Reef Colors Pro test kit from Red Sea for testing Iodine, Potassium and Iron

By Jake Adams on May 25, 2010

Reef Colors Pro is a new reef test kit from Red Sea which aims to encourage the proper dosage and testing of color-enhancing seawater trace elements. It is known that Iodine, Potassium and Iron have a strong effect on fluorescent and chromatic pigments of photosynthetic reef corals, particularly the fast growing, small polyp stony corals. It is fairly easy to add I2, K and Fe supplements to a reef aquarium but there is a narrow range of concentrations where these elements have the most effect on SPS coral colors; a lower level and the colors are not as pronounced and at higher levels these elements can have undesirable consequences whether it is coral irritation from excess iodine or unwanted algae growth from high levels of Iron. Although we have long been vocal critics of Red Sea’s old test kit line, Reef Colors Pro is made with a much higher level of performance in mind; 60 Iodine tests use colorimetry to resolve levels between 0.0-0.09 ppm with an accuracy of 0.03ppm, 40 titration tests for Potassium measure levels between 150-450ppm +/- 12ppm amd 45 colorimetric Iron tests resolve Fe between 0.0-0.9ppm with an accuracy of 0.05ppm. We don’t expect this kit to be unreasonably expensive and it should be hitting your local Red Sea dealer sometime this summer.

Andy

These kits are going to have to get *amazing* reviews for me to try them — after previous experiences with Red Sea test kits, I’m taking a “once burned, twice shy” stance.
Andy

These kits are going to have to get *amazing* reviews for me to try them — after previous experiences with Red Sea test kits, I’m taking a “once burned, twice shy” stance.
http://coralidea.com Jake Adams

Andy, I am right there with you regarding the old style Red Sea test kits. For me they epitomized how awful a test kit could be but I am going to give Red Sea some benefit of the doubt this go around and see if they’ve gotten better at making water testing products.
http://coralidea.com Jake Adams

Andy, I am right there with you regarding the old style Red Sea test kits. For me they epitomized how awful a test kit could be but I am going to give Red Sea some benefit of the doubt this go around and see if they’ve gotten better at making water testing products.
sponge Bob

does iodine really make colors come out on SPS? I read many conflicting ideas. Also how does an iodate test kit measure KI effectively?
sponge Bob

does iodine really make colors come out on SPS? I read many conflicting ideas. Also how does an iodate test kit measure KI effectively?
murraycamp

“It is known that Iodine, Potassium and Iron have a strong effect on fluorescent and chromatic pigments of photosynthetic reef corals”

I have doubts about this statement. An effect on the pigments themselves or the zooxanthellae densitites?
murraycamp

“It is known that Iodine, Potassium and Iron have a strong effect on fluorescent and chromatic pigments of photosynthetic reef corals”

I have doubts about this statement. An effect on the pigments themselves or the zooxanthellae densitites?
Dave

“60 Iodine tests use colorimetry to resolve levels between 0.0-0.09 ppm with an accuracy of 0.03ppm”

Am i reading this wrong, or does that mean you only get the values of 0, 0.03, 0.06, and 0.09?
Dave

“60 Iodine tests use colorimetry to resolve levels between 0.0-0.09 ppm with an accuracy of 0.03ppm”

Am i reading this wrong, or does that mean you only get the values of 0, 0.03, 0.06, and 0.09?
l

Dave,

The resolution level likely refers to “measurement resolution”, which is the smallest increment the test will display. Accuracy means the closest a measured value can come to the “true” value.

Think of it like the resolution of a camera or even a measuring stick. A yardstick with only markings of inches would have a lower resolution than that of a ruler with markings of sixteenths of an inch. The numbers of 0.0 to 0.09 seem to indicate that the test could give values with digits down to the hundredth place (i.e. it could distinguish between something like 10.04 or 10.05).

No measurement can be perfectly accurate. As you can see, even though the test can resolve down to the hundredths place, the accuracy is also in the hundredths place, meaning that you can’t rely on the digit in the hundredths place to be very reliable. This means that some measurement like 10.04 would be produced for an actual value of 10.04±0.03 (or from 10.01 to 10.07). notice that the digits higher than the tenth place are all the same, so they are much more reliable.

The description is confusing because no measurement range was listed for the iodine or iron tests (like the 150-450 ppm range for the potassium kit). If they mean that “resolution level” was actually the range, then a range of 0.0-0.09 ppm would be a really small range and a relatively low level of accuracy. In that case, numbers like 0.01, 0.02, etc. to 0.09 would be measured, but the accuracy is so close to the measured numbers, that something like 0.04 could mean 0.01 or 0.07, or nearly the entire range. It would be like saying someone is four feet high plus or minus three feet.
l

Dave,

The resolution level likely refers to “measurement resolution”, which is the smallest increment the test will display. Accuracy means the closest a measured value can come to the “true” value.

Think of it like the resolution of a camera or even a measuring stick. A yardstick with only markings of inches would have a lower resolution than that of a ruler with markings of sixteenths of an inch. The numbers of 0.0 to 0.09 seem to indicate that the test could give values with digits down to the hundredth place (i.e. it could distinguish between something like 10.04 or 10.05).

No measurement can be perfectly accurate. As you can see, even though the test can resolve down to the hundredths place, the accuracy is also in the hundredths place, meaning that you can’t rely on the digit in the hundredths place to be very reliable. This means that some measurement like 10.04 would be produced for an actual value of 10.04±0.03 (or from 10.01 to 10.07). notice that the digits higher than the tenth place are all the same, so they are much more reliable.

The description is confusing because no measurement range was listed for the iodine or iron tests (like the 150-450 ppm range for the potassium kit). If they mean that “resolution level” was actually the range, then a range of 0.0-0.09 ppm would be a really small range and a relatively low level of accuracy. In that case, numbers like 0.01, 0.02, etc. to 0.09 would be measured, but the accuracy is so close to the measured numbers, that something like 0.04 could mean 0.01 or 0.07, or nearly the entire range. It would be like saying someone is four feet high plus or minus three feet.

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