Hanna checkers

docforestal · Mar 11, 2023

I have nitrate,ca,phos,alk copper (not used yet) and mg
I have checked against other kits, the only one that seems off is mg which is very low, aquaforest more accurate per salt mix
Not sure if I have a bad reagent or not, get the same low read with multiple retests

EricR · Mar 11, 2023

Color-blind with only soft corals so my personal rating for "must have" is in this order:
1. Phosphate ULR
2. Alkalinity dKH
3. Nitrate HR

Rmckoy · Mar 11, 2023

EricR said:
Color-blind with only soft corals so my personal rating for "must have" is in this order:
1. Phosphate ULR
2. Alkalinity dKH
3. Nitrate HR

Do they have alkalinity in both ppm and dkh ?

mine is ppm but easy to convert to dkh by multiplying ppm x 0.056

EricR · Mar 11, 2023

Rmckoy said:
Do they have alkalinity in both ppm and dkh ?

Yes

doubleshot00 · Mar 11, 2023

bradreef said:
Alk and po4. Calcium one sucks

This and Nitrate HR. The only three that are worth it.
The calcium is a joke.

Rmckoy · Mar 11, 2023

doubleshot00 said:
This and Nitrate HR. The only three that are worth it.
The calcium is a joke.

What is the magnesium kit like ?

doubleshot00 · Mar 11, 2023

Rmckoy said:
What is the magnesium kit like ?

Not enough data ti know for sure it works but magnesium test kits across the board are very inaccurate. I think i own themAll and the Aquaforest is the most consistent.

I only test mag and cal every 2 weeks.

Rmckoy · Mar 11, 2023

doubleshot00 said:
Not enough data ti know for sure it works but magnesium test kits across the board are very inaccurate. I think i own themAll and the Aquaforest is the most consistent.

I only test mag and cal every 2 weeks.

I rarely ever test cal or mag.

Mag it’s been over a year since testing .
cal a couple months .
Alk , nitrates and salinity are the main 3 I test most often .
Every so often I’ll throw in a phosphorus test

El Reeflero · Mar 17, 2023

Alkalinity, Phosphate ULR, Nitrate.

SteveMM62Reef · Apr 6, 2023

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liudachris · May 17, 2023

doubleshot00 said:
This and Nitrate HR. The only three that are worth it.
The calcium is a joke.

I use the calcium checker and I actually like it. I don't use the syringes that they provide. I think it's too heard to measure amounts of liquid accurately. I'd recommend getting a 1-5 ml micropipette off of amazon to increase consistency between samples. It's not super nice, like the German made ones we use in the lab but good enough.

Salty_Northerner · May 17, 2023

HR nitrate, ulr phosphorus, calcium and dkh. Never had an issue with any of the Hannah checkers. Some people say this or that sucks but in all reality it's either bad reagent or user error.

The magnesium one I'm still on the fence about. Not enough information on that tester, and the reviews are all over the place .

Reeferbadness · May 17, 2023

KK's Reef said:
totally agree

Reeferbadness · May 17, 2023

Hanna's ALK and Ultra Low PO4 checkers work great for me. The Calcium checker is very unreliable. For Calc, Mag and Nitrate I use Salifert - good enough to keep track. I did purchase the Hanna Ultra Low Nitrate Checker - what a beast. It takes around 20 mins to do 1 test and, with so many steps, it's easy to screw one up and have to start all over again.

paragrouper · May 17, 2023

I use Phosphate, Nitrate and Alkalinity. Everything else I test using Salifert

1112-425XL · May 17, 2023

I use Hanna Alk, PH, Phosphate, Nitrate and Calc. What I find extremely important for accurate testing is cuvettes must be clean and spotless or readings are skewed. Especially with Nitrate and Phosphate testers. I use Salifert for mag.

Salty_Northerner · May 17, 2023

1112-425XL said:
I use Hanna Alk, PH, Phosphate, Nitrate and Calc. What I find extremely important for accurate testing is cuvettes must be clean and spotless or readings are skewed. Especially with Nitrate and Phosphate testers. I use Salifert for mag.

Yup clean and spotless is the key. After I do my testing I rinse out the cuvette and fill them up with distilled water, cap it and put back in its storage box. Also I bought a pack of these specialty glass wipes from Amazon. They actually polish the glass very well.

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Randy Holmes-Farley · May 17, 2023

FWIW, I think the calcium checker is a poor design, being freakishly sensitive to small amounts of calcium in the blank. If you are careful to use very low calcium water there, meaning 0 ppm TDS RO/DI may not be low enough, it probably works, but it didn't need to be designed that way. Lots of folks have issues with it.

Salty_Northerner · May 17, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
FWIW, I think the calcium checker is a poor design, being freakishly sensitive to small amounts of calcium in the blank. If you are careful to use very low calcium water there, meaning 0 ppm TDS RO/DI may not be low enough, it probably works, but it didn't need to be designed that way. Lots of folks have issues with it.

That's absolutely a great point. These Hannah checkers are not lab grade equipment, rather an affordable tool for the hobbyist. The way I look at it and this is just mho you can't rely on your own rodi water.. there's too many variables with that. I'm not a scientist nor a chemist but I am someone who can think outside of the box and I have my own conclusion that some may and may not agree with. I believe in a baseline, for testing I only use distilled water from a local store that sends out their water to be tested every two weeks and anytime I ask they can show me the latest results. As for my aquarium water I use RO and also sends water samples off every two weeks for results. He can tell me how much nitrates or calcium and phosphates etc. If I don't have distilled water from my local store then I don't test because I have been lost my baseline.

I'm just putting it out there on how I do it because that gives me peace of mind and something to go off of if something drastically goes wrong with my system and at least I know where to look.