Salifert Test Questions

[jejton]

Ok so I did a full water parameter test yesterday to verify that my cycle is finished. The numbers are:

Temp - 80 C
SG - 1.024
pH - 8.0
NO3 - 25 ppm ( best estimate as the shades of pink are the chart are very hard to distinguish when you are comparing two adjacent ones )
Amm - 0 ppm
NO2 - 0 ppm
Ca - 300 or 200
Alk - 12.2/4.34 or 8.6/3.09
Mg - 1200 or 840

Ok so two questions-
1.) Does it look as if my cycle is finished? I think it is. So what do I do - water change or add cleanup crew. The algae cycle is underway as I had a bloom of brown film ( which I assume was diatoms ) and that has somewhat subsided and now there is stringy/clumpy algae growing.

2.) The test kits are Salifert. The Ca, Alk and Mg tests all use a syringe with a fine tip to do titrations. The instructions state there will be a small air bubble under the plunger due to the air in the needle, but that it should be disregarded and wont affect the results. The thing is in all my syringes, the bubble was .2 ml ( the whole syringe is 1.0 ml ) and when I ignored it, I got the much lower results, but when I factored that in ( meaning started calculating using the measurment at which the water actually started ) I got higher results. Which one is correct? I use IO Reef Crystals, aragonite DSB and no livestock so I can't imagine anything absorbing the Ca.

 

[Teddy]

how long has the tank been cycling?

cleanup clew would be the next thing to add to the tank, try a few for now and then increase it if needed,

 

[meschaefer]

yes, you absolutely ignore the bubble. The bubble represents the added amount of fluid in the tip.

Do the test again. Make sure that you slowly draw the regent into the syringe and that tip is always submerged or you risk pulling more air into the syringe than you are supposed to.

Cycle is almost over, nitrates will drop to zero. But you could start slowly adding livestock at this point. repeat...slowly add livestock.

 

[jejton]

Matt - I repeated a couple of those tests twice precisely because I doubted my results. I will try again tomorrow if I have time. I wish the instructions were not so dummified and actually gave a chart listing the volume of reagent used and not readings exactly for this reason.

Teddy - Without going back to my tank thread I believe water was added in the first week of March.

 

[EmilyT]

when they say ignore the bubble, it means to read it as if the bubble was filled with fluid and read at the black line of the moving part of the syringe

 

[jejton]

Emily - I understood it like that but when I did that it made my readings much lower than I expected, considering that I dont have anything in my tank which should lower calcium, magnesium or alkalinity.

 

[masterswimmer]

yes, you absolutely ignore the bubble. The bubble represents the added amount of fluid in the tip.

Do the test again. Make sure that you slowly draw the regent into the syringe and that tip is always submerged or you risk pulling more air into the syringe than you are supposed to.

Cycle is almost over, nitrates will drop to zero. But you could start slowly adding livestock at this point. repeat...slowly add livestock.

Ditto.

IO salt is historically low in Ca and Mg. That's where the two part (Ca & Alk) dosing comes in to play + Mg. Guess that makes it three part.

Remember, ignore the bubble in the removable tip and read the black line on the plunger. It is absolutely confusing in the beginning, but when you learn the correct way, believe it or not, it makes sense and is easy to repeat.

CUC is next. I think your cycle is complete too. BTW, I don't think your nitrates will read zero like some say, < .20 is acceptable.

suhwimmer

 

[meschaefer]

. I wish the instructions were not so dummified and actually gave a chart listing the volume of reagent used and not readings exactly for this reason.

The chart is based on the amount of reagent you don't use, it lists the amount of reagent you have left in the syringe The syringe is 1ml, then you add on a tip that has volume. When you start the titration, the bubble represents the volume of the tip. If you ignore the bubble, the bottom of the plunger equals the amount left in the syringe.

 

[jejton]

I did read it as you guys instruct and that is why i have two readings for those tests - the lower one is when I didnt factor in the bubble. So i guess those are the correct ones. I've been looking for the ingredients for homemade two-part as per the RC article but cant find them anywhere ( even in the middle of winter ).

Russ- I will PM you a photo of my sump area and try to explain how I'm trying to do thet manifold.

 

[Killerdrgn]

Yeah dowflake is really not recommended anymore as they don't take out the bromine anymore. All Dow calcium chloride products now include bromine that can build up in your system, though I don't believe there have been any studies saying elevated bromine levels are bad. But it's just better to err in the side of caution.