Test Kit Instructions

[Callie84]

Hi guys!

I have an Aqua One (pro drop) Carbonate Hardness (kH) test kit. I want to test my tank but i have lost the instructions .
Does anyone at all on this forum own this test? I have posted in beginners section but got no replys. Is AquaOne only sold in Australia or something?
I have tried their website but it didnt help.

I didnt really want to spend more money on another test as i have only used this one once. (and that $25 could be put to better use ie. more fish )
If anyone can help me it would be much appriciated
Thanks.

 

[Callie84]

Hi guys!

I have an Aqua One (pro drop) Carbonate Hardness (kH) test kit. I want to test my tank but i have lost the instructions .
Does anyone at all on this forum own this test? I have posted in beginners section but got no replys. Is AquaOne only sold in Australia or something?
I have tried their website but it didnt help.

I didnt really want to spend more money on another test as i have only used this one once. (and that $25 could be put to better use ie. more fish )
If anyone can help me it would be much appriciated
Thanks.

 

[the_faze]

I'm sorry but being in Canada I have no access to Aqua One products, hence I do not have the instructions for you.

I'm curious if you have tried contacting Aqua One and asking them if they would mail or potentially email you a copy of the instructions for the test kit. Another option would be to find a friend or even talk to the people at your LFS, one of them may be willing to let you borrow their instructions so that you can scan/color copy them.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bignose]

Since no one else answered, I'm going it a try. Every hardness test I have seen is a tritration-type test. What that means is instead of comparing the color value when mixed with the water with a chart, you are going to add drops until a color change occurs. After putting a drop or two in the vial, the water is probably one color, let's call it color 1. You are going to keep adding test solution, one drop at a time, and shake the vial. Drop, shake. Drop, shake. Soon, you shoud notice that immediately after putting a drop in, the drop is a different color than color 1. This is color 2. But, after shaking the entire vial goes to back to color 1. At this point you are getting close. Eventually, one time after you add a drop and shake, the entire vial will be color 2. That means the test is done. The total number of drops you added to the vial tells you how high the hardness of the water is.

This is where you really do need the instructions. Because without them, you don't know what one drop of solution means. In my test kit, one drop means 1 degree of hardness. But yours may mean something else. If you don't find out, you will have a relative measure of your hardness. I.e. if your tap water is 10 drops, and your tank is 7 drops, then you know that the tank water has used some of its KH buffering capability. But, you won't know the numbers.

If you go back to the LFS, they probably ought to be able to tell you the units. If you call the company's customer support, they ought to be able to tell you the units, too. Maybe even the test bottle tells you the units.

oh, and p.s. sometimes you have to be a bit patient. The time between your first and second posts was dead in the middle of the night in the U.S. and right in the middle of the working day in the UK. Unfortunately for Austrailians, the forum is not always going to be able to respond immediately, so sometimes you just gotta be patient.