I usually buy this stuff and use it in my 12g tank. I bought 2 boxes today like I do once a month and sat them in my garage. I have never actually tested the water itself and maybe I just got a bad batch or something but honestly from now on I will never use that stuff again. The phosphates measured 1.4mg/L in one container and the other measured .78mg/L(That is as high as the colorimeter would go). My buddy from work came over and used the meter. I had no idea that such things even existed lol.
I then measured the gallon or so I had left in the other container and it measured 1.10mg/L. It was all starting to come together because of the post I made the other day trying to identify some green stuff on one of my rocks. It was bubble algae.
The salinity was anywhere between 1.022 to 1.026 between the three containers. Every time I reset my refractometer to 0 using the supplied solution.
The moral of the story is I plan on making my own water from now on.
I never thought about actually testing it and I am glad I did. I am thinking thats why my coral growth as slowed down over the last month.
