I'm stumped ...

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by LJC6780, Mar 1, 2017.

  1. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Yes except I take more time to make sure I'm being precise and actually time the 30 and 10 seconds rather than just counting quickly. I'm usually testing within a few hours but I have not been able to test at the exact same time each day.
     
    Deton8it likes this.
  2. Have you gotten any useful replies on reef2reef?
     
    LJC6780 likes this.
  3. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Just everyone telling me it's error. Not sure if they mean user error or test error. I can't help but take it personally though. I can't get any more precise unless I weigh the granules in the second step! And I don't have a scale that sensitive.

    I did a 10 gallon water change today to get my nitrates down. They were climbing up around 30-40. Everything is seeming happier except 1 acan. It's still somewhat withdrawn. My Duncan is sprouting a new head though!

    I also got my new light bulbs for the cube today. When I changed them out the old ones seemed sort of burned up at the ends and the tank looks so much better so I know that had to be part of the unhappy problem. Hopefully they will all respond well to the lighting change.

    Mag was down to 1185 when I tested after the water change. I think I'll start dosing again! I got some 2 little fishies supplement that is supposedly both forms of mg but it doesn't say it on the bottle so I guess it said it on the web site. I gave it a dose so we will see what it says tomorrow.
     
    Botheboss likes this.
  4. Deton8it

    Deton8it President Staff Member

    I assume they are saying error because it is so odd of a problem. Normally it is operator error. That error is either drawing the reagent out wrong vs what is in the video. They draw it out so the liquid shows the 1 ml not the plunger. Or, reading the test wrong at the end. Or both. That is why I posted the video. It was nothing personal, I was just going with the most logical problem. I am truly stumped. Bring some of your water to a meeting and I will take a little home and test it.
     
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  5. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    I plan to make the next meeting ... I can do that! I probably just need to order a new test and see what's up. Oh, something else that is odd, and hard to screw up, my calcium was holding steady at 480 and all of the sudden, without doing a water change or adding calcium, it jumped up to 500 and has stayed there. Again, I use a syringe to measure exactly 5ml and shake between drops. It's an API test. I do it the same way each time. I don't know why it would suddenly go up. Well unless somehow if the pH drops and dissolves more of the crushed coral into the water column. I'm actually not really sure how it all works.
     
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  6. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    I'll bring my test kits to the meeting. Then at least you know whether to trust yours or not. I have not heard anything good about the API calcium. I do use the API for ammonia and found it to be pretty reliable though.
     
  7. Botheboss

    Botheboss Director-At Large

    I have made that mistake before with the plunger lol
     
    Deton8it and LJC6780 like this.
  8. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Mine always says what I estimate to be about 0.1 for ammonia. I never get a true zero reading.
     

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