help on sera Kh and JBL co2 test kit

[stmoo]

bro out there...

anyone using the sera KH test kit and JBL permanent Co2 plus ph.
cos i have them and long time never use it, now want to start using it
but i lost all the user guide line and the colour scale for both testkit.

anyone have the picture of the colour scale to share.

for the sera KH test kit. all i know is 5ml of tank water but dun know how many drop to put and what is the colour chart like,

[dc88]

I happen to use the same outfit.

For Sera KH it is 5ml water and then apply the agent drop by drop till it turns from blue to yellow and count the total drops = degree KH. The color change is quite distinct so you need not have a color chart to gauge.

For JBL CO2 test kit, it is 1ml water in the fixture and 3 drops of the agent. I don't bother the precise color so long it is not blue or yellow. Usually it is in the light green to dark green range. If the green get darker its time to renew my DIY CO2 brewing.

[alanyeo99]

Stmoo, How long is your definition of "long time never use it"? All test kits have relatively short shelf-life and also depend on storage condition.

[stmoo]

I happen to use the same outfit.

For Sera KH it is 5ml water and then apply the agent drop by drop till it turns from blue to yellow and count the total drops = degree KH. The color change is quite distinct so you need not have a color chart to gauge.

For JBL CO2 test kit, it is 1ml water in the fixture and 3 drops of the agent. I don't bother the precise color so long it is not blue or yellow. Usually it is in the light green to dark green range. If the green get darker its time to renew my DIY CO2 brewing.

humm.... for the Sera KH test kit i try last nite.
my first drop it turn to blue so do i keep adding it till it turn yellow?
or once it turn blue mean that my KH is 1degree?


its has being in my store for 1yr. should be ok rite.

[dc88]

humm.... for the Sera KH test kit i try last nite.
my first drop it turn to blue so do i keep adding it till it turn yellow?
or once it turn blue mean that my KH is 1degree?

its has being in my store for 1yr. should be ok rite.

First drop will turn blue and continue drop by drop till it turns yellow. Count all drops include the first and last = degree KH. See what reading you get.

[grey_fox]

For the Sera KH kit, it'll be blue first, green then yellow (final reading).

[dc88]

For the Sera KH kit, it'll be blue first, green then yellow (final reading).

Interesting that I sometime didnot notice the green phase, may be something to do with my color vision.
But yellow is definitely easy to tell.

One problem with Sera KH testkit which I find frustrated is that it get bubbles easily, often when squeezing out a drop come out with bubble attached to it so I am not sure that is still a full drop. So I just aim for roughly more than 4 KH.

[stmoo]

First drop will turn blue and continue drop by drop till it turns yellow. Count all drops include the first and last = degree KH. See what reading you get.

thanks bro,

i did the test and after 4 drop , it turn to yellow.
so that mean its 4degree kh.

[GaspingGurami]

i did the test and after 4 drop , it turn to yellow.
so that mean its 4degree kh:

Correct. Now, since you've got an opened bottle that is a year old, I'd suggest you use it up quickly before it expires. Here's a way:

1) Use 10ml of tank water instead of 5ml
2) count the number of drops till it changes from blue to yellow.
3) divide the number counted to get a better resolution figure (yah, the bubble irritatingly forms in the nipple of Sera's bottle, so this reduces the inaccuracy)
4) example, you count 9 drops and the test turns yellow. Divided by 2, you get 4.5 dKH.

Why need such accuracy? Well IMO, when you have soft water below 4dKH it's not critical to get really accurate readings. But if your water is highly buffered due to some rock or coral above 8dKH, 1 degree difference can mean a great amount more od CO2.

But since most of our water is in the 2-5 degree range, this method serves as a quicker method to use up your testkit at double the speed so you don't feel so "sayang" that your testkit expired without using it up

[stmoo]

thanks to all of you for your advice.