This hobby is really frustrating if you are color blind.

[laguest]

Just tired of not being able to use any titration test kits.
I have the Hana Alk and Phosphate meters which are great but their calcium one is awful.

Those so called color blind glasses only work if you have a very mild case.

So hard to dial in and track calcium and magnesium do get the dosing right.

 

[Thub]

I'm not actually colorblind, but have a lot of trouble differentiating colors if they're close. My solution? I snapchat some female friends a picture if the vial and chart. One or more of them respond and I have my answer. Instead of a hanna-checker, I have a Rachael-checker or an Elly-checker or whoever

 

[Hermie]

I'm color blind too and you know what... It's a pain in the butt because I have to take a photo with a DSLR camera and do white balance and hope I Did it in time and then upload it to the computer then verify the color in photoshop...

It sucks.

 

[taricha]

Bumping this thread, because I think we can do better than this.
I think in principle most of the titrations work via a pH shift, so a pH probe can be used to tell what's going on in place of a color indicator.
Maybe someone can flesh out details or link to where it's been done for Ca. Some pH probes are small enough that they can go in some test vials.
Maybe Randy or @JimWelsh can chip in on the technical details. May even be able to get away with diluting the titration samples in distilled water to get larger test volume without much pH difference. I don't know.
For color change test kits (not titrations), @Rick Mathew and I have done some threads on using Hanna checkers to read any color change test. Nitrate, iodide/iodine.
If interested, there's also a thread on using a spectrometer to electronically determine color of any test - like a Hanna checker but any wavelength you want.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, I do alk titrations by pH probe, not by color changing dye that Is used to measure pH

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This article shows how to do it:

A DIY Alkalinity Test: By Randy Holmes-Farley - REEFEDITION

Alkalinity is one of the most important measurements that a reef aquarist can make. It can become rapidly depleted in many aquaria, requiring frequent measurement in order to maintain stable levels.

www.reefedition.com

 

[JimWelsh]

Maybe someone can flesh out details or link to where it's been done for Ca.

The complexometric tests like Ca and Mg tests are not detecting a change in pH, in fact, the solutions are being held more or less at a specific pH value (around 10 for Ca and 12+ for Mg) by the liquid buffers added at the beginning of the test. The color change in these tests is a change between the indicator dye + the bivalent metal complex (reddish color), progressing to the color of the dye alone, after the stronger chelating titrant has complexed with all the metal, leaving the dye "naked", as it were (blue color). So, you cannot use a pH probe to determine the endpoint of these types of tests.

 

[TheOne]

I'm red-green colorblind and was using the hanna checkers. I'm not so much concerned with how accurate they were but more with keeping the numbers consistent from test to test. I'm running the Apex Triton now and it has absolutely changed reefing for me.

 

[Rick Mathew]

Just tired of not being able to use any titration test kits.
I have the Hana Alk and Phosphate meters which are great but their calcium one is awful.

Those so called color blind glasses only work if you have a very mild case.

So hard to dial in and track calcium and magnesium do get the dosing right.

Actually I have had good success with the Hanna Calcium Checker...At first it gave very random results...The key to correcting it was getting a pipette or syringe that would deliver an accurate .1 mL sample amount...If you think about it if the amount is off by .01 mL's the amount is off by 10%... .01 mL is a small amount...So I got a syringe that Monoject .3 mL and it is graduated in .01 mL increments...really helped... I now use a 01-.1mL micro pipette that is a little easier to use and seems to be just as accurate..

here is a link to Syringe...If you want to try one PM me a mailing address and I will send you one

Amazon product

Here is a link to the Micro pipette ...Sorry won't send you one of these to try

Amazon product

Below is my measurement results compared to ICP analysis

My results (PPM)​	ICP 1 Vendor Results​	ICP 2 Vendor Results​	ICP 3 Vendor Results​
441​	442​	430​	474​
430​	449​	430​	454​
465​	454​	454​	338​

What I observed when I first started doing this was I got very repeatable (precise) results but when I checked it vs ICP results and a Calcium reference standard I would consistently measure 20-25 point low ...the key here it was consistence...I had good precision but my accuracy was a bit off....so I just add 22 to my meter reading Given that the stated accuracy is +/- 6% of the reading these results are not bad and I feel confident in my results with the Hanna Checker.



Sorry I cant help you with the magnesium test but I will give it some thought..

Just a note....I have a 30% loss of my blue color perception (due to age) so I understand in just a small way your frustration..

Hope this helps

Rick

 

[taricha]

The complexometric tests like Ca and Mg tests are not detecting a change in pH, in fact, the solutions are being held more or less at a specific pH value (around 10 for Ca and 12+ for Mg) by the liquid buffers added at the beginning of the test. The color change in these tests is a change between the indicator dye + the bivalent metal complex (reddish color), progressing to the color of the dye alone, after the stronger chelating titrant has complexed with all the metal, leaving the dye "naked", as it were (blue color). So, you cannot use a pH probe to determine the endpoint of these types of tests.

Oops. I read NaOH as ingredient in the red Sea Ca test titration liquid and thought there was a pH shift. (Looking at MSDS now shows it's less than 1%).
Thanks for the explanation. Great info as always.

 

[taricha]

Another tool to get around color vision issues is a color comparison feature in the Aquarium Note app.

It allows you to pick 3 color patches from a smartphone pic, so A and C for color card, and B for the sample. It'll show you on the slider how they compare.
It's helpful for even those of us with normal color vision.

 

[laguest]

Thanks all for the help and ideas.
This is what I am trying now.

I grabbed an app called "Color Blind Pal", it allows you to point your phone at something and it displays the name of the color. I then setup a work area with white backgrounds and a light.

I then had my wife help and I tested a fresh batch of saltwater so I had a good idea on what values should be. In general it really didn't matter what color the app said it was, as long as there was a definite difference in what color the app said it was. As we did the test the app did go from pink or maroon to dull blue or blue at the same time my wife told me the color changed. The reading also matched close enough to the sample water I mixed up.

I was then able to reproduce the test with my tank water and have my wife just confirm when I told her the color changed based on the app, it did match what she was seeing so I do think this may work.

 

[Rick Mathew]

wow what a great find. thanks for sharing I'm going to have to check that one out

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I'm not actually colorblind, but have a lot of trouble differentiating colors if they're close. My solution? I snapchat some female friends a picture if the vial and chart. One or more of them respond and I have my answer. Instead of a hanna-checker, I have a Rachael-checker or an Elly-checker or whoever

Can I have their numbers??? Only kidding, I am colorblind with similar colors as well. The newer salifert skits are much better than they used to be though and I don’t have as much trouble as long as I am in very good white light looking next to a totally white background.

The real problem is buying the same corals over and over again!!!!!

 

[Hermie]

The real problem is buying the same corals over and over again!!!!!

guilty lol

 

[psychobilly07]

I hear ya, my daughter does my testing for me cause im colorblind but honestly with a regular maintenance schedule you should be fine, she only tests the water 4-5 a year

 

[jeffchapok]

Look on the bright side...

You can buy dull, cheap corals and enjoy them just as much.

 

[psychobilly07]

Look on the bright side...

You can buy dull, cheap corals and enjoy them just as much.

Wish this was the case but we still see color and know a drab green coral when we see one

 

[Lousybreed]

I am color blind too. And I titrations with the best of them. While color blindness is a challenge you can easily get around it. I will use the alk titration by Salifert. It goes from blue to pink. It’s hard for me to tell the difference. But when you have another vial next to your test vial and you have already went past the endpoint, it will be able to be seen easily. I had so much trouble with my ca, mg, alk, etc titrations until I did this for a moth straight. Now I can titrate very accurately. I had to purchase a 95CRI light bulb and buy a white countertop to test on. But I can do it. You can too!!!

 

[LisaMarie]

Such great info and tips! I am legally blind and will be so thankful when the cost of technologies like Trident and Reefbot come down some. It's probably a long way off but this technology could be life changing for some of us. I currently have to send off an ICP test every month. I also have Hanna alk, phosphate, and calcium but really struggle with the calcium. I get help from family and friends with manual tests when needed but it's not the same as being able to do it yourself.