Is the Hanna Alkalinity Checker really so much faster?

[elysics]

So everyone always touts the alkalinity checker as being super fast and better than titration, is that really the case? I only have got the phosphorous ulr, but with the amount of babying it takes to keep those vials pristine, it would seem to me like titration is just faster? Or am i missing something? Including walking around, rinsing a random vial twice with rodi and once with tank water beforehand and thrice with rodi after, it takes me less than 2 minutes to perform the salifert one, at a quarter of the cost of just the hanna reagents.

 

[GlassMunky]

Takes me literally less than 5 minutes to test 2 tanks for ALK.
I do it twice a day.
Super easy and repeatable results

 

[GlassMunky]

So everyone always touts the alkalinity checker as being super fast and better than titration, is that really the case? I only have got the phosphorous ulr, but with the amount of babying it takes to keep those vials pristine, it would seem to me like titration is just faster? Or am i missing something? Including walking around, rinsing a random vial twice with rodi and once with tank water beforehand and thrice with rodi after, it takes me less than 2 minutes to perform the salifert one, at a quarter of the cost of just the hanna reagents.

You don’t have to do that crazy amount of rinsing with the ALK test btw.
just once with water and dry it with a paper towel.

like i said I can collect water and test both tank and clean the vial in under 5 minutes

 

[elysics]

You don’t have to do that crazy amount of rinsing with the ALK test btw.
just once with water and dry it with a paper towel.

like i said I can collect water and test both tank and clean the vial in under 5 minutes

I do that crazy amount of rinsing with all tests, since i just grab a random vial from the pile for any titration test, squirting rodi in 2 extra times on the stir plate instead of organizing them to keep them to their separate tests doesn't take any longer in my experience. I don't dry them either, just put them on a rack. If i see scale build up, i toss the whole lot into an acid bath.

Anyway, that's just me rambling, so you take about the same time with the hanna checker if you half those 5 minutes for 2 tanks. Where do those claims of it being super fast come from then? Not counting water retrieval and cleanup?

 

[BigRed78]

I think the big plus is the digital read out is supposed to be more accurate

 

[LeftyReefer]

Agree with the others. I LOVE my Hanna ALK checker.
Not having to discern tiny differences in colors and the fact that it is easy and repeatable won me over.

 

[Roytrolls247]

Takes me a few minutes to test Two tanks. One of the Easier testers to use vs the Calcium tester.

 

[Roosterjack]

The only Hanna I find to be terribly cumbersome is the nitrate unit. I always have been careful to clean all the vials, even for other kits so it wasn’t a big change for me. The only extra step is a wipe with a microfiber cloth before going into the checker.

 

[Modest]

I store my vials always with rodi water after testing.

 

[Nick Steele]

I just started keeping my vials filled with rodi and it’s cut the time down some and they are just reliable so it’s a win win.

 

[Silent]

The key is storing them with distilled or RO/DI water. I empty the contents and fill it up with 10ml of tank water, let it zero then add 1 ml reagent, then read results. Dump out contents and fill it with distilled water and store. Takes about as long as it took me to type this.
Love the alk checker.

 

[Lovefish77]

For me hanna all checker always overshoots salifert by 1 dkh

 

[New&no clue]

I found Hanna to be pretty fast, even with the calcium that has multiple steps. I test once a week; Phosphates (Hanna), Nitrates (salifert), Alk (Hanna), calcium (Hanna), and Mag (salifert). It takes me maybe ten min to test them all; the key is multitasking. I start with Phosphates as it takes the longest. While I'm shaking the vial for two min, I start the Nitrate test, and this is where I'm happy I practiced patting my head and rubbing my belly as a kid. It comes in handy when you're shaking one vial and swirling another. Those both sit for three mins. I move on to calcium, this one has the most steps but its reasonably quick once you memorize all the steps. I am typically done with this one before the phosphate/nitrate three mins are up. Mag takes maybe a min or two at most. By this time, phosphate/nitrates are done, so I check those. Alk is the fastest. I have a 10ml syringe I fill and squirt into the vial. While it's zeroing, I get 1ml of alk reagent ready; as soon as C2 pops up, I'm prepared to add in the reagent. I leave the vial in the tester and squirt 1ml in. screw the cap back on, invert five times and click the button. If it takes me over a min, I'm doing something wrong. Rinse all my vials with distilled water, fill my Hanna vials with distilled water, and I'm done.

 

[elysics]

The key is storing them with distilled or RO/DI water. I empty the contents and fill it up with 10ml of tank water, let it zero then add 1 ml reagent, then read results. Dump out contents and fill it with distilled water and store. Takes about as long as it took me to type this.
Love the alk checker.

Ok well that really does sound faster, but is it still accurate like that? I remember the phosphorous one being off wildly if i don't polish it up at every step and go the whole nine yards with procedure

 

[Crustaceon]

I don’t do that crazy vial rinsing because IMO honestly it really doesn’t matter. I do a quick rinse with the kitchen sink faucet, dump out the water, shake the vial a few times and put it away. I’m not going to stress over a potential .01 variance when my meter only reads down to .1. Even for titration, I take a “good enough” approach because sometimes I’m not quite sure on the color change and if it was that critical, my tank would be on the verge of crashing which it definitely is not.

 

[Silent]

Ok well that really does sound faster, but is it still accurate like that? I remember the phosphorous one being off wildly if i don't polish it up at every step and go the whole nine yards with procedure

I keep a microfiber cloth handy to handle the vials and wipe them off before putting them in the checker. I grab them by the lid and use cloth when touching the glass. Keeps them perfect.

 

[Timfish]

I got one and was not impressed. Compoared it with a friends and got 4 different readings that varied by .9 dKH with the same sample of water (new and old teters with new and old reagent {1 year} each). API is faster and more consistant IMO and since researchers are using the meg/l standard it's more than accurate enough.

 

[Zach B]

I just got mine and really like it. As long as you follow the directions you will get consistent results

 

[SPS2020]

I do like the Hanna...however, the readings are consistently less than my Red Sea Pro KH test kit by over 1dkh. So, my trust in it is not too great.

 

[SMSREEF]

The Alk tester is my favorite Hanna test. You will love it compared to PO4. You don’t lose the result if you look away for 5 minutes.

I hate titrating so This test is for me. If you like titrating a drop at a time, you may not like it. I don’t think it’s about speed but ease of use.

Like others said I rinse and then store RODI in the vials. I’ve never had to acid wash my vials.