ReefBot Labs Reagents

wizard261 · May 18, 2024

Hi
What is everyone using for testing It seems like allot of the Kinetics site suggestions are either old or not available to get.
Just dont want to spend money on the wrong items

Thanks Mike

Dan_P · May 21, 2024

wizard261 said:
Hi
What is everyone using for testing It seems like allot of the Kinetics site suggestions are either old or not available to get.
Just dont want to spend money on the wrong items

Thanks Mike

Funny that no one has an answer.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 22, 2024

I'm not familiar with their requirements.

BeanAnimal · May 22, 2024

Dan_P said:
Funny that no one has an answer.

I am not sure that mine would be helpful - I found the ReefBot Lab to be a neat idea but rather poorly implemented at so many levels.

My take: Test kits (save the Hanna Checker) don't need to be precise with regard to color endpoint and just need to be close enough for eyeballs.

The reefbot has fixed endpoints programmed for each test variant and no means for user calibration.

Slight variations in the chemistry of batches would result in reading error. . Is there variation between batches within brands? I don't know.

I put well over $1,000 worth of various reagents through it from API, RedSea, ELOS, Tropic Marin, Salifert, etc. and could never get consistent results. Was it the reagents, the bot, me, all of the above?

Given the companies less than transparent update and tweaking process (everything is done in their cloud) it is hard to tell when/if they tweak endpoints to match mainstream changes (for example Salifert has made some changes to color endpoints recently) or when they tweak endpoints based on customer feedback.

So my advice @wizard261 is to browse the facebook group and see what people are using right now. Hady from RK will candidly tell you what kits are popular if you ask.

When I was using the RBL I had better results (then) with
API for alk and calcium and Nitrate
RedSea for Phosphate and Magnesium Iodine

I took the lab offline due to numerous issues with accuracy and precision. I just didn't trust the results.

Good Luck.