Mag kit instructions have changed

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...69#post1028369

The ALK changed twice, to 2 drops then back to 4 i think.

The only annoying part about these changes (all of them) is they don't notify at all. A lot of people have been using these for years and years. Now everytime I test alk I have to stop myself from adding 2 more drops. A sticker on the boxes saying "new instructions" would have been nice.

I haven't used it yet but my spare Kh kit 10-2022 has a piece of paper taped inside the lid "test kit instructions have changed" and it states 2 drops

My alk reads 2 drops but the newest ones are back to 4 drops... never assume...
The new test kits also have a different plastic card vs the old paper ones.

I'll start a new Alk thread ...

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=126425

This is weird. I have a salifert Ca test with expiry date 02/2022.
When tested the water last week my Ca was a 475 so decided was to high for my liking. Turned off the dosing pump and tested for a straight 6 days , some of the days even twice. Today I even try the new instruction after firs reading was 470, and second reading was 475.. all week Ca was fluctuating from 475 to 465 without even dosing. I keep dosing alk and mag and value are stable at 7.3 and 1245. But what bug me is the Ca. I dose the new formula AF component where Ca and Mag are not mix together . I

I just tested with the last usable amount of an 8-drop kit; 415
For poops and giggles I tested with a new 10-drop kit; 440 - what the ... ?
Tested again and got 430. Exp. 08-2022

I've always found their Ca kit to be consistent so don't get it.

You guys are demonstrating exactly why they changed the instructions. :D Some tanks will get the same reading on both kits though.



For the calcium kit, magnesium interferes with the results, so I suspect the cause for some tanks to read the same and other to read higher on the new kit is because of Mg interference (or not).


The same rings true for the KH kit - on most tanks you can use anywhere from 2-5 drops of the indicator and it won't change the results, but on some tanks it will change the results which is the reason for their changes. I'm not sure what is interfering in the KH kit.


I'm not sure of the reason for the change in the Mg kit. The time to swirl is so the calcium has time to be bound out of the solution so it doesn't interfere with the Mg reading.



The colored drops/powder in the kits is an indicator dye, and as long as there is a minimum amount of indicator in the test compared to the element you're testing, then it doesn't matter how much of it you use until you get to the point where you're diluting the test with the number of drops. Haha!