Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #370

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #370
From: Craig Bingman <cbingman at netcom_com>
Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 12:11:43 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <199612080839.DAA13494 at looney_actwin.com>


> Does anyone have any experience with the Salifert line of Test Kits? I
> noticed them on the m3 Web Page and they claim to be very accurate. Have
> any Europeans on the list used them?

They are ok, generally quite expensive, but reasonably accurate.  For the 
amount of money that you pay for a Salifert test kit (in the US at least) 
one could often get a Hach kit of substantially higher performance and 
with a larger number of tests.

In particular, Hach tests for the nutrients nitrite, nitrate, phosphorous 
and iron are quite accurate and precise.  The Salifert tests generally 
give about five color panels, and you have to interprolate between them.  
With the Hach color matching engine, you just turn the dial until you get 
a visual match.  You can also dial down and up to see when the color is 
discernably different, and that gives you an error estimate for the 
measurment.

The Salifert total alkalinity test is pretty good.  They also do a number 
of other parameters that are probably not of great concern to freshwater 
aquarists, such as strontium and iodine species.

> From: pwolfen at nmia_com (Paul Wolfenbarger)
> Date: Sun, 08 Dec 1996 00:31:33 GMT
> Subject: [none]

> Just a note as someone who has extensive concrete background.  Use of
> Sodium chloride in ice melting applications is all but banned by every
> state Department Of Transportation (US) that I know of due to its
> destructive nature with concrete.  Since they are the major users of
> this material I would be surprised to find that any company is selling
> anything other than Potassium Chloride as Ice melt.  Can someone in
> canada let me know what is available?  Just curious.

I believe that calcium chloride is used for snow melt purposes much more
than potassium chloride.  Urea is used less frequently, but it tends to be
a hell of a lot easier on roadside plants and the grass next to your
sidewalk.  Since it has a high nitrogen content, there should be concerns
about runoff and eutrophication of waters with urea. 

Craig