New testing equipment for me :-)

[jokael]

I didn’t want to jinx it, but now I have delivery confirmed for tomorrow…..
Being frustrated with not having a proper testing kit, I took the plunge and ordered one from the Big US
The K-2006 cannot be shipped overseas, so I went for the K-2009 instead (without the TA and CH reagents), but with additional R-0013 (16 oz) and R-0871 (2 oz)
Even for legal imports, there is a risk of additional import taxes (which could be sky-high), but according to my son, when ordering from Amazon import taxes are included. Something I didn’t know when placing the order, but that explains the fast shipment.
So from tomorrow, I can have exact knowledge of my values and work towards a really TFP
K-2009

 

[ajw22]

Do you have a way to measure your TA?

 

[jokael]

Do you have a way to measure your TA?

Only strips. My photometer doesn’t do that.

 

[mgtfp]

Well done!

For TA and CH you can try aquarium kits.

For CH for example this one:

sera calcium-Test (Ca) | sera

sera calcium-Test - Water test for aquariums ✔ determine the calcium level in water ✔ extremely precise in steps of 20 mg/l (ppm) ✔Discover now!

www.sera.de

It will give you the Ca content in mg Ca per litre which you'll need to multiply with 2.5 to convert it to mg CaCO3 per litre which is "our" ppm for CH.

For TA you can try this one:

sera kH-Test | sera

sera kH-Test - Water test for aquariums ✔ test aquarium water in an uncomplicated way ✔ check carbonate hardness ✔ monitor water parameters ✔ Find out more now!

www.sera.de

It tells you that it tests Carbonate Hardness, but that's only because there are no other types of Alkalinity in aquariums, in a pool it will give you Total Alkalinity, including Alkalinity contributions from CYA and Borates (if present), in the same way that the Taylor TA test does. It will give you Alkalinity in dKH which you'll have to multiply with 17.9 to convert it to mg CaCO3 per litre (ppm).

You might want to use 10ml samples instead of 5ml samples to get similar resolutions than the Taylor tests.

Only problem is that you'll need some Thiosulfate (like Taylor R-0007) with the TA test (CH test should be fine without) to remove the chlorine which would bleach the indicator (chlorine is not an issue in aquariums).

Thiosulfate is sold for hikers to remove chlorine after using disinfection tablets, for example this one here:

Amazon.de

I believe this is quite powerful and probably higher concentrated (seems to be 6%) than Taylor's R-0007. I guess it would be easy to dilute with distilled water, but I don't know the concentration of R-0007. The datasheet says that 3 drops are required to dechlorinate 1 litre of water, so for 10ml sample sizes you'll want something like a 10:1000 dilution.

 

[jokael]

Well done!

For TA and CH you can try aquarium kits.

For CH for example this one:

sera calcium-Test (Ca) | sera

sera calcium-Test - Water test for aquariums ✔ determine the calcium level in water ✔ extremely precise in steps of 20 mg/l (ppm) ✔Discover now!

www.sera.de

It will give you the Ca content in mg Ca per litre which you'll need to multiply with 2.5 to convert it to mg CaCO3 per litre which is "our" ppm for CH.

For TA you can try this one:

sera kH-Test | sera

sera kH-Test - Water test for aquariums ✔ test aquarium water in an uncomplicated way ✔ check carbonate hardness ✔ monitor water parameters ✔ Find out more now!

www.sera.de

It tells you that it tests Carbonate Hardness, but that's only because there are no other types of Alkalinity in aquariums, in a pool it will give you Total Alkalinity, including Alkalinity contributions from CYA and Borates (if present), in the same way that the Taylor TA test does. It will give you Alkalinity in dKH which you'll have to multiply with 17.9 to convert it to mg CaCO3 per litre (ppm).

You might want to use 10ml samples instead of 5ml samples to get similar resolutions than the Taylor tests.

Only problem is that you'll need some Thiosulfate (like Taylor R-0007) with the TA test (CH test should be fine without) to remove the chlorine which would bleach the indicator (chlorine is not an issue in aquariums).

Thiosulfate is sold for hikers to remove chlorine after using disinfection tablets, for example this one here:

Amazon.de

I believe this is quite powerful and probably higher concentrated (seems to be 6%) than Taylor's R-0007. I guess it would be easy to dilute with distilled water, but I don't know the concentration of R-0007. The datasheet says that 3 drops are required to dechlorinate 1 litre of water, so for 10ml sample sizes you'll want something like a 10:1000 dilution.

Thanks so much for the detailed tips
R-0007 is one of the reagents that cannot be shipped to here, so it’s great to know that an alternative is possible.
I will get them ordered right away

 

[jakeblat]

@jokael Could you share where you ordered the K-2009 test kit from? I'm interested to find out if I can get hold of it in the UK.

 

[jokael]

@jokael Could you share where you ordered the K-2009 test kit from? I'm interested to find out if I can get hold of it in the UK.

I bought it on Amazon, but it looks like it’s sold out - the link doesn’t work.
But you can also get the K1515a for the chlorine and buy the cya testing stuff separately.

 

[mgtfp]

I often just buy the 2oz bottle of R-0871 and a container desperately on Amazon. Sometimes they get offered in a bundle. And a small 0.75oz bottle of R-0003.