Pro tip: measuring and timing accurately helps a lot

[ChaosAquaculture]

I get into a lot of discussions with new reefkeepers. Something that comes up regularly is "what advice can you give that most people don't think about?" My answer is accuracy in measuring and timing. It makes a huge difference in so many aspects of what we do in this hobby. For all the money spent on our tanks, it pains me to see counting capfuls. Lab grade measuring equipment is inexpensive on Amazon and lasts a lifetime. Egg timers can be found at almost every dollar store in the nation. Anyone with children that buys meds with the little portion cup needs to save those. It costs very little to be accurate and I promise your reef will thank you

 

[ZoWhat]

Depends what you're measuring and how big your water volume is.

Really dont think being off 0.5ml makes the difference btwn success and mediocrity on most things in a 200g water volume. But if your total water volume is 13.5g, it may be a different story

 

[brandon429]

this tenet applies to every ammonia alert help post ever written.

 

[Malcontent]

Love this thing:

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

Depends what you're measuring and how big your water volume is.

Really dont think being off 0.5ml makes the difference btwn success and mediocrity on most things in a 200g water volume. But if your total water volume is 13.5g, it may be a different story

Only if you're dosing a trace amount of something. All my systems are minimum 200gal and there are several items that I dose in a 5ml or less increment. It really doesn't take extra time to do, so why not?

 

[kenbennedy]

Love this thing:

For $1k, that is more than many people spend on their entire setup! Is there that much of a difference in repeatability or precision compared to medicine droppers?

 

[terraincognita]

Depends what you're measuring and how big your water volume is.

Really dont think being off 0.5ml makes the difference btwn success and mediocrity on most things in a 200g water volume. But if your total water volume is 13.5g, it may be a different story

It does in the sense of test kits.

If you're off on the reagents by .5 ML some of the reagents are just 1ML total......

If you're off by .2 or .1 even, or in certain cases of red sea .01 ML you're gonna not get it proper and maybe make a mistake.

I.e. you think your calcium is 380 while its 420 and you dose more and cause a precipitation cloud, then freak out and suddenly "crash" etc.

This is specifically in reference to new reefers as well. Just so everyone was clear on his intention .

I get into a lot of discussions with new reefkeepers.

 

[Malcontent]

For $1k, that is more than many people spend on their entire setup! Is there that much of a difference in repeatability or precision compared to medicine droppers?

Well, I don't think a dropper or syringe is capable of this:

That's 50 mL dispensed five times weighed to the nearest 0.01 mg.

Of course, this isn't necessary for aquarium water testing. The big advantage is speed since I can just hit a button instead of adjusting pressure on a bulb or plunger while watching a meniscus and a line. I can also change the dispense volume on the fly from, say, 10 mL to 2.5 mL if I need to do a dilution.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

For $1k, that is more than many people spend on their entire setup! Is there that much of a difference in repeatability or precision compared to medicine droppers?

Yes I do miss the nano days

 

[kenbennedy]

Well, I don't think a dropper or syringe is capable of this:

That's 50 mL dispensed five times weighed to the nearest 0.01 mg.

Of course, this isn't necessary for aquarium water testing. The big advantage is speed since I can just hit a button instead of adjusting pressure on a bulb or plunger while watching a meniscus and a line. I can also change the dispense volume on the fly from, say, 10 mL to 2.5 mL if I need to do a dilution.

For sure, I am curious what operations you are doing here, though?