The best/easiest to use Nitrate tester

[reefsaver]

Hi all I was just looking for a tester, one that was better than the Hanna ULR Nitrate tester and found this. Does anyone have any experience with these or anything similar?

Compact Nitrate Ion Meter LAQUA Twin - NO3-11​

Product code: NO3-11

Compact Nitrate Ion Meter LAQUA Twin, compact meter for a quick measurement of nitrate ion using ion selective membrane.

 

[Reef Tripp]

Hanna no3 HR

 

[Clownfishgang]

I use the salifert really simple to use and get consistent result with it.

 

[dedragon]

The lowest i found the laqua for was $345, that is pretty steep. i would have to say hanna nitrate for ease otherwise

 

[reefsaver]

I've never heard of these laqua meters until the post, is it as easy as dipping it in your tank? I would much prefer not waiting 10 minutes while testing if I could.

 

[homer1475]

The hanna ULR nitrate checker is such a huge PITA, I gave mine away. Takes to long to run the test, way to many procedures, way to easy to mess up with all the mixing and adding regents, and it's just not repeatable to any degree of accuracy.

Red sea pro for me. It may take 10 minutes to run the test start to finish, but it's well worth the wait.

Remember one thing... Reefing is a lesson in patience. If you can't wait 10 minutes for a test to complete, reefing may not be for you.

 

[mike550]

Hanna no3 HR

Have you had a chance to try this one? I’m interested in seeing what people think.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Have you had a chance to try this one? I’m interested in seeing what people think.

Bought it on a sale and tried it last night. Watched the video 3 times and tested my tank twice... Set a stop watch from the time I opened the test kit until everything was clean and put back in it.. 29 min the first time and 26 the second... Just not a good test kit for 95% of reefers as its too time consuming and has too many places to screw up. Also if you need to dilute the sample (which you may or may not know that you need to in the first place) then you have to keep freshly mixed SW on hand. I will say that if you have an SPS ULN system and are color blind I can see a solid benefit.

 

[MaxTremors]

Bought it on a sale and tried it last night. Watched the video 3 times and tested my tank twice... Set a stop watch from the time I opened the test kit until everything was clean and put back in it.. 29 min the first time and 26 the second... Just not a good test kit for 95% of reefers as its too time consuming and has too many places to screw up. Also if you need to dilute the sample (which you may or may not know that you need to in the first place) then you have to keep freshly mixed SW on hand. I will say that if you have an SPS ULN system and are color blind I can see a solid benefit.

I think they were referring to the high range (HR) Hanna nitrate checker that is coming out in July. Its supposedly much easier, just one reagent, no filtering. Tests up to 75ppm. I like my Hanna LR nitrate tester, but my nitrates have been really high lately and so I’ve been having to do the dilution process (and even then my nitrates have been above the dilution limit), so that, along with its ease of use, has me seriously considering getting this new HR checker when it comes out in July.

 

[X-37B]

I prefer the Nyos.
Simple and easy to read.

 

[nereefpat]

I've seen nitrate probes in a different industry, and I wouldn't trust them. I have not seen this specific probe.

I use a Red Sea kit.

 

[Jon's Reef]

I recently picked up the LR version because I run a heavy in, heavy out Triton setup. Target is 3 ppm via dosing. After doing 5 days of 1 test per day (dialing in NO3 dose) have it down to <15 min. Clean up while the 8 min is running.
Is it for everyone? Maybe not, but anyone with a lab background it’s fairly standard.

The HR kit looks nice if you are running over 5.

 

[homer1475]

I could never get a repeatable reading with mine. Even after many tests and doing it EXACTLY the way I see Hanna do it in their video.

The time doesn't concern me, nor the procedure. It's just a non repeatable reading is what concerned me with mine. I do run elevated nutrients(above 5ppm) so in the dilution process I think is where it always failed. Even measuring my NSW I had a small reading. If I subtracted the reading from my tanks readings, they were still not inline with any other test kit.

Mailed mine off to @Dan_P, wonder how he got along with it?

 

[Reef Tripp]

Marine Nitrate High Range Checker HC – HI782

The HI782 Marine Nitrate High Range Colorimeter is specifically designed to quickly and accurately determine high levels of nitrate for saltwater aquariums and marine applications. With a digital read out, there is no more struggling to determine colors visually. Measurements with a range up...

hanna-worldwide.com

 

[Jon's Reef]

I could never get a repeatable reading with mine. Even after many tests and doing it EXACTLY the way I see Hanna do it in their video.

The time doesn't concern me, nor the procedure. It's just a non repeatable reading is what concerned me with mine. I do run elevated nutrients(above 5ppm) so in the dilution process I think is where it always failed. Even measuring my NSW I had a small reading. If I subtracted the reading from my tanks readings, they were still not inline with any other test kit.

Mailed mine off to @Dan_P, wonder how he got along with it?

I think the properties of the SW mix used for the dilution process can definitely be the issue. I know with the Ca test I had issues with aberrant values when I was using 0 TDS RODI. Once I switched to distilled for the Ca test the values came right in as expected (Compared to ICP and RS test kit).

Due to the above, if I was targeting over 5 ppm, I would go with the HR kit, but 0-5 ppm the LR kit. For me, if it swung above 5 ppm, I would break out my NYOS test and use that until things came back in range.

 

[reefsaver]

The hanna ULR nitrate checker is such a huge PITA, I gave mine away. Takes to long to run the test, way to many procedures, way to easy to mess up with all the mixing and adding regents, and it's just not repeatable to any degree of accuracy.

Red sea pro for me. It may take 10 minutes to run the test start to finish, but it's well worth the wait.

Remember one thing... Reefing is a lesson in patience. If you can't wait 10 minutes for a test to complete, reefing may not be for you.

I use the Red Sea Reef & Marine care multi test kits, and the Hanna Marine Alkalinity checker but I would prefer paying good money for something that will make life simple instead of forever stocking up on red sea kits, I would prefer to pay top dollar for the best digital testing equipment I can get and maintain that instead of monotonous weekly testing. In the long run it'll make my life easier and one day I may even break even from taking care of my equipment.
Everything out there I suppose will have calibration solutions and replaceable probes. I'm just looking for the best I can find or even an all in one solution but I don't know if Neptune Systems make anything that monitors all your parameters in real time but that would be ideal.

 

[Dan_P]

I could never get a repeatable reading with mine. Even after many tests and doing it EXACTLY the way I see Hanna do it in their video.

The time doesn't concern me, nor the procedure. It's just a non repeatable reading is what concerned me with mine. I do run elevated nutrients(above 5ppm) so in the dilution process I think is where it always failed. Even measuring my NSW I had a small reading. If I subtracted the reading from my tanks readings, they were still not inline with any other test kit.

Mailed mine off to @Dan_P, wonder how he got along with it?

I think about your generosity every time I use the Hanna Nitrate Checker! And I use it alot.

I have gone through 4 reagent replacement packages so far and have the procedure down so that I can do it my sleep now. I have calibrated the Checker and the results are within specs. The procedure is a bit involved, but not what you would call onerous.

Thanks again.

Dan

 

[DE FISH]

Salifert nitrate cheap easy quick

 

[ss30]

I use Nyos No3 simple and easy to read

 

[TehBrainz]

I use both Salifert and the Hanna checker.

I personally prefer variable data and love the Hanna checker as a result. For the layman, the Hanna is probably too much procedurally to do on a consistent basis (or even once for that matter), but it's right up my alley.

For speed, ease, and consistent results I'd go with Salifert. I'm just not a fan of trying to discern varying levels of pink, but thats just my preference