Strontium test help

krillo · #1 06-29-2011, 14:59

Hi Seachem!

II was wondering if you could help me with clearing up something with the test kit. My test run came out blue which according to the test means that there is no strontium present in the water.
I the went about running the test again, now with the strontium reference sample which came out the same color. Is that correct? That is should the reference sample come out light blue? I had half expected it was going to be pink.

Thanks!

Tech Support EH · #2 06-29-2011, 15:55

Hello, krillo! Thank you so much for your question. You're right, when testing the reference solution, you should see a pink or purple color after adding all of the reagents, indicating that there is strontium present. We have recently discovered that Strontium Reagent #4 in its current formulation was losing some of its effectiveness with age, therefore making the user unable to get a positive reading for the presence of strontium.

Based on this information, we have re-formulated strontium #4 and will be using the new formulation from here on out. If you will please send an email with your name and address to the following email address, then we will send out a new strontium #4 to you as soon as possible. Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention, and we hope to get you taken care of! We'll await your response, krillo!

support@seachem.com

krillo · #3 06-29-2011, 16:07

Hi!

Thanks for answering so quick, here is my adress details:

Kristian Karlsson
Hedegatan 41
SE43164, Molndal
Sweden

Tech Support EH · #4 06-29-2011, 16:47

Thank you for providing your shipping information. We will be sending the reagent directly from our facility in the United States, so it may take a little time to get to you, but we will ship it as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Have a pleasant evening!

krillo · #5 07-17-2011, 11:37

Hi!

I have now received the replacement eragent, but something is confusing me. After performing step 5 c - where the sample is supposed to turn a shade of blue. Mine turned pink, this is while doing the test with the reference sample. Wondering if I took a wrong turn somewhere but I do not think so. Any ideas?

krillo · #6 07-18-2011, 04:17

Never mind, I ran the test again and got a different result. However, one thing that I find unclear about the test instructions is when using the reference sample. What shade of color should you expect from the test. A pink, a purple - what shade?

Tech Support EH · #7 07-18-2011, 10:08

Hello Krillo,

Glad to hear that you received your new reagent! When running the reference test, you should see a blue color that matches one of the blues on the color chip after adding Sr#4 in step 5c. After the addition of Sr#5, the solution should change to pink/purple, indicating the presence of strontium. You will then want to titrate back to the color that you saw after adding Sr#4.

Hope this information helps!

krillo · #8 08-08-2011, 10:19

Hi again!

Ok, I have run this test a couple of times and I have to say everytime I am done I seem to get mixed results and also not sure what to expect. After looking around at some shop reviews it seems like other people are having about the same difficulties.

Would you consider filming this test and putting it up on Youtube so that your customers could get a clear indication of what to expect. This is an expensive/complex test and I do not want to overdose on the strontium just because I might be doing something wrong.

All the best!

Tech Support EH · #9 08-08-2011, 11:01

Hi Krillo! Thank you so much for writing in with your experience, and we're sorry to hear that you seem to be getting conflicting results. We do know that this can be a somewhat difficult test to perform, and for that reason, we have considered putting a video on YouTube. This is a work in progress, so in the meantime, we will try and help you out to the best of your ability.

The reason that it is so difficult to test for strontium is because strontium is so similar chemically to calcium and magnesium; obviously in saltwater, there is a lot of calcium and magnesium compared to strontium. Therefore, we must precipitate out all of the other divalent cations, so that we are strictly quantifying strontium.

In my experience running this kit, my best indicator of what is going on is performing the reference test. Are you able to get a pinkish color after adding Strontium #5? If so, does the sample turn back to blue upon titration?