Elos or Salifert
- Thread starter rebelson
- Start date
- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
That is a up in the air thing so to speak. Both Jesse from Elos and Habib from Salifert are personnel friends of mime. I had Jesse send all their kits to ENC Labs for verification and all came back very good. I might add this was/is not cheap for Elso to do this and to continue to do this. Latley, Habib has re-entered the hobby afte being sick for the last couple of years. He has now sent his test kit for testing to Millero Labs, at the famous Rosenstiel School of Ocean and Atmospheric Science. This is a lab above ENC. Dr . Frank Millero, is the worlds leading chemical oceanographer. His lab is probably the moust undisputed lab for accruacy. He is also the Editor of the Journal of Marine Chemistry.
ENC Labs
http://www.enclabs.com/
Frank Millero
Publications
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/divs/mac/faculty/fmillero/fmillero-pubs.html
Website
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/divs/mac/faculty/fmillero/fmillero.html
So, with out seeing side by side lab tests it is hard to say which is the best. However, I will lean to Salifert, as Habib is a full blown Chemist and those at Elos are not. He is also making adjustments on his kits/ Millero. But Elos, like LaMotte are fine test kits. On issue to look at is that all Salifert are directed towards seawater and many others are not. Seawater does have effect on many tests, to include meters. This is what we call the "salt affect error ".
ENC Labs
http://www.enclabs.com/
Frank Millero
Publications
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/divs/mac/faculty/fmillero/fmillero-pubs.html
Website
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/divs/mac/faculty/fmillero/fmillero.html
So, with out seeing side by side lab tests it is hard to say which is the best. However, I will lean to Salifert, as Habib is a full blown Chemist and those at Elos are not. He is also making adjustments on his kits/ Millero. But Elos, like LaMotte are fine test kits. On issue to look at is that all Salifert are directed towards seawater and many others are not. Seawater does have effect on many tests, to include meters. This is what we call the "salt affect error ".
- Location
- Far Rockaway
So why is salfirte kh kit off from elos kh kit alot off
- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
We have had long debates on this on the RC chem forum. First, measuring the Alk of tank water and getting accurate readings is not the same as taking a std and measuring its Alk or a virgin sample of seawater. The Salifert is more aimed at measuring the Alk of aquarium water. One issue is the acid titration. Many kits use Sulfuric acid which is a rather poor idea in seawater, for as you approach the pH End-Point Sulfate, which there is allot of in seawater @ 2700 ppm, the sulfate starts to give false Alk readings. So, Hydrochloric Acid is a better choice which the Salifert uses and the Elos does not, nor sulfuric acid. The plankton count is also also an issue, as it can account for up to 3 dKH of the Alk. There is also user error and the Elos is in .5 dKH increments. User error has allot to do with test kits.
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DrHarryLopez
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Ozone Park, Queens
+1 Salifert Ca, Alk, Mg
I also test Phos
I'd test nitrate n phosphates if your planning SPS
I also test Phos
I'd test nitrate n phosphates if your planning SPS
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
i personally like SERA. the SERA complete test kit is around 50 bucks for everything except Magnesium.
- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
Elos
Hello Boomer. Just to clarify, I am not a chemist but I can assure you that Elos kits are produced in a lab by a well qualified group of full blown chemists
That means nothing unless backed up by a lab and is why I had Jesse send all your kits to ENC Labs.
Hello Boomer. Just to clarify, I am not a chemist but I can assure you that Elos kits are produced in a lab by a well qualified group of full blown chemists
That means nothing unless backed up by a lab and is why I had Jesse send all your kits to ENC Labs.
Boomer this is me, Jesse. Hopefully what I say means something
I was simply correcting your statement,"....However, I will lean to Salifert, as Habib is a full blown Chemist and those at Elos are not."
As you mentioned in a prior post you asked if I would have ENC check our labs results and they did/have and the results have been good and in line with our lab and the other independent lab(s) we use to ensure we are producing a reliable product.
- Location
- Far Rockaway
Ok not a Chemist but bought a 4 tests kits. 1- elos 2- kent marin 3- Fauna Marin and 4- Salifert. All alk test kits . This was my results remember all new kits not expired test one Elos test was 8.5 dkh test 2 kent marin same 8.5 dkh test 3 fauna marin 9.0 dkh test 4 salifert kh 13.5 dkh . Tested more then once with same resultes. If you go on other forums you will see alot of people are not using salifert kh any more becuase there giving false readings so alot of you that use salifert are probably low on dkh and dont now it.
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- Location
- Duluth, Minnesota
Jesse
Boomer this is me
Hi Jesse. I did not know it was you but thought it is was some rep other than you
Batt
If you go on other forums you will see allot of people are not using salifert kh any more because there giving false readings
That means nothing or is often misunderstood. Most kits do NOT adjust for seawater Salinity and read to low, as they are based on FW and not Seawater. Both myself, Randy Holmes Farley and Habib have pointed this out countless times. Salifert's are seawater adjusted. It is the other kits that give false low readings. Second, Alk is not as easy to test as many think. There is allot of user error involved and Salifert's are more prone to user error, as it is a more precise method. Lastly, there is doubt on any of these kits unless sent to a lab that FULLY understands seawater Alk testing. Until somebody wants to pay for this, all are in doubt. Just because 2 kits or even 4 kits give say 8 dKH and another gives 11 dKH DOES NOT mean those with 8 DKH are correct. You will see the same thing with Refracts out of the box or those cal in RO/DI water, as most are salt water refracts but a couple out there are seawater refracts and they are not the same. In general, most Alk kits other than the salifert read at least 10 % to low and I will be the first to say the Salifert maybe reades to high. *IF I go buy your reading, then 13.5 - 1.35 = 12.15 dKH, is what those other kits should read but do not.
vs
8.5 kDH = 9.35 dKH
9 dKH = 9.9 dKH
Even if we round these off to 10 dKH vs 12 dKH that is allot, unless YOU have allot of user error in your Salifert testing.
Boomer this is me
Hi Jesse. I did not know it was you but thought it is was some rep other than you
Batt
If you go on other forums you will see allot of people are not using salifert kh any more because there giving false readings
That means nothing or is often misunderstood. Most kits do NOT adjust for seawater Salinity and read to low, as they are based on FW and not Seawater. Both myself, Randy Holmes Farley and Habib have pointed this out countless times. Salifert's are seawater adjusted. It is the other kits that give false low readings. Second, Alk is not as easy to test as many think. There is allot of user error involved and Salifert's are more prone to user error, as it is a more precise method. Lastly, there is doubt on any of these kits unless sent to a lab that FULLY understands seawater Alk testing. Until somebody wants to pay for this, all are in doubt. Just because 2 kits or even 4 kits give say 8 dKH and another gives 11 dKH DOES NOT mean those with 8 DKH are correct. You will see the same thing with Refracts out of the box or those cal in RO/DI water, as most are salt water refracts but a couple out there are seawater refracts and they are not the same. In general, most Alk kits other than the salifert read at least 10 % to low and I will be the first to say the Salifert maybe reades to high. *IF I go buy your reading, then 13.5 - 1.35 = 12.15 dKH, is what those other kits should read but do not.
vs
8.5 kDH = 9.35 dKH
9 dKH = 9.9 dKH
Even if we round these off to 10 dKH vs 12 dKH that is allot, unless YOU have allot of user error in your Salifert testing.
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