UK_Pete
Active Member
I've been wondering about what equipment is required to do professional style analysis of aquarium water, and whats the most affordable route to this.
I'm not suggesting I myself might be able to afford the equipment but after chatting to my LFS, which is part of a medium sized chain in the area (a wealthy area) with lots of wealthy clients with what I consider to be huge tanks, we were wondering if it was something that could be afforded by this type of business.
If a full test could be done for say $15, and there were 1000 clients who used the service weekly to monthly, thats a sizeable sum but I don't know how it compares to the price of the equipment.
Randy, I have read in your articles that you use ICP-MS (or is it OES you use?), and I know thats expensive kit, but is there a cheaper mid range technique which would work well enough for saltwater aquarium use? For me its a PITA to run just the test I use, and taking a vial of my water to he LFS weekly (and combining a chat with the guys there and checking their stock) would probably appeal at the right price.
I have to admit I am quite interested in Glenn's method of testing and avoiding water changes too if I am honest, but the extra test kits would set me back another couple of hundred, plus the effort involved. Additionally I am a bit loathe to pay for those tests which always seem a bit inaccurate to me.
I guess photometric techniques would have high running costs in terms of the test kits (and labour) so I was thinking of some kind of spectrometry. Is the equipment for salt water analysis required to be as accurate as the latest and greatest or is lower tech adequate? Is ICP-OES/MS required (is either technique better for salt water analysis)? Would flame spectrometry, or other older techniques work well enough? When you have analysed your salt water, did you need to do chemical methods first to remove the bulk of the sodium or just use the water directly? And do you need to be a trained chemist to use the machines?
Thanks, Pete
I'm not suggesting I myself might be able to afford the equipment but after chatting to my LFS, which is part of a medium sized chain in the area (a wealthy area) with lots of wealthy clients with what I consider to be huge tanks, we were wondering if it was something that could be afforded by this type of business.
If a full test could be done for say $15, and there were 1000 clients who used the service weekly to monthly, thats a sizeable sum but I don't know how it compares to the price of the equipment.
Randy, I have read in your articles that you use ICP-MS (or is it OES you use?), and I know thats expensive kit, but is there a cheaper mid range technique which would work well enough for saltwater aquarium use? For me its a PITA to run just the test I use, and taking a vial of my water to he LFS weekly (and combining a chat with the guys there and checking their stock) would probably appeal at the right price.
I have to admit I am quite interested in Glenn's method of testing and avoiding water changes too if I am honest, but the extra test kits would set me back another couple of hundred, plus the effort involved. Additionally I am a bit loathe to pay for those tests which always seem a bit inaccurate to me.
I guess photometric techniques would have high running costs in terms of the test kits (and labour) so I was thinking of some kind of spectrometry. Is the equipment for salt water analysis required to be as accurate as the latest and greatest or is lower tech adequate? Is ICP-OES/MS required (is either technique better for salt water analysis)? Would flame spectrometry, or other older techniques work well enough? When you have analysed your salt water, did you need to do chemical methods first to remove the bulk of the sodium or just use the water directly? And do you need to be a trained chemist to use the machines?
Thanks, Pete
