[Histonet] Nuclear fast red counterstain

[Amos Brooks]

Hi,
     I make this up myself using BSC dye as John Kiernan recommends. I
still get the aluminum crystals as you describe with the
commercially purchased stain.
     Your best bet is to shake it up and re-dissolve the crystals. The
Potassium Aluminum sulfate is pretty saturated so it is likely to
precipitate especially if there is any evaporation of the solution. That
happens quickly if the solution gets old or is heated when used. It does
lead to a shorter shelf life than many other chemicals, but it still works
reasonably well.
     Just keep an eye on it. As it gets older it takes longer to work
(don't we all). Give it some more time or replace it (re-make it).

Happy staining,
Amos Brooks


Message: 1
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2025 17:31:00 +0000
From: Histology <histo at pathlab.us>
To: Histonet <Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Subject: [Histonet] Nuclear fast red counterstain
Message-ID: <94015281c785445a89549531612cc2fc at pathlab.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi all,

Has anyone experienced commercially pre-made Nuclear Fast Red having
reddish crystals in it?  We use this as a counterstain for Prussian Iron
and Melanin stains and we are seeing little crystals on the slide.  We have
tried filtering the solution but we are still seeing this problem.  Any
help would be much appreciated.

Thanks as always Histonet!!

Mehndi Helgren
Lab Manager
757-664-7901
Dominion Pathology Labs.
733 Boush St. Suite 200
Norfolk, VA  23510