leighton.bingham
Active Member
Whats the difference between high-range nitrate or Low range Nitrates? Also, what do they affect on our tanks i.e. algae, chemistry?
high range nitrate or Low range?
- Thread starter leighton.bingham
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
leighton.bingham
Active Member
Sorry I dont even know the difference between high range and low range. That was my question, what is the difference?
fr3n0z
Well-Known Member
i'm no expert, but if you are basing your question on the LR Nitrate and HR Nitrate hanna checker, they do not test 2 things, it's only that the low range one can detect nitrate from 0.1ppm to 5ppm and the high range can detect from 1ppm to 50ppm (number are fictional, is just to give the idea).
OP
OP
leighton.bingham
Active Member
That makes things a lot more clear now! We want to test the LR so that it's more accurate?
- Joined
- May 22, 2016
- Messages
- 6,970
- Reaction score
- 10,769
The hanna kit labeled high range nitrate can measure up to 75ppm NO3. Their low range kit can measure up to 5.0ppm NO3.
They both measure nitrate, just at different sensitivities.
if you plan to control your NO3 tightly in the low single digits, the LR is better for that purpose. if you just want to know if its under say 5ppm, then even the high range can tell you that pretty easily.
The other concern is that the test procedure for the low range is far more tedious. multiple reagents, filtering, syringes etc.
The high range is dump a packet and go.
They both measure nitrate, just at different sensitivities.
if you plan to control your NO3 tightly in the low single digits, the LR is better for that purpose. if you just want to know if its under say 5ppm, then even the high range can tell you that pretty easily.
The other concern is that the test procedure for the low range is far more tedious. multiple reagents, filtering, syringes etc.
The high range is dump a packet and go.
OP
OP
leighton.bingham
Active Member
Mine was at 0ppm this morning but I still have GHA and 0ppm phosphates. So just trying to figure it all out.
im using the Redsea Phosphate and Nitrate test kits.
im using the Redsea Phosphate and Nitrate test kits.
Dburr1014
10K Club member
I use redsea po4 and no3 also. I went and bought the Hanna po4 low range and love it. I thinking of getting the high range no3 myself. That is the one I would get.
The redsea no3 I have a really hard time with the colors. They never match right. It's just a different pink than the color chart shows, very annoying.
Same thing been going on here and I started dosing nitrates and phosphates to get levels detectable. It seems to be helping but is a slow process. I test with Hanna ultra low range phosphate and Hanna high range nitrate. The Hanna low range nitrate is a total PITA to use IMO the high range and ulr phosphate tester each just use a single packet of reagent. Both high and low rage N testers go to zero and I have tested as low as 0.3 nitrate on the high range so that good enough for me
Sean Clark
7500 Club Member
You are probably getting a false 0 reading due to the algae consuming the nitrate and phosphate that is in the system.
Buying a different test will not change that.
If you want a Hanna checker, I would suggest you watch a video showing the differences between the high and low range tests.
The low range is more complex with many steps to give you the lower range. The high range is basicly 1 step.
Buying a different test will not change that.
If you want a Hanna checker, I would suggest you watch a video showing the differences between the high and low range tests.
The low range is more complex with many steps to give you the lower range. The high range is basicly 1 step.
OP
OP
leighton.bingham
Active Member
Thank you everyone for all the info!
I went down this road. Bought snails and a sea hare and did manual removal but untill I started dosing to get N and P at detectable levels the gha just thrived. Now that I have detectable levels of N and P the gha is starting to die off tho slowly. Romoving the rocks to clean is not an option for me.
OP
OP
leighton.bingham
Active Member
So get both up and then it should start dying off. nice!!
This is starting to work for me but I am far far from an expert and it may or may not work for you. It is info that I gathered reading and more reading. I'm sharing this not recommending it. I hate to make recommendations because I'm still learning myself
olonmv
Valuable Member
Help me understand how dosing the stuff GHA consumes, helped bring it to a slow. It’s counter to what’s said. Perhaps the manual cleaning and the CUC just finally managed to wrangle it in for ya. Sea hares make fast work of things.
Randy Holmes-Farley
Reef Chemist
Staff member
Super Moderator
Excellence Award
Expert Contributor
Article Contributor
R2R Research
My Tank Thread
I don't agree that raising N and P is going to deter hair algae unless it drives something else to consume trace elements (such as iron) that the algae (and corals) need.
It's not a procedure that generally works, nor would I recommend it even if it did.
It does often work for dinos because the elevated N and P spurs the growth of other things (possibly including GHA) that out compete the dinos for space on surfaces (IMO).
It's not a procedure that generally works, nor would I recommend it even if it did.
It does often work for dinos because the elevated N and P spurs the growth of other things (possibly including GHA) that out compete the dinos for space on surfaces (IMO).
@Randy Holmes-Farley @olonmv
All I can say is I can now measure N and P where I couldn't before and the gha is dying off. Coincidence? Maybe I'm no chemist but getting zero everytime I tested was getting old so I started dosing N and P and gha is dying off and sps frags are looking better. Snails are not eating it as they are hanging out on the glass probably starving. The sea hare died in 3 days. Again I am no chemist but I have read that sometimes increasing the nutrients can fuel other things that can put compete the gha. Smoke and mirrors? I don't know, most of what goes on in my tanks is somewhat of a mystery to me. Also why I didn't "recommend" it
All I can say is I can now measure N and P where I couldn't before and the gha is dying off. Coincidence? Maybe I'm no chemist but getting zero everytime I tested was getting old so I started dosing N and P and gha is dying off and sps frags are looking better. Snails are not eating it as they are hanging out on the glass probably starving. The sea hare died in 3 days. Again I am no chemist but I have read that sometimes increasing the nutrients can fuel other things that can put compete the gha. Smoke and mirrors? I don't know, most of what goes on in my tanks is somewhat of a mystery to me. Also why I didn't "recommend" it
