A thread tracking the incidence of seneye nh3 misreads

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brandon429

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Chris I didn’t get the post report yesterday, just saw your data thank you very much for adding to our viewable items

i like how the max spike was in the hundredths ppm not tenths, that's in line with how most reefs report spikes on seneye

I was amazed that only 1.5 hours use to move ranges back down into thousandths which seems in line with how seneye reports on other tanks too.


we have been shown that free ammonia is busy, changing, dynamic and responsive to additions it can’t stick at .001 any more accurately than it can at .25 / the worlds most common non-seneye ammonia reading, changing slides seemed to help here if I’m not reading your data incorrectly
 

ingchr1

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An update on my Seneye readings since I started dosing Dr. Tims NH4Cl four drops two times a day.

There have been a couple of instances where the Seneye did not register the dose and one where it registered high.

Not sure of the reasons for the anomalies. I dose the same amount each time to same compartment in my AIO. The slides I am using are two years old however.

Overall though, the readings are fairly consistent and I'm happy with the results.

Here is the reading where it read high. It hit my alarm point (0.021), sent me a text of the alarm, then resampled automatically ten minutes later. You can see the second sample registered in line with what I have been seeing.

1606489907458.png
 
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very very helpful data thank u much for the updates. if I ever get one/will know what to expect

the funny part is I wouldn't use it in my tank much other than to check base readings out of curiosity. I'd be using it in various 5 gallon bucket arrangements to check cycling rules, especially the biological snipe called the unassisted marine cycle (aka all dry surfaces, days underwater and nothing else added, how long till fully self-cycled if ever)

nobody knows how long that takes. seneye could tell us I think.
 

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I just bought Seneye as a par meter and to have for back up to apex. I popped it into my 20 gallon waterbox which has been running now for 3 months (did start with 10gallon at first and transferred up to 20 with cycled rock a month ago).

2 black storm clowns, 2 rainbow anemones, rock anemones and an assortment of zoas, acans, gonipora and some other LPS.

seneye reading 0.499 Nh3

impossible, I’m not even going to double check it with another test kit. I’ve already gone through diatoms, green algae and I have hair algae growing on rocks right now.

I was about to jump to doing a water change and realized maybe the slide needed to calibrate (I did soak it for 48hrs as instructed for a marine tank) before placing it apparatus in tank.

All my corals are wide open and my black storms are happily swimming around enjoying themselves.

I don’t want to waste a slide but seems like this one is faulty. Any suggestions?

Also my pH is saying 7.22 on my Seneye but my Hana checker says 8 and that is calibrated. I’ve been a Reefer for years and I’m just getting back into this slowly so I know this can’t be true but it seems ridiculous for a reading that is off the charts for a new Reefer. Could unnecessarily cause them to try and correct something not broken.
 
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Wonderful post! I like the resolve you showed vs doubting the bacteria from known active surfaces...it's simply not possible to be that high nh3 with living animals doing fine.

straight up misread. * if you contact seneye directly they're great about fast response pls let us know if they help somehow. If you just use it for par alone then we still appreciate the report.
B
 
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I set up a new Seneye about 23 days ago and the slide has always read .001 without any kind of fluctuation. I will be putting in a new slide in about a week and will update what that one reads.
 
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Yes thank you for sure that’s equal alarm to a consistent tenths reading if it’s from a system of respiring animals/ feed input
 

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Yes thank you for sure that’s equal alarm to a consistent tenths reading if it’s from a system of respiring animals/ feed input
I have to wonder whether A) Seneye is dumping crappy chips/slides on the hobbyist, or B) the NH3 sensor needs a bit more R&D to make it more reliable. Rushing an immature product to market would not be an unusual.
 

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I'm not exactly sure what is trying to be proven here. Is it that seneye may have false positive readings? Or that it may read .001 as a constant?
 
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Agreed the thread needs a summary of goals. So far we want the input patterns from users finding the measures we think are incorrect using these tools

see how many stand out as non compliant among users on the board

needs a few pages of feedback to establish predictable patterns / whether investment in the costly device is worth it for nh3 assessment portion.

meaning if api can do for $9.95...


-the view in the hobby on what free ammonia does in a reef tank is changing for the first time due to digital measurement. Mindstream/no longer running and seneye were the ushers for the change


we saw consistency inherent not variability when the meter changed to thousandths ppm which matches natural reef data

before seneye, two thirds of every reef tank measured by api is in a state of extended cycle and thereby extended panic vs deliberate reefing which preserves reef life by directed action.


reasons to re purchase cycling bacteria have dropped now that thousands of working seneye readers can see their ammonia control remain the same, even if they removed their entire sandbeds all at once (a reefing rule was shattered by seneye, reason ten to investigate the device) or whether or not they took a sump with extra filtration surface area offline

surety in ammonia control leads to predictability, no need for measurement at all. finding patterns in when nh3 control establishes and when it varies, if ever, is key to designing amazing reef tanks.



we saw in 2020 how once nh3 is controlled it doesn’t become uncontrolled in every circumstance the greater post world would say bacteria were weak, or limited. Their color tube interpret has misled them about what bacteria do.


what we measure and perceive nh3 to be doing guides our purchases, tank design, cleaning boundaries, and ability to physically handle the system such as required location changes. It is possible to reduce animal loss tremendously when the real activity of nh3 is discovered

this is the best measurement device we have so far, its a benchmark to other meters when it works is what I’m thinking. I’m determined to find out how trustworthy the device is when calibrated and working. Dan predicted in chat there would be misread posts last year lol a year before I saw any.
 
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Pntbll687

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Agreed the thread needs a summary of goals. So far we want the input patterns from users finding the measures we think are incorrect using these tools

see how many stand out as non compliant among users on the board

needs a few pages of feedback to establish predictable patterns / whether investment in the costly device is worth it for nh3 assessment portion.

meaning if api can do for $9.95...


-the view in the hobby on what free ammonia does in a reef tank is changing for the first time due to digital measurement. Mindstream/no longer running and seneye were the ushers for the change


we saw consistency inherent not variability when the meter changed to thousandths ppm which matches natural reef data

before seneye, two thirds of every reef tank measured by api is in a state of extended cycle and thereby extended panic vs deliberate reefing which preserves reef life by directed action.


reasons to re purchase cycling bacteria have dropped now that thousands of working seneye readers can see their ammonia control remain the same, even if they removed their entire sandbeds all at once (a reefing rule was shattered by seneye, reason ten to investigate the device) or whether or not they took a sump with extra filtration surface area offline

surety in ammonia control leads to predictability, no need for measurement at all. finding patterns in when nh3 control establishes and when it varies, if ever, is key to designing amazing reef tanks.



we saw in 2020 how once nh3 is controlled it doesn’t become uncontrolled in every circumstance the greater post world would say bacteria were weak, or limited. Their color tube interpret has misled them about what bacteria do.


what we measure and perceive nh3 to be doing guides our purchases, tank design, cleaning boundaries, and ability to physically handle the system such as required location changes. It is possible to reduce animal loss tremendously when the real activity of nh3 is discovered

this is the best measurement device we have so far, its a benchmark to other meters when it works is what I’m thinking. I’m determined to find out how trustworthy the device is when calibrated and working. Dan predicted in chat there would be misread posts last year lol a year before I saw any.
Most of the miss reads can probably be attributed to mass producing the slides at a reasonable price for a "hobby grade" device.

And the problem I see is that you're pretty much going to get all the people with "issues" and not nearly as many of the people with no issues. Which will reinforce confirmation bias, even if the problems are with a small subset of users.

The only way to really test this is to get multiple testers set up on the same tank and go through a few hundred slides.
 

ingchr1

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I set up a new Seneye about 23 days ago and the slide has always read .001 without any kind of fluctuation. I will be putting in a new slide in about a week and will update what that one reads.
Before it expires try an experiment, remove the slide and make sure nothing (debris, air bubble) is between it and the sensor. Using caution to only touch the sides of the slide. Maybe swish it around when back in the tank to make sure no air bubbles are trapped in it.

See if you start getting readings other than 0.001.
 

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Reading through this thread it just asked for people to report what seemed like a misread so I figured I would add my issue.

My Seneye is still reporting Nh3 0.499ppm now 24hrs later. Everything in the tank is happy. I can test nitrite and nitrate this weekend for more info for the thread but I’m not concerned at all today. Just a faulty product right now.

I may just toss the slide and throw a new one in so I can report it to the thread.

It says I need to soak the slide for 48hrs in my tank water. Maybe I just put it in and let it calibrate in the device in my tank instead?

I contacted Seneye and sent them more information that they requested, will let you know what they say.

I do think it’s just a faulty slide and yes maybe I’m an outlier, but it’s pretty far off and I followed directions for putting the slide and device together perfectly. I don’t think user error, just every so often there is a manufacturing issue. Happens.

Otherwise the PAR reader is awesome! Im trusting it is accurate based on other posts and info regarding it. Has allowed me to tune my Radion XR15 Pro!!
 

dochow

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Hello again, Seneye had me send pics of the device and the slide. They think the actual device is not calibrated correctly reading the slide and not the slide being the issue.

They are sending me a new Seneye and I’m returning the other.

Great customer service, not much more you can ask for in a company these days. Will definitely vouch for them as an honest, responsive and responsible company.

Very pleased, cheers!
 
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our new post from Paul shows a maxed-out seneye among healthy fish. misread unfolding.
 

ingchr1

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Yesterday I installed a new slide and it has been reading 0.001 for NH3. My last slide was reading 0.005 as normal and spiking up to 0.007 or so when I dose NH4Cl. This new slide did not move off of 0.001, even when I dosed the NH4Cl.

One remedy I tried was to remove the slide and put it back in, that did not help.

What appears to have worked is trimming the NH3 from a reading of 0.001 to 0.005, what my tank was reading as normal on the last slide. After doing this it registered tonight's dose of NH4Cl. The reading went from 0.005 to 0.007, then back down to 0.005.

This information may be helpful to others who experience the 0.001 reading. Would like to hear back the results.

Here is the graph. The spikes are the NH4Cl doses. The flat line on the left is when I changed the slide (0.001 reading for 24 hours). Will see how this does over time and will post an update. I dose the NH4Cl in the AM and PM. Two opportunities a day to see the response.

1607998879448.png

1607999889477.png
 
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After this thread builds a bit I’m awaiting seneyes response to some of these bad reads. I want them to be mailing out new $200 testers to folks who keep having to mess with things outside the directions to get reads


i want 50% of this thread eventually to be documented seneye responses and fixes, actual restoration of new devices when needed. We don’t want anyone to buy the best nh3 tester avail, and then not be able to trust it
 
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Not an nh3 misread. A post to show decent tech support by seneye, replacing bad meter.
 

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