Seachem test kits Problems?

[bobimport]

Has anyone had problems with Seachem test kits? I seek info about the copper test kit. Please contact me with any info you have. I got a kit that caused me to doubble dose the system and still tested neg for copper.

 

[TuskFish]

Don't use that test anymore, but I seem to remember that if you are using chelated copper, you need to wait like 20 minutes for test result, as opposed to 20 seconds for ionic copper. Not sure if that helps, but that's about all I remember about their kit.

 

[JennM]

I never liked Seachem's copper test... hard if not impossible to interpret results.

If you're using Cupramine, you can use Red Sea's test kit and you'll get easier to interpret results. I use Cupramine and a Red Sea kit and no problems.

Jenn

 

[brandonberry]

I have had to call Seachem several times in reference to test kits (mainly old reagents) and they have always been more than helpful. You may want to consider calling because they will put you in touch with one of the specialists who, I'm sure will be able to answer your questions about the kit. Were you using a chelated copper product as mentioned above? How old was the kit and was it stored properly?

 

[IconicAquariums]

If you're using it on a commercial system, why not splurge and spend an extra $30 for an accurate/easy Chemetrics kit???

No experience with the Seachem one myself, but i didn't like the Salifert nor Tetra/Red Sea.

 

[vaporize]

Yes, it is well known in the disease circle that seachem copper test kits have some problems in the past. However that was the "older" batch, that information was release at least a year ago, and it was said that the problems were fixed in the later released batches. So in theory the new ones are fine.

 

[bobimport]

well i lost 10k in fish and blew my top at seachem
It took me a week to get an answer on how old it was

 

[dizzy]

Bob,
Blowing your top is never a good way to handle things. Sometimes companies like Seachem replace loses if you ask them in a nice manner. They can possibly turn it into their insurance. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[JeremyR]

joetbs


I"ve never heard of the chemetrics kit.. I looked on their page. 50 bux seems reasonable if it truly is accurate & easy to see the color when you are dealing with thousands of $$ in livestock. I bought a copper meter from hanna once, had horrible luck with it (it even said my RO water had lots of copper) and eventually they took it back and said it didn't work in saltwater which didn't really explain the bad readings in RO.. I think it was just a piece of junk. The seachem kit supposedly works on chelated and non chelated, but some chelated coppers say to run the copper to 2 or 2.5ppm and the seachem isn't even capable of testing that level.

 

[bobimport]

you lose 10K in fish and the related business and see if you remail calm in the face of "oh we had problems with that kit'

 

[IconicAquariums]

joetbs


I"ve never heard of the chemetrics kit.. I looked on their page. 50 bux seems reasonable if it truly is accurate & easy to see the color when you are dealing with thousands of $$ in livestock. I bought a copper meter from hanna once, had horrible luck with it (it even said my RO water had lots of copper) and eventually they took it back and said it didn't work in saltwater which didn't really explain the bad readings in RO.. I think it was just a piece of junk. The seachem kit supposedly works on chelated and non chelated, but some chelated coppers say to run the copper to 2 or 2.5ppm and the seachem isn't even capable of testing that level.

We use the chemetrics tests 3-4 times a week on multiple systems and you can see the color levels slightly changing daily after packouts. The other good thing is that it is almost impossible to screw up the test - and even non-employees could test & get good results.

 

[Vili_Shark]

Bob,
it happened to me as well.
Seachem read zero on their own Cupramine , I decided that the amount of rocks in the system is just not enough to take out all this Cupramine Im dosing, so I went to buy a Merc test ,I guess I was lucky.

 

[jhemdal1]

FWIW: While this won't help with defective test kit reagents, I've found that so many of the chelated copper tests produce color results that I simply cannot discern with my eyes. I set up a series of dilutions, ran the tests and then put the results through a 20 year old Hach DR-2000 spectrophotometer. Now I can dose and "top off" the copper level in quarantine tanks that I'm running Coppersafe in with a level of accuracy that I've never come close to in the past...using just an API single reagent chelated copper test. Without the spectrophotometer - the test results all look pale yellow/brown to my eye. I still use the Hach poryphrin powder pillows for ionic copper treatments....


Jay

 

[JennM]

Sorry for your losses, Bob.

Just curious - what caused the loss? Disease or improper dose of copper? (Too much/too little?)

I had some major issues back in March - not testing/copper related, but a nasty bout of Amyloodinium got us. Cupramine/Red Sea Copper Test took care of it (after bleaching/sterilizing/restarting system).

I quit selling the Seachem copper test (although I think I have a dusty one on a shelf someplace - I should throw it away)... I only carry and use the Red Sea one.

Jenn