Hanna Alk Reagents / Floating Particles

[GoVols]

Hello Hanna,
I can never finish a bottle of new reagent before floating particles come in to play after half the bottle is used. I've shaken before use every time per refill and not on some refills. Same results.

It's a big enough issue to through the test results off by 2 dkh at times.

When I open a brand new reagent from the same lot #, then it test fine, until the floating particles appear again.

Is this something that's going to be addressed by Hanna?

Regards, GoVols

 

[jonneyb]

Hello Hanna,
I can never finish a bottle of new reagent before floating particles come in to play after half the bottle is used. I've shaken before use every time per refill and not on some refills. Same results.

It's a big enough issue to through the test results off by 2 dkh at times.

When I open a brand new reagent from the same lot #, then it test fine, until the floating particles appear again.

Is this something that's going to be addressed by Hanna?

Regards, GoVols

I've seen the same thing a few times, I thought it was something I did, and I believe it was near the end of the reagent.

 

[GoVols]

I've seen the same thing a few times, I thought it was something I did, and I believe it was near the end of the reagent.

Thanks for your response... and your sure not the only one... ;Wacky

Wondering if oxygen breaks it down (over time), and plays a factor after opening a new reagent.

 

[Lazys Coral House]

I have same issue here

 

[Buffalou]

Has anyone gone back to Hanna and asked them, another thought I had was going back to whomever you bought it from and raise the question. I know BRS is very good at customer support, I just got into hanna testing so I'll keep you all posted if I run into same issues, sort of bummer that I just read this after getting geared up

 

[Dr. Reef]

I have read their response on this subject before on either this forum or somewhere else.
Opening the bottle and leaving it open during testing can cause this issue as air reacts and cause effects on pH and over time weakens the solution causing irregular testing results.
They recommend to minimize the open lid time on reagent.
I hope they chime in and correct what I misrepresented.

 

[siggy]

Opening the bottle and leaving it open during testing can cause this issue as air reacts and cause effects on pH and over time weakens the solution causing irregular testing results.
They recommend to minimize the open lid time on reagent.

Guessing ALK ? Ya I get green crusties around the lid and that plastic film. Im also guessing its condensing some how, never thought about inaccuracies.
@jsker maybe try a test with old and new reagent and compare the outcome?
I know you can buy these to keep meds fresh

 

[Tautog]

I too have the same issue. I minimize the time the cap is off. I use the same syringe. I use a reagent bottle every month, it’s not old. I don’t get the particle issue every time . But Red Sea Alk kit reagent had problems too, the reagent wasn’t powerful enough, I had to add extra reagent, thus results were meaninglessness. When in doubt........retest! And with another kit.

 

[siggy]

Now Im thinking about the GHL KH director.

 

[raultsu]

Same issue here. I don’t leave the bottle open for long. I take out the amount I need for the test then I close the container

 

[Stephers]

Following... I've never had this problem, but in curious in case I run across it in the future.

 

[Jshiloh]

I’ve seen the particles in my bottles. Doesn’t seem to effect the reading. I’ve tested with the particles and with out.

 

[jsker]

I now use a pipette with a 1000ul tip to test with with the Ca and Alk tests with consistent tests going forward. When I would use the tips supplied by Hanna I would have the same issue with consistency. My thinking is the reagents were drying in the tips that are supplied and making my test results faults/off.

As far as the reagents drying, I make sure the top are tightly screwed on when I use the reagents.

When in doubt........retest! And with another kit.

This is a good point and I do so if my test results are not what they should be.

 

[Rick.45cal]

It used to happen to me when I used the alkalinity checker too.

 

[Hanna Instruments]

Hello Hanna,
I can never finish a bottle of new reagent before floating particles come in to play after half the bottle is used. I've shaken before use every time per refill and not on some refills. Same results.

It's a big enough issue to through the test results off by 2 dkh at times.

When I open a brand new reagent from the same lot #, then it test fine, until the floating particles appear again.

Is this something that's going to be addressed by Hanna?

Regards, GoVols

The particles are nothing to be concerned with and will not impact results.

 

[GoVols]

The particles are nothing to be concerned with and will not impact results.

No offense, but the floating particles do effect the results and the particles make the dkh read high.
I've crosschecked with opening brand new reagents, and other test kits.

I'll keep tossing half used reagent bottles...

Thanks!!

 

[saltyhog]

I have noticed what looks like "floaters". They look like a film. I see it towards the end of the bottle and I only have the bottle open long enough to draw the reagent. I have not seen any effect on my results with results exactly the same or within 1ppm (I use the ppm version). Weird.

 

[homer1475]

I have the floaties too!

I always recap the bottle after drawing the reagent into the syringe, and rinse the syringe and tip in RO/DI after use. Never noticed a discrepancy between the old reagent that had floaties, and a new bottle. Both tested the same within hanna's accuracy rate.

I always assumed it was crust(precipitate) from the reagent drying up on the lid. But again, no noticeable difference between the floaty bottle of reagent, and a new.

 

[rcpalmer1]

The particles are nothing to be concerned with and will not impact results.

I had logged in today to start a thread asking if anyone else was having accuracy issues when getting to the end of a bottle of reagent. By the comments here I would say the answer is yes. I test my alk and phosphorus almost daily. I have used over 20 bottles of reagent so I would consider myself very familiar with running the test. I am sure that 3 different times I was getting consistent results. (What I mean by consistent is one day it may change by 0.2-0.4dkh but that it would trend in one direction. My tank consumes around 1dkh a day dosing 150ml of soda ash.) Then I would get a new bottle of reagent and my test would be consistent but off by 2-4dkh. This may have happened more than three times but I had done something else at the same time like a water change and did not relate it to the tester.

The Hanna testers a great. I would not test every day if it wasn't so easy. I don't think anyone here is criticizing Hanna. If this many people have found this tread and commented I would believe that hundreds are having the same issues but don't realize it, are commenting elsewhere, or just stopped using Hanna products. Saying "nothing to be concerned with" doesn't make my test results correct. It makes me think that Hanna doesn't think it is a issue, they don't know a solution and don't want to admit it, or hanna has already made their profit off of the checker that it would be more expensive to try and find a solution than the lost sales of reagent. If you look at the banners under the users that have commented here. There are excellence awards, squad leaders, article contributors, partner members, and even a staff member. These are not new reefers that should be dismissed.

 

[Cerberusfish]

I'm having this issue and have only used the bottle a couple of times. Sadly I'm on a budget and replacing these bottles so frequently means I'll have to shelf the checker until they fix the issue and use another test kit. I really enjoyed using the checker but I guess it's not meant to be just yet.