Looking for some feedback on varying alkalinity results that I can’t reconcile.
Back story is I use Hanna alkalinity tester and KHG auto tester to test alkalinity on my 40 gallon breeder.
I consistently test 8.3 - 8.6 on both devices. (KHG tests every four hours automatically and I reconfirm with a manual test with the Hanna checker twice weekly) Because there is no LFS locally I usually take tank samples when I fly out of the area to have them tested. What’s odd this time is that I had the water tested at two LFS- one with a spin disk and the other with what I think was ATI reagent - both times they advised that my alk was sitting between 11-12dKH. Obviously this is concerning as that’s well out of the range of what I am testing at home.
I can monitor the KHG remotely and have confirmed it is still testing between 8.3-8.6 with the addition of 800mls of kalkwasser daily. I will also pick up some new Hanna reagent and a salifert test kit before I head home and plan to just leave things as they are for the time being.
I figure even if the test result of 8.5 ish is truly 11.5ish it should be fine until I get back home and retest with my new kits.
My question is - is there anyway possible for something to have made my water sample change in transit? I don’t think so because we send icp test off all the time which take far longer to make it to the lab, correct? Total time between collection and testing was 48 hours. This is the first time I’ve seen such a huge discrepancy with my tests.
Thank you for any feedback !
Back story is I use Hanna alkalinity tester and KHG auto tester to test alkalinity on my 40 gallon breeder.
I consistently test 8.3 - 8.6 on both devices. (KHG tests every four hours automatically and I reconfirm with a manual test with the Hanna checker twice weekly) Because there is no LFS locally I usually take tank samples when I fly out of the area to have them tested. What’s odd this time is that I had the water tested at two LFS- one with a spin disk and the other with what I think was ATI reagent - both times they advised that my alk was sitting between 11-12dKH. Obviously this is concerning as that’s well out of the range of what I am testing at home.
I can monitor the KHG remotely and have confirmed it is still testing between 8.3-8.6 with the addition of 800mls of kalkwasser daily. I will also pick up some new Hanna reagent and a salifert test kit before I head home and plan to just leave things as they are for the time being.
I figure even if the test result of 8.5 ish is truly 11.5ish it should be fine until I get back home and retest with my new kits.
My question is - is there anyway possible for something to have made my water sample change in transit? I don’t think so because we send icp test off all the time which take far longer to make it to the lab, correct? Total time between collection and testing was 48 hours. This is the first time I’ve seen such a huge discrepancy with my tests.
Thank you for any feedback !