Water clarity checker

[Tangdora]

Hi all just wanted to throw out a thought. Don’t think it possible but still want to ask. Does anyone think it possible to use one of the Hanna checker in some form to gauge water clarify. For example using rodi as the C1 base and then tank water as a second to then see if the result number falls out of the variance and their fire not as clear as rodi. I remember in the past seeing an article in here from i believe randy where he used a nitrite checker to give nitrate number before that checker existed. So just curious if the meters could be to be used to gauge clarity it self. I know most people will just say compare to buckets of water one tank and one rodi, just trying now to see if this can be done digitally

Reason why I ask at all is because I have a custom 10ft tank that always seem clear when looking at it from the front. But from the side it always has a haze. So would like to gauge if it normal light reflection or something in the water that really is distorting the clarity.

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I think that will be challenging unless the water is very turbid. The path length is so much smaller in a cuvette that you are asking it to reproducibly see a difference that is hundreds of times smaller than what you detect by eye along the length of your aquarium.

There's some detailed discussion of scattering measurements in these two articles:

Measuring Turbidity, TSS, and Water Clarity - Environmental Measurement Systems

Turbidity is caused by particles and colored material in water. It can be measured relative to water clarity or with a turbidity sensor or turbidimeter.

www.fondriest.com

https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/cell-analysis/cell-analysis-learning-center/cell-analysis-resource-library/cell-analysis-application-notes/absorbance-turbidimetric-scattering-photometry.html

 

[Malcontent]

Do you have UV? It can potentially give you crystal clear water.

Hanna does have a turbidity meter but it uses a tungsten bulb. That's not a light spectrum that can be replicated by a single LED.

Turbidity Meter - HI98703-01 | Hanna Instruments

Hanna Instruments Turbidity Meter meets & exceeds the requirements of EPA and standard methods, offering highly-accurate results in a handheld turbidity meter.

www.hannainst.com

 

[Tangdora]

Thanks Randy didn’t think It would be possible but worth asking. Good reads though.

Malcontent yes have ultaviolet. As mention tank is clear to my eye right now. But water clarity is like weight gain haha. Stare at something every day become blind lol. Wasn’t aware of the Hanna meter but at that price I’ll stick to the periodic compare to rodi.

Thanks all.

 

[slingfox]

If you want max water clarity you should look into ozone. I do the same thing to guage water clarity: look through one side of my aquarium to see how clear the water is when looking down the long length of the aquarium. I have seen very noticeable improvement after installing ozone.