Alkalinity test kit readings

[gregr]

No need to apologize! It occurs to me that perhaps that batch of kalk was tainted somehow- maybe something toxic to the corals got in there. Bad batches of salt are not totally unheard of so I don't see why it couldn't happen to kalkwasser.
Gene- that was just poor wording on my part. What I meant was, I sometimes can get the alk to come down a bit, like when I first started adding kalk, or by doing big/frequent water changes. But because the salt I use has highish alkalinity the dKH tends to creep right back up to 12. Now I'm not so sure it's high at all or ever has been high Tested the water again this morning with the Sera kit and it was 9.5. I have a couple days off so I'll mix up some new saltwater and test it with both kits.
Kalk was not the cause of the burnt tips on my corals- it was happening long before I started dosing kalk. Plus, I have it dripping into the sump, 15 drips per minute- I don't think that rate is ever going to cause a coral tip to die.
In the last couple months only one coral has had tips die. Unfortunately I don't know exactly what it is beyond acropora. It came from Australia and the only picture I have of it is this one:

That was taken shortly after I got it about six months ago. Since then the whole thing has turned purple and the polyp extension is pretty much the same. No other corals have burnt tips now, though I only have a few other sps corals; millepora, yongei, digitata and about six weeks ago I got a Gomezi that was pure white. It's green and blue now- colored up beautifully.
I did not know Mojano anemones could kill corals like that Gene- that must've been a real sad time.

[zhenya]

Yeah Greg, I didn't know it either. When Anthony Calfo stopped by for a visit we discussed this and he said it is quite possible that they were competing chemically actively. And yes, it was very sad time watching your tank die...
But, I've got another tank now and am extremely vigilant with any new additions...diping everything including fish... :eek3:

PS. Do check your freshly mixed water with both kits, at least to see what the difference is between the two. Then, I would see if I could get my hands on the LaMotte kit and test it as well just to compare the kits that you have to some sort of standard.

[charlie]

The chemical warfare thing makes as much sense as anything Gene

On another note, is the Lamotte alkalinity kit the only kit you use from them? Can you compare the methods used between Salifert and Lamotte, as far as ease of reading the results for us?

[zhenya]

The chemical warfare thing makes as much sense as anything Gene

On another note, is the Lamotte alkalinity kit the only kit you use from them? Can you compare the methods used between Salifert and Lamotte, as far as ease of reading the results for us?

Charlie, there isn't much of a difference in the procedure itself.
As far as ease of reading it is really very easy. You read directly from the Titrator as ppm of Total Alkalinity in CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate). You can then covert this result into meq/L by dividing ppm by 50. If you want to convert to dkh then you simply multiply ppm by 2.8 and then divide it by 50 to get dkh.
One of the reasons I like LaMotte kits is that you can buy reagents or titrants separately, without purchasing an entire new kit. Plus, in Alkalinity test kit the reagent is in pill form which makes it more presize from the get go. The only little trick is that you have to watch closely so not to pass the point when color changes in the tube. However, it is never happened to me to date. As you use it few times you pretty much know when to expect color to change, so you simply slow down your drops and wait for it.
Once you use it, Charlie, you won't be going back...

PS. Charlie, to really ease your understanding of the readings you probably would want to re-read this article. I used to try to remember the conversion tables but once I went back and read Randy;s article again it really simplified things. ;)

[charlie]

Charlie, there isn't much of a difference in the procedure itself.
As far as ease of reading it is really very easy. You read directly from the Titrator as ppm of Total Alkalinity in CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate). You can then covert this result into meq/L by dividing ppm by 50. If you want to convert to dkh then you simply multiply ppm by 2.8 and then divide it by 50 to get dkh.
One of the reasons I like LaMotte kits is that you can buy reagents or titrants separately, without purchasing an entire new kit. Plus, in Alkalinity test kit the reagent is in pill form which makes it more presize from the get go. The only little trick is that you have to watch closely so not to pass the point when color changes in the tube. However, it is never happened to me to date. As you use it few times you pretty much know when to expect color to change, so you simply slow down your drops and wait for it.
Once you use it, Charlie, you won't be going back...

PS. Charlie, to really ease your understanding of the readings you probably would want to re-read this article. I used to try to remember the conversion tables but once I went back and read Randy;s article again it really simplified things. ;)

Thank you very much Gene, I appreciate the help and the link, very helpful!!!!

I do believe I will be getting in touch with Marine Depot and giving them some business here in the next couple of days.
Do you use their calcium kit also???

[gregr]

Didn't get the results I expected when I did the tests today. On freshly mixed saltwater the Sera kit read 7 and Salifert 7.5. On my tank water Sera read 9 and Salifert 11.5. Did each test twice (4 total) and got pretty much the same numbers each time.

[zhenya]

Thank you very much Gene, I appreciate the help and the link, very helpful!!!!

I do believe I will be getting in touch with Marine Depot and giving them some business here in the next couple of days.
Do you use their calcium kit also???

Funny thing you should ask, Charlie...
I bought the calcium kit as well but never used it as yer because I wanted to finish up my brand new Salifert kit that I bought prior. Being frugal and all...
I've decided that after I move my tank for the final time I will throw away everything reef related that I accumulated for 10 years and start fresh (I ran out of space to store all the junk like test kits, light bulbs and pumps )

[charlie]

Fire sale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zhenya]

Didn't get the results I expected when I did the tests today. On freshly mixed saltwater the Sera kit read 7 and Salifert 7.5. On my tank water Sera read 9 and Salifert 11.5. Did each test twice (4 total) and got pretty much the same numbers each time.

I thought these results confirmed that your Salifert kit was higher by the average of 2.5-3.00 points on the dkh scale. Now, which one is more accurate I can't tell without the third sample (some sort of known standard).

[zhenya]

Fire sale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You ain't kidding... :eek3:

Between the books, more than 10 bulbs and list goes on. I'll see if I will keep my reflectors and ballasts to switch back to 250w halides, if not they are toast.

[charlie]

KEEP THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As far as the ballasts go, have you looked into these new Lumatek ballasts. I just ordered these for my tank and plan to start ta thread on them when I get them. Either that or just add on to the 300 saga