Alk Test Kit?

[fiction101]

I was wondering what's the best alkalinity test kit to buy? The current one I have is a ph/alk combo test kit that goes by 3 shades of color so it's impossible to really know the exact level.

[psam]

API and elos are nice for quick drop by drop dKH. I like LaMotte better for higher resolution when I sit down and test monthly, but use the other two for fast regular checks.

[glennr1978]

I like API.

 

I have an Elos Mg test kit, it comes in a really cool modern looking box and makes you feel like a chemist while doing the test. fun stuff.

[mynd]

I test for alk quite often as in every couple days.. Alk and DKH are very different and since DKH is a made up term it is better that you have a test kit that not only shows you a good reading but allows you to discern what part of alkalinity needs to be improved.

 

For this I suggest a seachem reefstatus magnesium kit. It will allow you to test for Total Alkalinity, Borate Alkalinity and Carbonate Alkalinity very easily. It is not as hard as it looks. Once you are done you can feel pretty good about your reading and if you need to add carbonates or something else to achieve the results you are looking for. I personally believe this test is better then most others including salifert. I feel I have a better understanding using this kit. Sure, we are not lab technicians, but there just seems to be a good understanding to alkalinity after using this kit.

 

A lot of salts are moving to over borate. Meaning that they are raising the calcium levels in the salt to a point where it drops the alkalinity in the bag. However, when the borate levels are 3 to 5 times NSW out of the bag it help maintain a healthy alk in the long run. I find that seachem reef salt is the best salt I have ever used and I have tried them all. Each week on Sunday I do a 3 gallon water change on my AP12 and things never looked better.

[rhunter513]

salifert

[bdare]

I test for alk quite often as in every couple days.. Alk and DKH are very different and since DKH is a made up term it is better that you have a test kit that not only shows you a good reading but allows you to discern what part of alkalinity needs to be improved.

 

For this I suggest a seachem reefstatus magnesium kit. It will allow you to test for Total Alkalinity, Borate Alkalinity and Carbonate Alkalinity very easily. It is not as hard as it looks. Once you are done you can feel pretty good about your reading and if you need to add carbonates or something else to achieve the results you are looking for. I personally believe this test is better then most others including salifert. I feel I have a better understanding using this kit. Sure, we are not lab technicians, but there just seems to be a good understanding to alkalinity after using this kit.

 

A lot of salts are moving to over borate. Meaning that they are raising the calcium levels in the salt to a point where it drops the alkalinity in the bag. However, when the borate levels are 3 to 5 times NSW out of the bag it help maintain a healthy alk in the long run. I find that seachem reef salt is the best salt I have ever used and I have tried them all. Each week on Sunday I do a 3 gallon water change on my AP12 and things never looked better.

 

This is the worst advise ever. DKH is the German measurement for Alk not a made up term. You also DON'T want a salt high in Borate.

 

Boron and Borate (and pH buffering)

Boron in a Reef Tank (and its effect on pH buffering)

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2002/chem.htm

 

The Seachem Borate Alkalinity Test Kit

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/iss...ne2003/chem.htm

 

 

salifert

 

I specifically advise AGAINST using Salifert Alk kits because of recent bad batches. I use salifert for everything else, but I'd suggest Elos or API for Alk till Salifert gets thier act together. I use LaMotte and API.

[mynd]

This is the worst advise ever. DKH is the German measurement for Alk not a made up term. You also DON'T want a salt high in Borate.

 

Believe half of what you read and more of what you see. I am not saying you WANT a salt high in borate.. I am saying that most salts are starting to add more borate to compensate for lost alkalinity due to high calcium content in the bags.

 

DKH is a made up term.. It gives you no understanding of alk as a whole. There are 3 parts to alkalinity.. TOTAL ALKALINTY, BORATE ALKALINITY and CARBONATE ALKALINITY*... The last one is a what DKH works out to essentially and we are most interested in. Your standard DKH test kits do not compensate for BORATE ALKALINITY which may in fact most of the time be 1 MEQl which is 2.8 DKH.. That means when you do a DKH test kit and you see that your number is an 8 or hopefully a 10 that your real carbonate hardness is probably either a 5.2 or a 7.2 which is LOW.

 

I am saying that using a SEACHEM MAGNESIUM ReefStatus test kits enables you to more specifically know what you should dose... whether it be just carbonates, or something to bump up total alkalinity. NO MATTER what you think about borate, more and more salts are going to start using it to claim higher calcium levels. IT IS THE ONLY way to keep the carbonate alkalinity up since the calcium in the bag is depleting total alkalinity.

 

I don't care what you read where.. don't bash someone until you have your facts straight and understand what is being said.

[dopamine]

API and elos are nice for quick drop by drop dKH. I like LaMotte better for higher resolution when I sit down and test monthly, but use the other two for fast regular checks.

 

 

+1 on the LaMotte

[bdare]

Mynd,

 

Spend some time in the Chemisry Forum over at Reef Central.

 

Ben

[SPS20]

Believe half of what you read and more of what you see. I am not saying you WANT a salt high in borate.. I am saying that most salts are starting to add more borate to compensate for lost alkalinity due to high calcium content in the bags.

 

DKH is a made up term.. It gives you no understanding of alk as a whole. There are 3 parts to alkalinity.. TOTAL ALKALINTY, BORATE ALKALINITY and CARBONATE ALKALINITY*... The last one is a what DKH works out to essentially and we are most interested in. Your standard DKH test kits do not compensate for BORATE ALKALINITY which may in fact most of the time be 1 MEQl which is 2.8 DKH.. That means when you do a DKH test kit and you see that your number is an 8 or hopefully a 10 that your real carbonate hardness is probably either a 5.2 or a 7.2 which is LOW.

 

I am saying that using a SEACHEM MAGNESIUM ReefStatus test kits enables you to more specifically know what you should dose... whether it be just carbonates, or something to bump up total alkalinity. NO MATTER what you think about borate, more and more salts are going to start using it to claim higher calcium levels. IT IS THE ONLY way to keep the carbonate alkalinity up since the calcium in the bag is depleting total alkalinity.

 

I don't care what you read where.. don't bash someone until you have your facts straight and understand what is being said.

 

Alkalinity cannot be so simply broken down into three categories, there is a whole lot more than that going on.

 

Alkalinity is, quite simply, a measure of how much acid has to be added to a liquid before the pH drops below a certain point. In other words, it is a measure of a liquid's buffering capacity against acidity. There are ALOT of different chemicals at play there, and as such, Alk is a useful shorthand measurement to get a general idea of how well your water will resist pH swings.

 

It would behoove you not to try to understand the complete spectrum of reactions involved, as you will inevitably end up oversimplifying a process which really cannot be modeled easily. Just take it for what it is, a measure of dissolved alkaline compounds, measured in terms of their ability to offset dissoved acids.

 

API and Sera both make accurate and extremely simple one-step, one reagent Alk tests. I have used API for decades and never had a problem with it, and Sera is essentially exactly the same test made by another manufacturer.