Received a Hanna Phosphate meter today - results possible?

[alve]

The Hanna phosphate meter I ordered came in today. I couldn't wait to get home and check what my phosphate level could be.
After reading the instructions carefully I got as result 0.01ppm. Is such a low reading possible at all?
I always had a phosban reactor running with gfo until two weeks ago, only use RO/DI water, rinse all frozen food before feeding...

 

[vapormd]

Sure, it's possible, but I would do a few readings to confirm and see if the result is consistent. IME, it takes a little bit of practice to get used to using the Hanna. But in terms of the reading being possibly falsely low, about the only I can think of to cause a false low is to not empty the packet completely into the cuvette, or by reading the test too soon (you should always start with a timed measurement - which takes the reading after three mins).

A good way to practice (and informative too) is to practice once or twice with a known source of phosphate, like water from your local LFS - you'll be surprised (or maybe not) and what most params at LFS' are, including phosphate

BTW - it sounds like you have good practices in terms of rinsing food, etc. You reading may indeed be 0.01, which is great!

 

[hiepatitis]

yeah it's very possible if you have a good skimmer, a fuge, regular water changes, limited feeding, etc. i agree you should do a few readings to confirm. another way to get a false low reading is by zeroing on a stained cuvet (like fingerprints) and then reading after the cuvet has been wiped.

 

[alve]

Thanks guys, I will be doing a few more readings to see if the result is consistent. I hope they will come out the same