Colorblind-How to do water tests

[controlguy26]

I am colorblind. I have been doing my water tests for my tank and then having my wife interperet the results. she is getting a little annoyed with this as I am always disagreeing with her answers. More than likely she is the one that is correct, I just like to bust her chops. Is there something on the that is digitial and will reveal all tests results (calcium, alk, ammonia, etc ) in one device without having to drop a couple hundred dollars.

 

[merk1_99]

No, go to RC and do a search in Randy Holmes Chemistry forum...There really is no all in one. I know he has some tips there for colorblind members.

 

[reefkeeper2]

OMG, I have the same problem only I don't have a wife! I can't see certain shades of pink and green. Once I washed a pair of sneakers with something red and went to work in pink. I just asked a friend to come over this weekend to interpret a nitrate test for me.

 

[~Flighty~]

Take a pic next to the color chart and post it here

 

[Pat H.]

I am colorblind. I have been doing my water tests for my tank and then having my wife interperet the results. she is getting a little annoyed with this as I am always disagreeing with her answers. More than likely she is the one that is correct, I just like to bust her chops. Is there something on the that is digitial and will reveal all tests results (calcium, alk, ammonia, etc ) in one device without having to drop a couple hundred dollars.

I have the same exact problem Just do something extra nice for your wife now and then to make up for the hassle Works for me

Also, I do all my testing in the day light using a large window as the backdrop. Seems to help.

 

[nunofs]

Is there something on the that is digitial and will reveal all tests results (calcium, alk, ammonia, etc ) in one device

There are some digital colorimeters like this one from LaMotte:
http://www.lamotte.com/pages/aqua/smart2.html

without having to drop a couple hundred dollars.

Oops, can't help you there (the LaMotte meter costs around $800!)

Nuno

 

[nunofs]

Just found a few more: http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/subsubcategorypage.asp?subcatindexid=di-cdm-mpcm

But all of them cost over $200.

Nuno

 

[ScooterNH]

No wonder all my tests come out the same!

I'm Red/Green colorblind (I mean yes I SEE RED and GREEN, it's not like they are grey or something). But those color test flip books the optomitrist shows me that are supposed to have colored numbers are a riot for me ; "Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, I think 'maybe' there's a faint 7, no never mind, nothing nothing nothing..."

But ya subtle shading differences are pretty much lost on me. So it's a hassle determining shades of the water sample vs those color cards unless the lighting is right. So I enlist my kids, or wife half the time. "Hey hun is this PH test showing 8.2 or more like 8.8" LOL

I wish there were some probes I could connect to USB and one of my computers. Hmmmm google google google.
http://www.vernier.com/probes/
http://www.pasco.com/products/products.html

Oh THIS could be fun!

I am colorblind. I have been doing my water tests for my tank and then having my wife interperet the results. she is getting a little annoyed with this as I am always disagreeing with her answers. More than likely she is the one that is correct, I just like to bust her chops. Is there something on the that is digitial and will reveal all tests results (calcium, alk, ammonia, etc ) in one device without having to drop a couple hundred dollars.

 

[ScooterNH]

Lots of probes

http://www.pasco.com/pasport/sensors.html
I see a few probes that might be useful. Temp, pH, ORP, Ca. thought I saw salinity somewhere).

These folks are educational only it seems. I wonder if they might put together a marine science kit of some sort. I've played around with their software a bit. Nice thing here is that they have PC and Mac versions of their software.

 

[MarkO]

Colorblindness is pretty common. Especially in men (red green), I fail a lot of the tests too, and I've argued with my wife over the results of my aquarium test kits. Usually the discrepancies are so minute, they don't really matter.
Do yourself a favor and use HER results. Not only will they be more accurate, but it'll help the next time you want to drop $100 on a fish.

 

[JohnK]

I'm somewhat color blind also.

IME if I use the salifert tests, I can read them pretty well as long as I do the test under bright light, with white paper under the vial, and say out loud "Pink, Pink, Pink , BLUE. If I don't say it out loud it gets toatally confusing. This might sound crazy, but saying the color I'm seeing out loud makes all the difference for me. Also add the drop, swirl, then evaluate. I've reality checked my observations against friends who aren't color blind at all, and this way seems to be pretty accurate.

I'm only mildly color blind, but it works for me?

 

[GinaD]

Some people bring their water to the LFS for testing. Just a suggestion.