Red Sea Brand Kits, Good or Bad?

[Cuttlecute]

I purchased a Red Sea Magnesium Test Kit and a friend of mine is knocking their accuracy, even though neither he himself, nor anyone he knows of has ever done any scientific comparison with any other brand. So my question is this; Does Red Sea really live up to all the bad reviews some people give them or are their test kits just as reliable as other brands? Anyone have any experience concerning this? Thanks for your time everyone.

[Joshsmit56001]

I like aquarium pharm. better

[mg426]

Originally posted by Cuttlecute
I purchased a Red Sea Magnesium Test Kit and a friend of mine is knocking their accuracy, even though neither he himself, nor anyone he knows of has ever done any scientific comparison with any other brand. So my question is this; Does Red Sea really live up to all the bad reviews some people give them or are their test kits just as reliable as other brands? Anyone have any experience concerning this? Thanks for your time everyone.

IMO,IME they are hands down the absolute worst kit I have ever used.

[pusanpa]

I had a Mag test by red sea. Impossible to read correct MAG test IME.
Salifert is much better for MAG.

[skriz]

The problem with most test kits are the user. You have to perform the test very carefully in order to get accurate results. The correct way to drop a droplet is to hold the dropper upside down (not sideways) and let it form a complete droplet; anything else will throw off your numbers.

Reading the test is another issue. Judging the colours can be close to impossible.

Without something concrete to compare the results to, it's impossible to determine that a certain brand is more accurate than another. You would need a solution that had a known Mg level and compare the kits to that. As far as I know, nobody has this.

I think the red sea only reads to 1200 right? So, if your Mg levels are higher, the kit's worthless.

[hyperfocal]

I tried the Red Sea Mg kit back when Salifert's Mg kit was hard to find. It's the worst test kit I've ever tried -- it was difficult to spot the point at which the color changed, and it was impossible to get repeatable, reliable results. I've since switched to Elos kits across the board and am very pleased with them.

[Cuttlecute]

Originally posted by mg426
IMO,IME they are hands down the absolute worst kit I have ever used.

Could you elaborate a bit on why they are the worst kit you ever used? Just stating they are the worst isn't helping me much.

[mg426]

Lets see its been a while but here goes. Nitrate kits 3 of them tested 0 for nitrates. I thought all was well untill my brother asked me to test his 55 gallon tank with 2 ten inch Oscars. I tested his water that actually stunk and the kits read zero. 3 of them. I got another brand(quick test or something) and measured off the scale nitrate. I then got a Salifert kit. It took a while and in the meantime my Bro cleaned up his tank.Massive water changes. I still measured 50PPM nitrates with any kit but the redsea. AS for Ca. kits they only read in 50 PPM increments and were off by over 100PPM. Mabe someone has good luck with them But I sure did not.

[OwenInAZ]

Originally posted by skriz
The problem with most test kits are the user. You have to perform the test very carefully in order to get accurate results. The correct way to drop a droplet is to hold the dropper upside down (not sideways) and let it form a complete droplet; anything else will throw off your numbers.

Reading the test is another issue. Judging the colours can be close to impossible.

Without something concrete to compare the results to, it's impossible to determine that a certain brand is more accurate than another. You would need a solution that had a known Mg level and compare the kits to that. As far as I know, nobody has this.

I think the red sea only reads to 1200 right? So, if your Mg levels are higher, the kit's worthless.

They all use the same or similar chemicals, so people saying OMGZORZ this kit is so worthless but this kit is the bomb.com! are another example of anecdotes reaching the level of Gospel truth in this hobby Ask them how they know it's worthless -- side by side comparison with brand new kits at the same time as other kits with a known standard solution, or just because they couldn't get an old kit with expired reagents to work right?

The kit is fine, as mentioned above you have to do the droplets correctly. I have the Red Sea Mag kit, and it works well. Remember that you read volume from the bottom of the meniscus (the curved top of the liquid) for accurate volumes.

The booklet only tells you how much Mg there is until 1200, but a little algebra and you can extend the chart higher

[Cuttlecute]

Thanks for all of your help everyone, it was much appreciated