Commercial Water Testers- SpinTouch?

chinkle · Jan 27, 2023

So pretty much every week I cruse down to one of my local fish shops and get a water test for my reef tank. I love the ease and somewhat the convenience...I'm there anyway. 8-10 bucks a pop...52 weeks a year yada. trying to get an idea of how much they cost and if you can even get one. I have looked at the Spin Touch units $1,100.00 or so but can't really tell if you can get a kit geared toward reef tank. Was just on a chat with a vendor and they said they couldn't reccomend the product if not used for swimming pools?? Pretty sure its the same unit sitting on the counter at my local shop. Has anyone purchased one and has the right part numbers for the disk kit that will test Ca, Mg, Nitrate, Nitrate, Ammo, Salinity, Phos and Alk?

All_talk · Jan 27, 2023

I have read that the manufacture may not sell the unit or refill disks retail, apparently the are only really marketed towards LFS.

Crofty · Jan 27, 2023

My LFS also uses a Spin Touch. And yes, they are designed and sold for use in pool maintenance. The LFS said the systems are not sold to the general public, but I'm guessing if someone really wanted one for personal use they could find a way.

Anyway, I was curious about it's performance compared to typical aquarium test methods. I tested a water sample with Salifert first and had LFS test same sample with their Spin Touch. The results were very comparable, well within the margin of error of the Salifert tests (especially those with the visual color test).

chinkle · Jan 28, 2023

There is a youtube video of a British guy who did salifert and Hanna tests before trying the Spintouch and they were comparable actually really close. However, I can say that depending on the shop I go to results vary. I did a test at one of my local haunts and it was way different on Ca and Mg. I did a Hanna calcium check and I was at 425 Ca tested and hour later at the fish shop and I was at 557 Ca. Not sure what they are using it is behind the curtain. As I dig deeper several versions out there but the mystery now is the disks...you have to get the right ones and the right unit. So trying to figure that out.