Hanna Phosphate Checker

[GreshamH]

I got mine today, and am confused about the instruction. It seems to say after adding the powder, swirl for 20 seconds, put the tube back into the checker, then wait for 3 minutes, then push the botton for several seconds until a 3 minutes count down clock appears. But when I follow the instruction and wait 3 minutes before push the botton, the checker just turns off and start from beginning again.

I checked twice without waiting for 3 minutes before start the count down clock, and both read 0 at the end. While this is a great number, I doubt it is true since I have some algae growing.

Phosphate is not the only factor contributing to algae growth - and you can't assume you have phosphate just because you have algae.

I think the instructions seem confusing because you can either wait three minutes yourself OR press and hold the button to activate the timer.

Yah PO4 is a strange child. It can be used up prior to you being able to test it. We can also only test for one type of phosphate. And like you said, phosphate isn't always the limiting nutrient for algae. You can have very little phosphate and still have problems if other nutrients are elevated.

 

[tonggao]

I agree that algae might still grow with low phosphate, but I found it hard to believe that I have so little phosphate in my tank (not that it is a bad thing) since I have about 19 fish including 5 anthias, 3 tangs, and 2 large rabbit fish. I do run a powerful skimmer/GFO/Carbon/cheato/continous water change though. One reason I am suspecting for algae growth is my jetstream calcium reactor, which might be putting a good amount of co2 into the tank. But I am not sure of it, therefore buying this phosphate checker to check. I should be very happy about the reading , except now I might need to spend a lot more money to replace calcium reactor (I have been thinking about auto dosing for a while).

 

[GreshamH]

Do you run a fuge? Simply place your effluent from the reactor to it if you do.

Another way is to run a second chamber of reactor media. That really helps use up the rest of the CO2.

Or into your skimmer to drive it out

 

[Thales]

I agree that algae might still grow with low phosphate, but I found it hard to believe that I have so little phosphate in my tank (not that it is a bad thing) since I have about 19 fish including 5 anthias, 3 tangs, and 2 large rabbit fish. I do run a powerful skimmer/GFO/Carbon/cheato/continous water change though. One reason I am suspecting for algae growth is my jetstream calcium reactor, which might be putting a good amount of co2 into the tank. But I am not sure of it, therefore buying this phosphate checker to check. I should be very happy about the reading , except now I might need to spend a lot more money to replace calcium reactor (I have been thinking about auto dosing for a while).

Have you checked the PO4 again? The first time you let the sample sit with the reagent for 3 min which could effect the reading. I would actually run the test 3 separate times to see the accuracy of the tester. BTW did it really read 0.0?

 

[sfboarders]

Do they sell standards for checking phosphate to see how far off your meter is?