/multi-reference-calibration-fluid-fauna-marin

 

[Brew12]

Don't know how reliable these guys are but here's a US seller:
https://aqualabaquaria.com/products/multi-reference-calibration-fluid-fauna-marin

Excellent! I hadn't seen that source before. I always cringe when shipping is more than the product itself but I'd probably bite the bullet if I didn't already have the GHL Alk standard.

 

[acabgd]

Some time ago someone sent this reference fluid to Triton for testing. Everything was either spot on or just a few percent off (1-5%) while the only one being significantly different was PO4.

 

[VJV]

Only issue being that Triton did not test for Alk back than...

 

[Brew12]

Some time ago someone sent this reference fluid to Triton for testing. Everything was either spot on or just a few percent off (1-5%) while the only one being significantly different was PO4.

I would imagine that maintaining accuracy with PO4 and NO3 would be a challenge, especially if they use an organic source. Those being off wouldn't bother me at all.

Alk is my biggest concern, followed by magnesium and iron. Calc would be very low on my list and PO4 and NO3 hardly register with me.

 

[justingraham]

Don't know how reliable these guys are but here's a US seller:
https://aqualabaquaria.com/products/multi-reference-calibration-fluid-fauna-marin

Thank u

 

[dantimdad]

@Brew12 just out of curiosity what is your daily Alk consumption. Having seen your tank and the coralline and corals I am guessing quite a bit.

 

[Brew12]

@Brew12 just out of curiosity what is your daily Alk consumption. Having seen your tank and the coralline and corals I am guessing quite a bit.

Things have changed quite a bit since you guys came to visit. My coralline grows much slower now but my SPS have started to really take off. My daily alk consumption is only around 0.7dkh but demand is increasing nicely. I'm having to up my dosing by around 1ml/day every week (Randy's recipe 1).

 

[dantimdad]

Things have changed quite a bit since you guys came to visit. My coralline grows much slower now but my SPS have started to really take off. My daily alk consumption is only around 0.7dkh but demand is increasing nicely. I'm having to up my dosing by around 1ml/day every week (Randy's recipe 1).

I would love to see it again soon.

 

[Brew12]

I would love to see it again soon.

I'm sure I'll be hosting again in the not too distant future. Would be nice if someone else stepped up since I did host the previous 2 meetings.

 

[Fudsey]

I'd host but it would take you guys a bit to get here

 

[dantimdad]

As soon as the remodel and wedding is over.