There are good and bad and ugly reactive acid stains. Try another brand. I do a lot of staining and I cringe if I can't first install an overlay. The biggest thing is to be able to read how closed the surface is. A lot of powered troweled surfaces are too tight to accept a stain. The acid needs to break the surface for the salts to do their reaction.
The mix design of the initial concrete at placement, curing compounds, surface hardeners, the phase of the moon..... A lot of things will affect the outcome.
If anything was placed on the fresh concrete after the pour and before a good hydration has occurred, it can cause ghosting.
If I have a slab that has a glazed finish, I'll wash & clean. While slab is wet I'll spray on a diluted muriatic acid, diluted around 8-1. Spray enough to see a light reaction. Rinse and neutralize right away (ammonia
8-1). I also wet the slab before applying the reactive stain. You'll get more color movement and not as many drips marks if (should I say when) your sprayer dribbles on you.
OH, most all stains tend to lean on the orange side, if you are wanting a truer color, mix a little blue or black acid stain in your mix. That will knock off the orange. Depending on the manufacture, about 6 oz. per gallon.
Never apply tape to a sealed floor. If tape pulls up your color on an unsealed floor, then it hasn't penetrated the concrete and is only laying on top of your surface. You should be able to run a white cloth across the slab and pick up no color. gene ec-Indy