[AtlantisVermont]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
My tank has been set up since March '07, so far so good. Everything I have in my tank is listed below. I've been testing my water quality daily since putting up the tank and have been doing it the same way at the same time. However this is where my blonde kicks in and I think I may have been testing my ALK/Kh and Calcium incorrectly (the whole time!). I have Salifert test kits and have not been using the pin pointed dropper attachment but rather just using the syringe. I noticed last night that when I do use the pin pointed dropper attachment my numbers come out WAY differently. Have I totally been wasting my time testing this way? I would've thought that whether I sued the pin poointed dropper or not the chemical balance would've been the same, because lets face it... I'm not using a different amount of chemicals to get the test completed. The reason I decided not to use the pin pointed dropper theory was because there seemed to be way too much air in the syringe. I guess my question is: Do I absolutely need ot use that pin pointed ropper thing? And why would the results be way off when using it and when not if the chemical composition is no different? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[rlcline76]

The test kits say that the little bit of air does not matter. I have had more chemistry in my lifetime than I care to talk about, but precision is everything otherwise your results can be way off. My concerns are that given the larger size drops, you are not giving enough swirls or that you could be overshooting and giving yourself higher readings in the end.

[AtlantisVermont]

No no, when I go to drop the chemical into the test tube I do use the pin pointed dropper to add it and I do swirl (if you will) after each drop. So the only deviation I've made from the destructions is the pin pointed dropper attachment to draw the chemical into the syringe.

[rlcline76]

I'd say leave it with the air, as the instructions say. What are your deviations between the 2 methods?

[AtlantisVermont]

The difference is the air in the tube actually. The chemical amouint is the same. Let's say when there's no air my ALK/Kh is 9.0/3.31 and my calcium is 440.... With the air the ALK/Kh is 5 something/2.something and my calcium is 390 (ish)... So there is a BIG difference, but the actual chemical used is the same, the only difference is the reading in the numbers. When I fill the syringe using the pin pointed dropper attachment there is about 2ml of air in the syringe, without the pin dropper it's almost dead on to the 1.0 line.

[AtlantisVermont]

Ok, yeah went to the LFS (wicked cool folks by the way Milton Mini Reef) and sure enough I was way the heck off. So "Bruce" straightened me out, got me back on track and luckily I planned ahead so I have the things I need to combat my stupidity. Thank you all for your replies and help.