IC Analysis Ms test vs Hanna calcium home test

[stxgb15]

I recently submitted an icp ms test from icp-analysis. According to the test i was at 357 ppm and According to my hanna checkers i test at 425. I've been dosing some calcium gradually over the past few days. Now my hanna checker says im at 501 ppm. Everything in my tank has been growing great and great color. I dont want to overdose so im backing off some. My first instinct is to get another test from another company and compare. I know hanna checkers are home kits but still pretty accurate. Hopefully not 100 ppm off. Any thoughts or experiences with that icp test?

 

[tzabor10]

Can you get reference solution and test that? Or take a water sample to your LFS? Or test their water

 

[KStatefan]

I would get another test kit to test from home before I would send another icp.

 

[Dan_P]

I recently submitted an icp ms test from icp-analysis. According to the test i was at 357 ppm and According to my hanna checkers i test at 425. I've been dosing some calcium gradually over the past few days. Now my hanna checker says im at 501 ppm. Everything in my tank has been growing great and great color. I dont want to overdose so im backing off some. My first instinct is to get another test from another company and compare. I know hanna checkers are home kits but still pretty accurate. Hopefully not 100 ppm off. Any thoughts or experiences with that icp test?

Test freshly made saltwater just to make sure you aren’t getting weird high numbers.

Getting another kit won’t help because it could be wrong. You need a standard solution with a known calcium concentration. The Fauna Marin saltwater multi reference solution could be a good choice for you.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

if you do get another icp, I’d use a different company. I’m not a fan of either the Hanna calcium checker or the company you chose for icp.

I’d also point out that exact calcium levels are not needed. Levels from 400 to 550 ppm are fine.

 

[Doctorgori]

I would get another test kit to test from home before I would send another icp.

exactly I wouldn’t bet anything on the results of a Hanna Calcium checker …I tossed mine

I know hanna checkers are home kits but still pretty accurate.

I’d check the reviews, respectfully you are gonna be in the minority of opinion …I’d get a Salifert for simplicity, maybe a Red Sea if your pockets are deeper

I’m not a fan of either the Hanna calcium checker or the company you chose for icp.

This opinion is pretty universal

 

[RabidDragon]

As a Laboratory Scientist I can tell you my Hanna Ca Checker is very stable and matches resonably well with my ICP tests. I supsect the issues that some users are having that are impacting their results with this specific kit are:

1. Rinsing out the test vials with tap water after testing. I quickly found that this was causing randomly falsely elevated Ca test results in the following tests, a single drop of evaporated tap water within the test vial can make a huge difference in your next test.

• I now use only RO/DI water to rise out the Ca test vail and the vial cap after testing... problem solved.
• Using Tap water and not RO/DI water in the actual test will aslo give invalid test results.

2. The pipette used to measure the 100 μL: you must use the pipette tip that comes with the kit, the smaller of the two tips. This pippette has two stops when depressing the plunger. Push down to the first stop to suck up your tank water... push down to the second stop when adding this water to the test vial. If you look at the pippete tip when you suck up the water the level of water within the tip should be exactly at the 3rd line from the pointy tip.

• Make sure there are not extra droplets of water on the exterior of pipette tip when adding it to your test vial.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

As a Laboratory Scientist I can tell you my Hanna Ca Checker is very stable and matches resonably well with my ICP tests. I supsect the issues that some users are having that are impacting their results with this specific kit are:

1. Rinsing out the test vials with tap water after testing. I quickly found that this was causing randomly falsely elevated Ca test results in the following tests, a single drop of evaporated tap water within the test vial can make a huge difference in your next test.

• I now use only RO/DI water to rise out the Ca test vail and the vial cap after testing... problem solved.
• Using Tap water and not RO/DI water in the actual test will aslo give invalid test results.

2. The pipette used to measure the 100 μL: you must use the pipette tip that comes with the kit, the smaller of the two tips. This pippette has two stops when depressing the plunger. Push down to the first stop to suck up your tank water... push down to the second stop when adding this water to the test vial. If you look at the pippete tip when you suck up the water the level of water within the tip should be exactly at the 3rd line from the pointy tip.

• Make sure there are not extra droplets of water on the exterior of pipette tip when adding it to your test vial.

I agree that being very careful can make it work. Some experienced folks do that. But it is very poorly designed, IMO, to be freakishly sensitive to calcium in the blank, and that leads ordinary reefers to have more trouble with it than they do with other checkers.

 

[taricha]

I love hanna, but not that one. I'll take any titration test kit over that for the reasons Randy listed.