Reef nutrition

Hanna Nitrate low range checker available

Vincerama2 said:
You know what would be great? A Colorimeter app for smart phones. So you can take a photo of the color chart, then a photo of the testtube and it can just tell us what matches. I mean, that's what Hanna does, but so expensive and you gotta buy one meter per parameter you're testing! I'd love a universal test reader...
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While someone somewhere makes ^^^ this ^^^ happen, I've been taking pics of test results, cropping the shot down to the results square, and then doing a visual comparison for change. Each square is more or less a week apart. The seven at the bottom, most recent, are shot under the same lighting conditions. I find this makes for an easy "how we doin'" comparison over time.


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Squist said:
While someone somewhere makes ^^^ this ^^^ happen, I've been taking pics of test results, cropping the shot down to the results square, and then doing a visual comparison for change. Each square is more or less a week apart. The seven at the bottom, most recent, are shot under the same lighting conditions. I find this makes for an easy "how we doin'" comparison over time.


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Cool. Great idea. Maybe sitting it atop a photography light box would add consistency.

Or maybe doing in a dark room in same spot with same lighting...

I always find the lighting part of the challenge.
 
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Once you guys get time to play with the checker and build up some tribal knowledge as to how to use it best, if anyone is willing, I would love to borrow it to "test drive" before I shell out the cash for one of my own. If not comfortable, no hard feelings ;)
 
Finally got a chance to test out my new Hanna Nitrate checker in today and just finally had a chance to take it for a spin...

VERDICT: It's good if you want accuracy and consistency (outside of user error), and looking to measure for very targeted nitrate levels...particularly <5ppm.

PROS: Better resolution than typical test kits, especially for stick-heads looking ot control nitrates under 5 ppm.
CONS: Takes longer to test than any liquid test kit and lots of things to do and lots to clean following (mixing vial, sample cuvette, 2X syringes, needle, filter housing)

I read the instructions prior to the arrival of my nitrate checker... seems complicated but wanted to get a sense of how truly complicated it is by running a test. And after doing so, it's fairly involved. Though, I expect after a few times of getting the hang of it, it won't be complicated...but it will be tedious.

There are at least 7 steps involved... 3 reagents, 2 vials, 1 filtration... and if you're thinking your nitrates are over 5ppm, then add in a dilution step. AND, it won't save you time. It takes about 15 - 18 mins to do the test, fully buffered... here's how it breaks down:

  • 1 Min - sample collection and addition reagent A and B
  • 1Min - shake
  • 2 Mins - transfer solution into syringe, add filter, fill liquid into sample cuvette
  • 1 Min - zero sample
  • 3 Mins - Add regent C and shake for 2 mins
  • 8 Mins - Wait for reaction and measurement
Compared to taking up to 4 mins on a Salifert kit, or 8 mins on API...

And let's not forget if you guessed wrong thinking you have low nitrate <5ppm... run the Hanna test and it turns out you have higher nitrates than 5ppm afterall...then you have to rerun the whole test and blow another pack of reagents plus extra dilution steps. AND DOUBLE your time. Happened to me...
 
If anyone gets this and also uses the method using the Red Sea Nitrate test and Hanna Phosphate ULR tester, I'd love to hear about how the 2 test results compared.
 
bp123987 said:
The 5ppm cliff seems like a huge problem

What were they thinking with this test...
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Its a low range checker. They dialed it in to be more accurate at the low end. My guess is accuracy goes down above 5ppm without dilution, so instead of giving inaccurate results they say cant read.
 
Meshmez said:
Its a low range checker. They dialed it in to be more accurate at the low end. My guess is accuracy goes down above 5ppm without dilution, so instead of giving inaccurate results they say cant read.
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Just curious how do you dilute the sample? Does it come with instructions on how to dilute?
 
Srt4eric said:
Just curious how do you dilute the sample? Does it come with instructions on how to dilute?
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Yes -- there's a procedure to dilute it... it's in the instructions... BUT there's a catch... you need to dilute the sample with freshly made SW with no nitrate \ nitrites... 1ml of tank water + 10ml of freshly made SW.

The device reads up to 5ppm... so you dilute it, and then multiply the result by 10 for numbers for samples over 5ppm.
 
Thanks for giving us the scoop! Looks fairly involved. I use pipettors for all of my tests. More accurate and you don't have to wash syringes...so that may help on the clean up side of things. Generally speaking from personal/professional experience, optical tests can often be challenged by lack of dynamic range. So, I'm not surprised that the test has to focus on a range...in this case <5. It makes sense to me because people that have low nutrient tanks are going to want to know with more accuracy what their nitrate levels are.
 
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