Ca - Salifert says 270, Elos says 450

[Delphinus]

Which would you believe?

The Salifert is older than the Elos (by purchase date) but it's not past its expiry date. The Elos expired in April 2011, I didn't realize this because the SKU sticker was covering the date .. But was purchased well after that date so it was on the shelf like that.

I'm more inclined to believe Salifert because of the expiry date .. Would you concur?

It's annoying because either way requires an adjustment but would be fairly suboptimal to adjust things the wrong way. :neutral:

Tomorrow's payday, maybe I'm picking up a Ca checker. I might as well throw another wingnut value in the mix to really keep things confusing. :lol:

[jagermaier]

I would say if you are dosing calcium 450 would be the more accurate result but if you are not then I would say the lower one.

[Aquattro]

Unless you haven't done a water change in forever, 250 isn't gonna happen. You don't have 30 pounds of SPS in there, so I'd go with the 450. Then I'd go to the LFS and get it tested again.

[Delphinus]

Well .. consider the history though, this tank doesn't particularly behave in typical kinds of ways. Water changes also are happening, but currently at a rate of about maybe 8% per week. I sourced me a bigger bucket, 55gal, which should make it more like 15% per week but I have to revamp the room to make this thing fit in there. So for now water changes are possibly too small. Next, considering that the tank was humming along in steady state until a couple months ago and suddenly the Ca depletion rates stopped, so I had to back off the Ca dosing quite a bit to remain at targets. Fast forward another couple months and during that time trying to reduce phosphates, is it possible the Ca consumption started up again and I missed the point at where it started to drop? But that would be a bit unexpected because although the tank LOOKS better (way less hair algae, corals look better, evidence of growth in some corals, etc.) the PO4 test reading is still pretty high (0.18 tonight). Unfortunately there's no reason to suspect testing error on the PO4 as the checker gives a zero reading on the FOWLR (there's irony for you. The lesson learned is "stop caring about parameters" I think.) :crazyeye:

All conjecture until I can get a confirmation of one or the other Ca readings, I guess. I finished off the Salifert tonight anyhow so due for a new test kit. I might as well try a checker, they're only $20 more than the Salifert, and as for Elos .. I like them but this is not the first time I've taken home a test kit only to discover the expiry date being in the past after I remove the SKU. Maybe it's fine past the expiry to a certain point but who knows how long.

[lastlight]

I make a point of checking expiry before purchase Tony. I've found expired elos kits in several lfs and started checking after purchasing two expired kits once.

[christyf5]

Tony, why not just take the water in and have it checked at the LFS? I'm sure you can find something less frustrating to spend your $30 on :razz:

[reefermadness]

test a new batch of water.....you should know close to what that would be...than go with the more accurate kit. My guess is that the salifert is messed.

[reefgirl189]

Not to hijack but I am having the same issues with my Ammonia test kits. Three different brands and three different results. I even tested new pre-mixed SW from before I did a water change and had different results. WTF?

Under 300 seems really low. I think if that reading were accurate you'd see some issues showing up.

[reefermadness]

Not to hijack but I am having the same issues with my Ammonia test kits. Three different brands and three different results. I even tested new pre-mixed SW from before I did a water change and had different results. WTF?
Under 300 seems really low. I think if that reading were accurate you'd see some issues showing up.
Personally I've never used an ammonia test kit. After the initial large cycle you should never see any. And if you are just starting up a tank.....look for nitrite (never even tested for that one) at zero and nitrate to plummet to a respectable level. Really just testing NO3 will tell you where a tank is at in terms of the initial cycle.

[lastlight]

Tony, why not just take the water in and have it checked at the LFS? I'm sure you can find something less frustrating to spend your $30 on :razz:

Filefish dude.

[e46er]

I'd believe the elos 450 like stated above because I see signs when my calcium drops to 380-390 under 300 I think you would see serious signs

[Delphinus]

I bumped up the # minutes on the Ca dosing and the Salifert read a tiny bit higher last night. It had been a long day so I didn't do an Elos reading. I have a bad feeling the lower number might be the correct value just cuz the implications are worse and since when does Murphy's Law cut any slack..

Testing my makeup water would have been a good idea. :lol: Duh. Oh well, partly though I did not just on account both tests are close to being finished (well the Salifert did its last test last night .. I didn't even get a full 1ml out of the titration reagent .. )

I make a point of checking expiry before purchase Tony. I've found expired elos kits in several lfs and started checking after purchasing two expired kits once.

Well, I just find it odd that I almost always find the SKU sticker, covers the expiry date. To me it feels a little bit rude to sit there at the store and peel that back before buying it, but I'm going to make a point of principle that I'm no longer buying Elos UNLESS I can see at the store that it's NOT expired. I think this is the 3rd time this has happened to me. Man was I annoyed with myself this week when I made that discovery that it was almost a year past that date. I've been too trusting I guess.

Unless Elos is printing the date the batch was made .. and not the expiry date itself .. but that would be unusual would it not?

[lastlight]

That's most def the expiry. I've never actually noticed that date being covered ever. I'd feel lame peeling the SKU back too but I'd just ask the LFS to check for me.

As far as I know an Elos kit is bad if the kit (even unopened) is beyond that date or if it's been used (even once) more than a year ago. I recall reading they're only trustworthy for one year after first use regardless of expiry? I'm guessing this loosely applies to all kits.

[christyf5]

Well, I just find it odd that I almost always find the SKU sticker, covers the expiry date. To me it feels a little bit rude to sit there at the store and peel that back before buying it, but I'm going to make a point of principle that I'm no longer buying Elos UNLESS I can see at the store that it's NOT expired. I think this is the 3rd time this has happened to me. Man was I annoyed with myself this week when I made that discovery that it was almost a year past that date. I've been too trusting I guess.



Well eff that, I have no problem being rude especially after our discussion about the zeo stuff. I'm peeling back the sticker on everything I buy from now on :twised:

[Delphinus]

As far as I know an Elos kit is bad if the kit (even unopened) is beyond that date or if it's been used (even once) more than a year ago. I recall reading they're only trustworthy for one year after first use regardless of expiry? I'm guessing this loosely applies to all kits.

Hmmm don't know about that but it sounds plausible. I think I'm going to mark the date of opening and first use on my test kit boxes from now on.

[Aquattro]

Well eff that, I have no problem being rude especially after our discussion about the zeo stuff. I'm peeling back the sticker on everything I buy from now on :twised:

No kidding. Don't you think it's kinda rude to sell you old crap?? Not only would I check, but if the store was selling expired kits and I believed it was a regular practice, I'd find a new store.

[christyf5]

No kidding. Don't you think it's kinda rude to sell you old crap?? Not only would I check, but if the store was selling expired kits and I believed it was a regular practice, I'd find a new store.


Yeah I haven't bought from them in awhile. Not sure if it was just a handy spot to put the UPC code or what but I didn't even notice until Tony and I were chatting about whether the stuff expires or not. He found an expiry date on his and upon closer inspection, so did mine. They were way out of whack too.

[Delphinus]

Picked up a Hanna calcium checker on the weekend. According to it ... 546.

Uh, wow.

Turned off the Ca dosing for now and will retest tomorrow. There's a slight chance I botched the test in a way to bump it to a higher reading but it won't be by a huge amount. Unlike the Alk and PO4 testers you only use 0.1ml of tank water diluted in 10ml of DI water, and 0.1ml is a very miniscule amount and I think I might have overshot the mark by a droplet or thereabouts. (I didn't use the cone dispenser that came with it. The Alk checker came with one as well but I never use that because it doesn't actually have a hole in the end of it on that one).

Question for anyone who uses these Hanna checkers for Calcium, there's a rubberized cone end and a plastic cone end. I assume one is for the reagent syringe and the other for the sample syringe .. but which one is which?

[Myka]

Tony, there have been a lot of complaints about the Hanna Calcium Checkers reading really high. I have always found Elos to read about 80-100 ppm higher than Salifert (the Elos alkalinity reads 1-2 dKH lower than Salifert). I have also found old Salifert kits (still within expiry) to be another 80-100 ppm lower than a new Salifert kit. I have no idea which one is more accurate, but I do know my tank is happier when I use the Elos kits and dose according to them. I have all but given up on Salifert kits for calcium and alkalinity. I need to buy some new Elos kits right away here, so it will be interesting to compare them to my old ones.

I'm trying to locate (it's a back burner project) some good independent calibration fluids for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. I hear they are out there somewhere.

[Delphinus]

Please let me know if you ever find some...

[vaporize]

Salifest have a bad batch of calcium or alkalinity test kit 2-3 years ago, as I remembered. So I would not trust that completely.

[rburns24]

I've been testing Ca with Salifert and API. They are testing withing 10ppm of one another.