I have been adding more SPS to my tank lately which has made me pay much more attention to my ALK numbers, testing almost daily with a Hanna checker. The past few weeks my numbers have been much lower than normal, in the 7's. So I just figured it was due to adding more SPS and they were growing and I needed to increase the dosing on my display, and I also added a Kalk drip to my frag tank (2 separate systems). Well tonight the strangest thing happened. I tested my frag tank first using the last of a reagent bottle and it tested at 7.78. I came downstairs and tested my display tank with a brand new reagent bottle and it tested 10.08, after testing 7.56 last night with the older reagent! That was obviously a little fishy, so I went back upstairs and tested the frag tank water again with the new reagent and it tested 9.63...literally 10 minutes after the first test. So obviously something is up with the reagents, right?!
Do Hanna Alk reagents go bad?
- Thread starter bwilliby
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I have had issues with my alk checker itself and then if finely died, the regent can go bad under several conditions but so can any product you use, that's why I usually use another test even if it's just a cheap api kit as a back up.
I don't run down the numbers but is good to know if you are with in a tolerable limit.
I don't run down the numbers but is good to know if you are with in a tolerable limit.
Yup. I've had the same situation happen from time to time, usually towards the end of the bottle. I always keep a new bottle around in case I get a really low Alk test result back to back.
Yeah, i try not to be a number chaser either. I was just looking for consistency since i have read that wild alk swings can cause rtn for sps. I was getting consistency, just consistently low when apparently it wasn't really the case. Kind of scary. Good idea to have a different one to confirm any abnormal results.
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Yes, i guess i have been on the tail end of that bottle but looking at my log i probably ran 20 tests between the 2 tanks that were low so its not like it was only the last few tests. I will follow your advice to always have a spare bottle. Thanks!
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Your welcome!
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They do. I use Red Sea and the Alk reagent was bad. I emailed them and they sent me a new bottle.
Took your advice and emailed them and they are sending me some. Thanks!
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I am questioning red sea also. I received the new reagent last night and it had the same lot and exp of the last one. Both are hard to read. Light blue to light pink. Though to tell when to stop adding drops. I sent them another note and asked for one from a different lot so we will see.
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1055, exp 0118
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