My fancy new tester came!!!

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

I’m loving it!!

And I see what people mean by results varying from the same tank based on running multiple tests but only slightly and to me it’s to be expected but results were the same when running the same disk multiple times!! Now I can start dosing my macroalgae tank whose parameters I wish were my reef tank.

And this means I need to do a water change on my reef tank because it’s been a minute!

Jay Hemdal · Feb 20, 2023

AydenLincoln said:
I’m loving it!! And I see what people mean by results varying from the same tank based on running multiple tests but only slightly and to me it’s to be expected but results were the same when running the same disk multiple times!! Now I can start dosing my macroalgae tank whose parameters I wish were my reef tank.

And this means I need to do a water change on my reef tank because it’s been a minute!

What do these units cost now and what is the cost per test?
Jay

Fish Styx · Feb 20, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
What do these units cost now and what is the cost per test?
Jay

Roughly $1100 and $0.91, respectively.

ryanjohn1 · Feb 20, 2023

That this is pretty cool. Big price tag though. Could have bought a 55 gallon figi cube for same amount lol

Fish Styx · Feb 20, 2023

AydenLincoln said:
I’m loving it!! And I see what people mean by results varying from the same tank based on running multiple tests but only slightly and to me it’s to be expected but results were the same when running the same disk multiple times!! Now I can start dosing my macroalgae tank whose parameters I wish were my reef tank.

And this means I need to do a water change on my reef tank because it’s been a minute!

Can you do a write up / review of this, once you get settled in, please? I've had my eye on it, and would like some anecdotal feedback from an experienced reefer.

Namaste.

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
What do these units cost now and what is the cost per test?
Jay

Around $1,200 and around $170 for box of 50 disks or roughly $2-$3 per disk. If you ask me I say they are 100% worth it. I know there’s been debate surrounding them. But when you have multiple tanks like me it’s a huge time saver especially if you hate testing like me and always spilled the Hanna reagent haha. Plus I was considering a Trident but the Apex/Trident can only go on one tank and only tests 3 parameters.

Anemone_Fanatic · Feb 20, 2023

Very cool! If it were a little cheaper, I'd get one for sure!

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Fish Styx said:
Can you do a write up / review of this, once you get settled in, please? I've had my eye on it, and would like some anecdotal feedback from an experienced reefer.

Namaste.

Absolutely! I will say there’s one already in the forum I attached below. I like that this removes user error as well and saves me a ton of time. I did run a test back to back and found the results to be similar. Red means it’s an error/out of range so it’s only an estimate. I do have a hard time believe my nitrates can be that high but then again it has been a minute and I need to do a water change.

Waterlink Spin Touch FF - First look and review

Many weeks ago, Reef Builders put out some info on a new product by API, Aquaspin. Seemed like a neat multi-test platform that made testing easy and quick. So I started to do some digging. Turns out a company by the name of LaMotte has been making automated testers for the pool industry for many...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish Styx · Feb 20, 2023

AydenLincoln said:
Absolutely! I will say there’s one already in the forum I attached below. I like that this removes user error as well and saves me a tod of time. I did run a test back to back and found the results to be similar. Red means it’s an error/out of range so it’s only an estimate. I do have a hard time believe my nitrates can be that high but then again it has been a minute and I need to do a water change.

Waterlink Spin Touch FF - First look and review

Many weeks ago, Reef Builders put out some info on a new product by API, Aquaspin. Seemed like a neat multi-test platform that made testing easy and quick. So I started to do some digging. Turns out a company by the name of LaMotte has been making automated testers for the pool industry for many...

www.reef2reef.com

Would you say the differences in readings fell within Lamotte's stated margin of error?

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Fish Styx said:
Would you say the differences in readings fell within Lamotte's stated margin of error?

For some of them yes. If you look phosphate is similar, nitrite/ammonia are the same, and the only one that is drastically different by a huge margin is magnesium…and nitrate because it is out of range. The other thing I will say I ran the same disk multiple times and got the same results from the same disk.

Fish Styx · Feb 20, 2023

AydenLincoln said:
For some of them yes. If you look phosphate is similar, nitrite/ammonia are the same, and the only one that is drastically different by a huge margin is magnesium…and nitrate because it is out of range. The other thing I will say I ran the same disk multiple times and got the same results from the same disk.

Sorry to be a pain with my questions, but have you conducted an alternate means of testing (i.e. Hanna, red sea, etc) to compare the results? If so, what was your impression?

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Fish Styx said:
Would you say the differences in readings fell within Lamotte's stated margin of error?

I will also say people are unhappy with the margin of error. But everything and I mean everything should be taken with a grain of salt.

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Fish Styx said:
Sorry to be a pain with my questions, but have you conducted an alternate means of testing (i.e. Hanna, red sea, etc) to compare the results? If so, what was your impression?

Yes I have when I brought them to the fish store. Similar but as for the Hanna checkers I got more error messages when I had them than I got an accurate reading. You should also calibrate it regularly and avoid touching the disk. Watch this review on YouTube I think it’s helpful.

Fish Styx · Feb 20, 2023

AydenLincoln said:
Yes I have when I brought them to the fish store. Similar but as for the Hanna checkers I got more error messages when I had them than I got an accurate reading.

Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me pick your brain.

Namaste.

Jay Hemdal · Feb 20, 2023

You should check the documentation to see if the test is reading nitrate or nitrate-nitrogen. That is two different ways for reporting the same ion, but nitrate-nitrogen is going to be reported with a number that is about 22% that of nitrate ion. So - 100 mg/l nitrate is equal to 22mg/l nitrate - n. If one of your tests reports one way and the other reports the other way, the results will be off by a factor of 4.2 or so.
Jay

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Fish Styx said:
Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me pick your brain.

Namaste.

Absolutely. Keep an eye out on them. There’s been production delays and disks are on backorder. But this is where I got it from. It took 3 weeks to come. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p/94820/60230/lamotte-waterlink-spin-touch-ff-photometer

AydenLincoln · Feb 20, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
You should check the documentation to see if the test is reading nitrate or nitrate-nitrogen. That is two different ways for reporting the same ion, but nitrate-nitrogen is going to be reported with a number that is about 22% that of nitrate ion. So - 100 mg/l nitrate is equal to 22mg/l nitrate - n. If one of your tests reports one way and the other reports the other way, the results will be off by a factor of 4.2 or so.
Jay

Thanks it is nitrate! I know people are mad about the margin of error on them but then again I think things should be taken with a grain of salt. And I really like the ease of use and time saving aspect something I didn’t get with Hanna Checkers so I sold all of mine.