New Test Kits.....

tx reef

tx reef

Active Member
I have discovered that the Salifert Alk. test I have been using for the last month (one of the new batches) is way out of wack. I was reading on -- about the bad test kit batches and sure enough, mine was one of them. I kept my alkalinity at 10dkh (or so I thought). I had a couple of friends come over and test my water with their test kits....here are the results (tests that measure in meq have been converted to dkh).........
My Salifert Kit - 10.0
A.P.I. - 6.2
Red Sea - 5.9
Seachem - 6.0
I just ordered a LaMotte alk. test. These are top of the line. I refuse to use Salifert ever again. I will be ordering a LaMotte calcium test very soon.
I am glad I caught this before any real damage was done.
 
newbostonconst

newbostonconst

Member
I have been in this hobby for 8 months now and had 2 test kits go bad.
I had a Seachem Multitest Iodine and Iodide kit go bad. I kept telling me to that I was a little to low so I kept adding iodine. The tank hit the point of no return and crashed. I lost everything except some zoos. Lost ~$350 worth of stuff.
The second kit wasn't so bad. I think it was quicker to figure it out. It was a tetra nitrate kit. The kit kept saying zero, after the crash, so I kept trying to add fish that didn't make it. Lost ~$150
I can now understand why some people get by great with out adding any chems to their tanks. Things are less likely to get screwed up by the test kits. Everything I add I test for like is recommended and I still got screwed.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I pitched a fit about these test kits a while back as I noticed right away that there was a problem with alk kit, one day readings are fine, new kit arrives and I use it the next day and it gives me really whacky readings, then I jumped over on -- and found out other were also having problems. One thing I noticed was that the new dropper top is awefull. The calcium kits are also bad, I've got 3 salifert calcium kits and they all give me different readings and when your dosing your tanks with a 2 part system you need accurate readings.
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TX - I was thinking about switching over to the LaMotte, could you post comparative readings when you kit arrives, kinda $$ but I would think they are worth it.
 
tx reef

tx reef

Active Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
TX - I was thinking about switching over to the LaMotte, could you post comparative readings when you kit arrives, kinda $$ but I would think they are worth it.

I will definately post my readings when I get the test kit in. It should be here Friday......
 
ridomart

ridomart

Member
Has anybody contacted the company? Seems like they should make it right. I know nobody wants to take a chance but mybe they could recall them. How is the dropper different?
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I'll try and describe this as best I can. the new dropper on the dKH kit has this weird habbit of dropping what I call a micro drop right before you squeeze the dropper to dispense the 2 full drops and it seems like the drops come out various sizes. I can take the same test and run it thur 4 times and get 4 different readings, same with the CA kit. The company I purchased my kits from offered to give me a credit for the kits, there is some detailed discussion over on -- about this same subject, not sure if it's a bad batch or bad dispensers all I know is that now I can't trust my salifert kits
As far as I know.
.
Salifert is very aware of this situation, but as far as I know they have not addressed the issue on any forum. Habib, the owner of salifert and several others have tried to blame the problem on calcium levels, refractometers etc, it's actually very interesting to read his responses. He's either away on vacation or offline for a week and there many reports surrounding this issue, it really looks like "They simply don't care", I'm over salifert and will never use them again due to way they have handled this.
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All I know is that with my old kit I get a reading of 10 with new kit and the test performed 10 minutes later with the same water from the same tank I will get a reading of anywhere from 8 to 12
.
Sorry TX, didn't mean to hijack or take over, this subjects been bothering me for several weeks
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
mods - I'm trying to walk a fine line on sharing info on this subject, testing is pretty important stuff so I would advice everyone to checkout --, Scroll down to the Salifert vendor forum and there you will see all the posts regarding this issue
 
andy51632

andy51632

Member
Seachem includes a test sample with everyone of their test kits. I make sure I use this with the first test I use out of the kit. This will tell you how far off it is or if it is dead on. I also check monthly with test sample to make sure my kits are on. I really like this about their product and yes I have found problems with one of their nitrite/nitrate test kits. I sent it back and got a new one. Plus their customer service is great. They have always responded to my e-mails.
Nothing against Lamotte but holy crap their expensive.
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
I was one of the ones on the large discussion on -- (azhorsegal) as my Alk kit was also bad, not knowing it at first and couldn't figure out why my pH was low while my Alk was high. Luckily I figured it out before my tank crashed and I went back to using the RedSea test kit. Not as detailed but at least it gave me accurate readings. I've now learned it's good to check your water with two different test kits and if there is a discrepancy to take it to the lfs and see what they come up with. It has been frustrating but Salifert, from what I understand on --, is trying to resolve the problem. They did pm those of us that had issues and asked for our addresses so they could send us another test kit and report back our results. I have yet to see that test kit in my mail however. I'm not thinking about spending the money on the electronical monitors.
 
G

garychef1

Guest
what was the batch of the test kit? for KH-ind and KH? I think my batch is reading high as well. My KH-ind batch is 0407-H and my KH batch is 0207-D. Does anyone know if it is a bad batch?
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
Originally Posted by Garychef1
what was the batch of the test kit? for KH-ind and KH? I think my batch is reading high as well. My KH-ind batch is 0407-H and my KH batch is 0207-D. Does anyone know if it is a bad batch?
There were different batches that were effected. Check on -- and you might find your batch is one of the ones named.
 
tx reef

tx reef

Active Member
Here are the test results..........
I was very precise with these and did them each 3 times and am posting the average.
Salifert - 12.2
A.P.I. - 8.2
Red Sea - 8.0
Seachem - 8.0
And now for my new LaMotte kit..................8.0!!!!!!!!!
The cheaper tests agree with the LaMotte test. I would tend to believe that these test kits (except for the Salifert) are all good tests, though from what I read LaMotte tests are extremely consistent.
I will never buy Salifert again. I have too much money invested in my corals to have everything crash from a crap test.
 
zman1

zman1

Active Member
The Lamotte Alk kit is very easy to use, that is what I prefer. Also the refill kits are priced right.
I would recommend against the Lamotte Ca kit. It's harder than heck to use. You have to dilute the sample with distilled (I used RO) water. The kit was designed for freshwater and adapted for salt. Stick with Salifert CA kit.
I use the Lamotted NO3-N kit and like it better than Salifert. It's pricey
 
tx reef

tx reef

Active Member
I guess I should have specified that I will never buy a Salifert Alk. test again. From my understanding, their calcium test is good. I am going to have one of my friends test my calcium tomorrow (they all use A.P.I. for calcium) so I can compare the results with the Salifert kit.
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
TX thanks for the follow up with the readings. I went ahead and ordered the LaMotte kits.
I would check into the salifert ca kits, I have 2 that are bad. I ordered one and was getting odd readings and then ordered another and it also gave me really strange, random readings. I know this because I still had a few test available from the old kit, I did 3 side by side tests with all 3 calcium kits and the old kit had the same readings every time, the other two were all over the place.
 
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