Help with Red Sea colors

mfaso24 · 08/08/2017, 03:42 PM

I started getting into Red Sea colors and had a question. So I started by slowly raising my levels to where they should be. Potassium started at 370 on both Red Sea and Salifert test kits. After 2 doses of 15ml B (potassium) the Salifert went down to 360 while the Red Sea test kit has gone up to about 390. Does anyone have any information on what's going on? I really like and trust Saliferts test kits, and would prefer to never have to use red seas potassium test kit. I'm sure anyone that's ever used it would understand why.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

bertoni · 08/08/2017, 04:04 PM

All those numbers might be within the error limits of the test kits. How big is the tank? The directions I get say 1 ml per 100 L for a 1.75 ppm rise.

mfaso24 · 08/08/2017, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bertoni

All those numbers might be within the error limits of the test kits. How big is the tank? The directions I get say 1 ml per 100 L for a 1.75 ppm rise.

I have approx 90 gallons of total volume. I dosed 15ml for 75 gallons to be on the safe side.
Was shooting to raise it approx 10ppm per dose as the instructions say no more than 10 is recommended at a time

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

bertoni · 08/08/2017, 07:25 PM

I doubt that any hobbyist test kit can detect a 10 ppm change reliably. I don't think any calcium kit can, for example.

mfaso24 · 08/09/2017, 08:34 AM

Yeah true. I didn't know if maybe red seas additive had some form of potassium that wasn't detectable with Salifert

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

bertoni · 08/09/2017, 01:17 PM

The potassium that the kits are testing is the ionic form in the water, so I would expect them to give very similar results if the kits are working properly. I don't know what the error range for those kits might be, though. The numbers are all very close, though. The change on the Red Sea kit is only about 5% of the first reading.

08/08/2017, 03:42 PM	#1
mfaso24 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Long Island, New York Posts: 800	Help with Red Sea colors I started getting into Red Sea colors and had a question. So I started by slowly raising my levels to where they should be. Potassium started at 370 on both Red Sea and Salifert test kits. After 2 doses of 15ml B (potassium) the Salifert went down to 360 while the Red Sea test kit has gone up to about 390. Does anyone have any information on what's going on? I really like and trust Saliferts test kits, and would prefer to never have to use red seas potassium test kit. I'm sure anyone that's ever used it would understand why. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

08/08/2017, 04:04 PM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	All those numbers might be within the error limits of the test kits. How big is the tank? The directions I get say 1 ml per 100 L for a 1.75 ppm rise. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/08/2017, 07:25 PM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I doubt that any hobbyist test kit can detect a 10 ppm change reliably. I don't think any calcium kit can, for example. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/09/2017, 01:17 PM	#6
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The potassium that the kits are testing is the ionic form in the water, so I would expect them to give very similar results if the kits are working properly. I don't know what the error range for those kits might be, though. The numbers are all very close, though. The change on the Red Sea kit is only about 5% of the first reading. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/09/2017, 08:34 AM	#5
mfaso24 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Long Island, New York Posts: 800	Yeah true. I didn't know if maybe red seas additive had some form of potassium that wasn't detectable with Salifert Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk