20 ppm Nitrate/0.06 ppm Phosphate - Cure my analysis paralysis!

[aarbutina]

Nice... you will have to share you experience with it. The price is a bit steep but I wouldn't mind dropping some coin on it if it works well.

Wow... $220 is just the meter from hanna. Its and extra 135 for the cuvettes reagents, etc..... it better work real well.

 

[Kurt Grant]

Nice... you will have to share you experience with it. The price is a bit steep but I wouldn't mind dropping some coin on it if it works well.

Wow... $220 is just the meter from hanna. Its and extra 135 for the cuvettes reagents, etc..... it better work real well.

How it see now talking to Randy nit is just as important as alk/cal its a balance we have to maintain to much of 1 hurts in some way.. as I think about it more i was wondering why pax reactors added a nit mix with the reactor now i know why not only cheato need it to grow your corals as well it's that balance we need...so I don't mine spending it on a tester i spent more on that dang wd frag than the tester will cost me lol!!!

 

[reefwiser]

https://hannainst.com/hi96728-nitrate-portable-photometer.html

I have the Phosphate version of this one.

 

[Kurt Grant]

https://hannainst.com/hi96728-nitrate-portable-photometer.html

I have the Phosphate version of this one.

How do you find it works?

 

[Deniss]

My tank was reading 0 nitrates, and i started adding nitrates. My phosphate dropped, so i started dosing that as well. I started having algae, kept dosing (probably fuelling it at this point). I tried to strave for "ideal" own set numbers in both. But the algae kept growing faster and faster, added chaeto, had to dose even more. I kept battling algae for a few months, coral went backwards...now i decided to pull everything off, chaeto, dosings and do verry minimal water changes, 10 % every week. I decided this because all this work made my tank look like ****, everything would cover in a brown slime, algae was growing like weed...corals closed. Now after 3 weeks not chasing numbers, tank is looking better and better.

The reason why i removed the chaeto was mainly due the reactor was a big mess, had to clean it every 2-3 days.

I learned, that stability is the key. Keep everything stable, and your corals will be more happier then fluctuating water parameters all the time.

 

[Kurt Grant]

My tank was reading 0 nitrates, and i started adding nitrates. My phosphate dropped, so i started dosing that as well. I started having algae, kept dosing (probably fuelling it at this point). I tried to strave for "ideal" own set numbers in both. But the algae kept growing faster and faster, added chaeto, had to dose even more. I kept battling algae for a few months, coral went backwards...now i decided to pull everything off, chaeto, dosings and do verry minimal water changes, 10 % every week. I decided this because all this work made my tank look like ****, everything would cover in a brown slime, algae was growing like weed...corals closed. Now after 3 weeks not chasing numbers, tank is looking better and better.

The reason why i removed the chaeto was mainly due the reactor was a big mess, had to clean it every 2-3 days.

I learned, that stability is the key. Keep everything stable, and your corals will be more happier then fluctuating water parameters all the time.

From my understanding you have to keep your nit @2 to 5 somewhere in that range ive see 1 guy have his @25 Lol done know how he made out with that

 

[Deniss]

Too be honest mate, i'm lost in the numbers. I have tried to chase them, and it was making my tank worse.
My tank now reads 0 nitrate, but my corals are happier then when it was at 10. I guess there is things that our test kits can't detect, based on how the corals react.
All i try to do now, is keep the water as stable as possible. I'm not going to dose anymore. I don't believe higher nitrates can be harmfull, my first nano had nitrates going between 15-25 and corals were thriving.
I did not have SPS corals, but LPS and others were thriving, my guess is that many people run in problems trying to chase numbers. Adding gfo etc, which makes the levels fluctuate all the time, or drop to fast at once.

 

[Kurt Grant]

Too be honest mate, i'm lost in the numbers. I have tried to chase them, and it was making my tank worse.
My tank now reads 0 nitrate, but my corals are happier then when it was at 10. I guess there is things that our test kits can't detect, based on how the corals react.
All i try to do now, is keep the water as stable as possible. I'm not going to dose anymore. I don't believe higher nitrates can be harmfull, my first nano had nitrates going between 15-25 and corals were thriving.
I did not have SPS corals, but LPS and others were thriving, my guess is that many people run in problems trying to chase numbers. Adding gfo etc, which makes the levels fluctuate all the time, or drop to fast at once.

I' not chasing the number I just want my # to be steady and i wanted a better understanding of what makes my corals grow and maintain their natrual colors ... now i have a idea of how the Chemistry work I can make my own Decisions on whats best but you have to start out somewhere

 

[aarbutina]

Yes I no and i just bought it

This isn’t encouraging, just a heads up. That’s a lot of money to spend on something that isn’t going to be all that accurate for our application:

Q: Can this be used for testing Nitrate in Salt water.. for the Marine Hobbyist?

Answers (1)

Hanna Instruments

A: Unfortunately the chloride in saltwater will interfere with the nitrate chemistry. Chloride above 100 mg/L will cause a negative
interference (read lower). We do not recommend the HI96728 for measuring nitrate in saltwater.

 

[Lasse]

This isn’t encouraging, just a heads up. That’s a lot of money to spend on something that isn’t going to be all that accurate for our application:

Q: Can this be used for testing Nitrate in Salt water.. for the Marine Hobbyist?

Answers (1)

Hanna Instruments

A: Unfortunately the chloride in saltwater will interfere with the nitrate chemistry. Chloride above 100 mg/L will cause a negative
interference (read lower). We do not recommend the HI96728 for measuring nitrate in saltwater.

If I remember right it - is possible to recalibrate this meter, hence make some standards including the saltwater. It looks like the standard cal-check (Hanna) for nitrate is 15 ppm NO3-N ( its around 66,4 ppm NO3)

If you do a new saltwater with your preferred salinity (should be the one you have in your aquaria) as a 0 sample. The you prepare a standard with 15 mg/l as NO3-N (around 66.4 mg/l as NO3) You will get this standard if you add 108.2 mg KNO3 to 1 Litre of your saltwater solution you use as 0 standard or ad 98,6 mg NaNO3 to 1 Litre of your 0 standard solution.

Theoretical you should be able to use this saltwater standard in order to recalibrate the meter, but I have never done it by myself – so I do not know if it works in the real world. And remember – the calibration is only valid in that salinity you use in your standards – but you have the same problems with all commercial brands – the colour scale is calibrated to a certain salinity and reaction time. And they never mention the calibration salinity – but I can´t see another way to handle it. They use the same measurements technique as the Hanna (according to analyse method) .

I have done my calculation a little between the thumb and some other fingers – using 0 decimals for the atomic weight of the atoms. Please check with someone better than me in this type of calculations - but you will not get the real figure with this method but probably a better guess compared with the normal hobby tests

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Kurt Grant]

This isn’t encouraging, just a heads up. That’s a lot of money to spend on something that isn’t going to be all that accurate for our application:

Q: Can this be used for testing Nitrate in Salt water.. for the Marine Hobbyist?

Answers (1)

Hanna Instruments

A: Unfortunately the chloride in saltwater will interfere with the nitrate chemistry. Chloride above 100 mg/L will cause a negative
interference (read lower). We do not recommend the HI96728 for measuring nitrate in saltwater.

Your Wright i researched it and it' a wast of time.. my friend called hanna and they said it' not worth their time to make 1 so i guess ill have to deal with the old way

 

[pluikens]

Just an update, I did the ~20% WC on 1/17 which brought Nitrate from 22 to 15 ppm. Since then I've upgraded my refugium light from the 7 Watt LED grow light to the 300 Watt UFO style LED grow light from BEAMNOVA and I'm seeing real growth from the chaeto. In about two weeks it's gone from tennis ball size to cantaloupe size. I performed a 10% WC last night and Nitrate isn't quite 0 but nowhere near 2 ppm with the Red Sea test kit. I tested phosphate again with the Hanna Phosphorous tester and got a reading of 15 ppb. With the accuracy of the reader, this is a phosphate level of .046 with a window of .028-.064. So thanks for the help everyone! I'm glad that I didn't go out and buy a reactor or add some new media to the tank when all I needed to do was focus on getting my chaeto growing and perform some small water changes.