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SeaChem Iron Test

Hoa Nguyen <nguyenh at nosc_mil> wrote:

>I just bought a Seachem Iron test kit yesterday.  It came with a Reference
>Solution of 0.5 ppm iron.  The problem was, neither the reference solution
>nor my aquarium water gave the purpleish results of the test comparison
>strip.  Both gave various shades of orange (the reference solution's
>result was some what purple if you really try to imagine it, but mainly
>orange).

>Does anyone have this kit? What were your results?  My reagent seemed
>somewhat clumpy and sticky also, not a completely dry powder.  Was it bad?

Sounds like your reagent is bad.  (Results should be pinkish/lavender/
purplish, not orange.)  Maybe you ought to report directly to SeaChem. 
Their web site is at:  "http://www.seachem.com/".  Leo Morin's email
address is:  "leo at seachem_com".  He is the main guy at SeaChem.  Others
have reported QC problems with the SeaChem iron test.

My SeaChem Fe kit appears to read the reference solution okay, but I'm not
convinced that it's accurate in the low ranges we're interested in.  When I
add 5 ml of Tropica MasterGrow per each 50l of aquarium water, I get zero
Fe readings from the SeaChem kit--which can't be right.  If I add enough
chelated Fe to get a .1 - .2 ppm reading from the SeaChem kit, my tank
breaks out into a rash of green spot algae (the plants are okay, but I have
to work extra hard on the plexiglass the next Saturday).

The Lamotte iron kit should arrive this week.  I plan to test a variety of
Fe solutions with both kits and report back.  Do you veterans out there
have a preferred Fe test kit???  

FWIW, I'm going to do the same exeriment with the Hach phosphate kit
(PO-19) vs. the SeaChem phosphate kit.

Steve Dixon