Most Needed Test Kits?

[Hans-Werner]

I agree with Lasse and Sallstrom. I had alkalinities down to around 4.5 without any problems. There must have been other factors, maybe high phosphate concentration. I have the experience that with low phosphate concetrations low alkalinities are tolerated much better than high alkalinities. Exceeding 7 °dKH may cause polyp contraction, signs of distress and STD from the base in Acropora and other SPS. Down to 4.5 °dKH I had no negative signs or slower growth. I have the impression that growth depends more on polyp extension than on alkalinity. I regularly had the impression that at alkalinities of 8 °dKH and polyp contratction growth was significantly reduced because in fact phosphate was limiting growth. Phosphate limitation obviously was enhanced by higher alkalinties.
What I experienced when a dosing pump was defective is that in Caulastrea calcium concentrations below 300 ppm caused tissue decay similar to brown jelly, just not brown but white. Raising the calcium concentration stopped the tissue decay at once.

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

IMO it did not because I have had tanks with lower alk that 6 - and no problems. The natural alk is - as Hans-Werner state around this value and sallstrom run massive SPS tanks with an alk around 6 with no problems. Maybe a combination of low alk and other factors caused the problem for you - but I never buy that low alk by it self can cause these problems, especially if it is not a fast change.

Sincerely Lasse

it was a fast change because I stopped dosing alk, causing it to fall fast

 

[rkpetersen]

Boy, I didn’t know there was a new Hanna phosphate checker. According to the BRS site, the new checker gives you 7 minutes to do 4 minutes worth of test procedures, which beats the bricks off the phosphorus checker that gives you 3 minutes to do 4 minutes worth of test procedures.

The short timer was probably the #1 criticism of the ULR phosphorus checker; cool that they've addressed that with the newer one.

 

[cracker]

I did not know that !

 

[Diznaster]

I didn't read through to see what else was said but my Red Sea Pro PO4 was garbage. It read zero always. I got a Hanna Phosphorus URL and it said my tank was high. I mixed a solution of TSP as a sort of 'calibration test fluid'. It should have read stupid high on the Red Sea, but was still zero. The Hanna did read a stupid high level and is also very repeatable at low levels. Aside from that I mostly like the Red Sea Pro kits. The NO3 was comparable to a friends test kit, I forgot what he had but we both liked the Red Sea color wheel setup better. The KH test seems quite reliable to me. I can register a change if I turn up my Ca reactor a bit, or before I ditched the needle valve and added a Kamorer I could see a big change when the needle valve plugged. I really like the titration handle mechanism. The Ca test seems to track as expected. I do question the Mg test, it seems to read too high and often over range. That said I don't test Ca/Mg as often or concern about them. I test KH a few times a week and it seems to be a good indicator that I need to add more dissolved aragonite from the reactor. Ca and Mg follow the KH reading in my setup and experience, but this might not be true for everyone.

 

[rkpetersen]

I started off with all Red Sea test kits, the entire collection basically, but don't use any of them routinely now.
It's not that they are bad per se, I've just tried a lot of brands and found others that work better in my hands.
I do sometimes perform a hybrid Red Sea / Hanna nitrate test.
And if I suspect ammonia in QT and don't trust my eye on the alert badge, I'll do a Red Sea ammonia test. Zero actually reads zero.

 

[Diznaster]

The short timer was probably the #1 criticism of the ULR phosphorus checker; cool that they've addressed that with the newer one.

I totally agree that the timing is overly tight. I mostly fixed it by being organized and cutting my reagent pack before I start the test. That said I still bricked a test once from a small hitch, and I'd like another minute.

One thing that jumped out to me comparing the new Phosphate URL in ppm vs. the old Phosphorus ULR in PPB is the significant digits or gage resolution. I have the Phosphorus URL in ppb and I told my coworker to bring in a water sample and I would test it for him. He was impressed and I told him they just released a Phosphate URL ppm version, so you don't need to convert. He purchased the Phosphate URL ppm version.

We are both Metrologists (measurement science), we calculate measurement uncertainty like breathing air. We quickly realized that his gage was inferior because it had lower resolution. This was based on the assumption that it is basically the same gage with the same reagent, but the electronics converted the value. So the loss came down to LCD display resolution. On my Phosphorus ULR each ppb phosphorus is equal to 0.003 ppm Phosphate. So 1 ppb=0.003ppm, and 2 ppb=0.006ppm.... But his gauge only reports to 0.01 digits of resolution in ppm Phosphate. My gauge would read 4 ppb before his gauge registered 0.01 ppm. My gage would read 7 ppb before his gauge would read 0.02... I realize that the difference might be insignificant for most. But I also understand that this is likely the exact same test system, but it is simply rounding numbers to a different display screen. I would rather have the higher gage resolution. The conversion to ppm is simple and if you want the best data the extra digits are worth having.

 

[Ali KOKSAL]

Wow, that’s too bad.
Anyone else have a misreading with Red Sea?

I used the first time and at the same time with hanna. it showed 500 calc, hanna 430. magnesium 1500 with redsea, with AquaForest 1320. May be I did something wrong. I have to give it a second chance.

 

[PatW]

At the beginning, when the corals are growing slowly, you do not need to do much testing. The corals will not be growing enough to affect the water parameters much. But as frags turn into small colonies the consumption of Calcium and Alkalinity will sky rocket.

You will need to do at least a two part dosing regime to keep parameters stable. To do that, you have to know how things are changing and that means testing. So for this you will need Ca++. Mg++ and ALK. I keep my ALK at 8.0, my Calcium at 450 and my Mg at 1350. Water changes seem to keep Mg stable. ALK levels move the most and in an active tank should be measured daily.

You will also need to keep nutrients low enough to not foster algae growth. SPS corals seem to like low nutrient levels. But you want some nutrients. No nitrates or phosphates can kill things fast. I keep Nitrates at between 1 and 2 ppm. I think anywhere from .5 and 5 is probably fine. I keep P04 at .02. Again there is room to vary. I dose both of these because I have a vigorous export of chaeto and a big skimmer.


You need the following:

A good ALK test. I find that Hanna is really good. I like Red Sea Pro but it has a color based endpoint and that can be hard to determine. Salifert has a good reputation.

Calcium is less critical in that there is so much more calcium in the water that it changes by a lower percentage. I use Red Sea Pro but Salifert is fine also.

Magnesium. Red Sea Pro drives me crazy. I cannot get consistent results. I like Salifert.

Nitrate - I really like Red Sea Pro which can detect down to .25 ppm but Salifert is quite usable.

Phosphate - the only one that is sensitive enough is Hanna ULR in my opinion.

 

[rkpetersen]

One thing that jumped out to me comparing the new Phosphate URL in ppm vs. the old Phosphorus ULR in PPB is the significant digits or gage resolution. I have the Phosphorus URL in ppb and I told my coworker to bring in a water sample and I would test it for him. He was impressed and I told him they just released a Phosphate URL ppm version, so you don't need to convert. He purchased the Phosphate URL ppm version.

Yup, noticed that right away too. That's why I'm sticking with my phosphorus checker, despite the short timer.

 

[saltyhog]

What is the issue with the short timer? How long are you mixing the vial? I mix for two minutes (timer on my watch) and I've never had problems completing the test. My results have always been almost identical to my ICP testing.

 

[CHUCKB973]

1) a credit score report
2) a financial analysis of disposable income



.

 

[Crashjack]

What is the issue with the short timer? How long are you mixing the vial? I mix for two minutes (timer on my watch) and I've never had problems completing the test. My results have always been almost identical to my ICP testing.

That leaves you one minute to remove the vial from the tester, remove the lid, get all of the powder from the packet into the vial without spilling any, replace the lid, wipe down the vial, put the vial back into the tester, and hold the button down for a few seconds. The only penalty for that taking 1 minute and 1 second is the tester turning-off, having to start the entire test all over, and wasting a packet of reagent. There are too many unavoidable stressors in life for me to self-inflict myself with those caused by the Hanna Phosphorous ULR, which is why I haven't touched mine in well over a year. That said, if I ever feel the need for more specific results than what my Elos test kits give me, I might think about getting the new version.

 

[saltyhog]

That leaves you one minute to remove the vial from the tester, remove the lid, get all of the powder from the packet into the vial without spilling any, replace the lid, wipe down the vial, put the vial back into the tester, and hold the button down for a few seconds. The only penalty for that taking 1 minute and 1 second is the tester turning-off, having to start the entire test all over, and wasting a packet of reagent. There are too many unavoidable stressors in life for me to self-inflict myself with those caused by the Hanna Phosphorous ULR, which is why I haven't touched mine in well over a year. That said, if I ever feel the need for more specific results than what my Elos test kits give me, I might think about getting the new version.

I don't know why but I've never...ever had it turn off. The way I cut the packet it takes less than 10 seconds to get all the powder with no way to spill any. I set my watch timer to 5 minutes. I don't start the timer until I have put the powder in and replaced the cap. I stop inverting the vial and start the "put it back in and hold the button for 3 seconds" at the 3:07 mark on my timer. This makes my timer go off when it's time to read the results. I'll try to make a video of how I do it. Maybe it will help some people.

 

[Lasse]

I don't know why but I've never...ever had it turn off. The way I cut the packet it takes less than 10 seconds to get all the powder with no way to spill any. I set my watch timer to 5 minutes. I don't start the timer until I have put the powder in and replaced the cap. I stop inverting the vial and start the "put it back in and hold the button for 3 seconds" at the 3:07 mark on my timer. This makes my timer go off when it's time to read the results. I'll try to make a video of how I do it. Maybe it will help some people.

I do the same but after I turned on the 3 minutes of reaction time - I slowly take out the vial and hold it horisontally while I slowly tutn it around. This in case of airbubbles. Put it back and wait.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Crashjack]

I don't know why but I've never...ever had it turn off. The way I cut the packet it takes less than 10 seconds to get all the powder with no way to spill any. I set my watch timer to 5 minutes. I don't start the timer until I have put the powder in and replaced the cap. I stop inverting the vial and start the "put it back in and hold the button for 3 seconds" at the 3:07 mark on my timer. This makes my timer go off when it's time to read the results. I'll try to make a video of how I do it. Maybe it will help some people.

I do the same but after I turned on the 3 minutes of reaction time - I slowly take out the vial and hold it horisontally while I slowly tutn it around. This in case of airbubbles. Put it back and wait.

Full disclaimer: I have an adult form of Muscular Dystrophy, which results in a lot of muscle weakness and yes, that has an effect. However when I was in the hobby in the mid-90's through early 00's, I was much less affected by the disease, and I still wouldn't have been able to pull it off every time. When I started getting frustrated with the tester, I searched online and found a lot of users with the same complaint. For me and likely others, the 7 minute window is likely a game changer. It is just a tough pill to swallow after wasting $50 on the same unit that was way more effective at raising stress and anger levels than measuring phosphate.