Hanna Checkers. Are they all that. Are they worth the money?

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thats a funny question to ask in this hobby. You can buy a $40 powerhead or a $400 powerhead, and everything in between.

For me, in regards to testing, its not about the price, I dont want to figure out colors, I just want a number, and hanna is the only one that offers this.

 

[reefiniteasy]

I have the following checkers: alkalinity, PO4 ULR, Nitrate HR, pH, Chlorine (for RODI storage) and the salinity tester. The are worth it, I just don’t like the inconsistency of the alkalinity reagent. I love the nitrate and phosphate checkers. Very useful and easy to use.

 

[PeterEde]

Fish poo that has nitrate in it.

I find the nitrate checker very good, tho 10ppm is quite a big variance, not sure poo would account for that but 10ppm is not a big concern imo, if you nitrate is 10 or 20, it’s still in an acceptable range.

I am tempted to say maybe your testing procedures need tightening up, I have used the nitrate checker for a while now and always get results that seem accurate, they slowly increase over the week from 15 to 20, but I am OCD when testing.

Their salinity checker I would pass on, a $1 for a single packet of calibration fluid and it needs caliction often, not for me.

I clean the vials
I rinse with tank water
I time my shake using a timer.
I see no where to better the process

 

[PeterEde]

All the hobby grade tests have about the same level of accuracy and uncertainty.

You'll waste a lot of money trying to find something that wont vary with each test. Just pick one and stick with it and maybe just measure once a week to look at trends rather than exact numbers.

Why
I am electronics trained
I see no reason the components in these would cause the concern unless designed to fail.
I work with electronic tools daily. Only require calibration once a year. Some of these are cheap garbage but they still hold calibration.
What could possibly be inside that can not hold calibration

 

[ROBERT35]

My question is though why does it need calibrating so often. The industry I work in instruments such as this are only calibrated once a year. If I did that with this check the tank would be dead.

How often are you having to calibrate them?

 

[borillion]

Yes they are but I’d recommend a 10ml micropipe your need to send it off for calibration every 3 - 6 months

Calibrate the Hanna checker or the micropipette ?

 

[Dan_P]

I have a Salinity checker and HR No3 checker. Both give me cause for concern.
Why would an electronic instrument need calibration so often?

I last called maybe a month ago. Yesterday I checked my water and felt the measurement might be wrong. So I calibrated again and got a reading of 40. what the heck. I replace wet skim with salt and evap with RO. I can only assume when I mixed for my last WC my meter was out then and mixed at 40ish?
What is inside these things that can go out of cal so quick?
Designed to fail is my guess.
If I could get a reliable hydrometer I would but all I can find in Australia are cheap garbage ones. One of which I already tried and the scale had slipped.

Again with HR No3 checker. I know my Nitrate was high so instead of trying to eyeball color I decided to get a real idea of numbers and bought the checker. I get swings of 10ppm one day to the next with no change to feeding or anything else. I am fast losing faith in Hanna.
Maybe a better test kit with great range is required.
What is the best No3 test kit? I have Redsea

Tank still looks good. No obvious issues and am now working to reduce salinity over the next few days

I can’t speak to salinity measurement. Here are my thoughts about testing.

Reasons for analytical issues in order of probability (my estimate)

1) Operator error I. Let’s face the fact that most aquarists have little or no experience with water testing. This means they are not equipped to spot errors in what they are doing and definitely don’t know which instruction is a “do it exactly as written” or ”be close to the instruction”

2) Operator Error II. Unless you are cleaning the test vial well and only using it for nitrate testing, the HR chemistry could be variable.

3) Not understanding method variation. Test chemistry and test equipment do not produce the exact same results each time. That is normal but not generally appreciated.

4) Bad lot of test chemical. It happens but probably less often then you think because most issues arise from #1-3.

5) Aquarium water chemistry is variable.

 

[Malcontent]

Calibrate the Hanna checker or the micropipette ?

Most labs only calibrate their micropipettes annually and theirs see much more use...

 

[borillion]

Thats a funny question to ask in this hobby. You can buy a $40 powerhead or a $400 powerhead, and everything in between.

For me, in regards to testing, its not about the price, I dont want to figure out colors, I just want a number, and hanna is the only one that offers this.

I always disliked that color matching game. Its subjective and variable depending on the person and lighting lol.

 

[Wasabiroot]

I think for convenience vs cost they can't be beat. None of the equipment sold to hobbyists is designed with lab grade results in mind, so their accuracy isn't my highest concern, just consistency.
If you think about it, the tools you use the most in the hobby are the easiest to use. That's why things like water changes and testing being easy and hassle free is a food goal - more likely to do.

Imo the alkalinity (dKh), ulr phosphorous, and hr nitrate are the 3 to get. The other ones I've heard mixed things. The new magnesium one I won't touch with a 10 foot pole until the inconsistent high readings are addressed.

Checking my alk takes all of 1 minute with results in seconds.

The best way to ensure they perform to spec is to read the directions and follow them closely as they are designed to minimize misleads. Ensure vials are clean and scratch free. They should provide years of service if so.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My question is though why does it need calibrating so often. The industry I work in instruments such as this are only calibrated once a year. If I did that with this check the tank would be dead.

Once a year? High end analytical labs calibrate every day, often multiple time a day. Many tests even have internal standards to calibrate during every test.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Why
I am electronics trained
I see no reason the components in these would cause the concern unless designed to fail.
I work with electronic tools daily. Only require calibration once a year. Some of these are cheap garbage but they still hold calibration.
What could possibly be inside that can not hold calibration

This is from the manual for a laboratory grade conductivity meter (salinity, for example)

https://archive-resources.coleparmer.com/Manual_pdfs/441pHConductivityBenchMeter.pdf

NOTE
2.2
NOTE
For maximum accuracy, samples and standards should be at the same temperature, preferably the reference temperature (see Section 3.2).
Measuring Samples
Good laboratory practice dictates that sensors should be calibrated at least daily.
Place the sensor in the sample and press read to start the measurement. The decimal point will be
flashing whenever the sensor is reading.

 

[Reef.]

I didn't ask you.

I was explaining that it is not necessary to buy sachets from Hanna to calibrate the salinity checker. You can make gallons of the stuff for penny's

A question mark at the end of your sentence makes it’s a question.

 

[gbroadbridge]

A question mark at the end of your sentence makes it’s a question.

Oops, a misteak!

 

[DE FISH]

Calibrate the Hanna checker or the micropipette ?

micropipette calibration is not possible with the Hanna checker my micropipette states calibration every 3 - 6 months you can send them off to be calibrated

 

[Malcontent]

micropipette calibration is not possible with the Hanna checker my micropipette states calibration every 3 - 6 months you can send them off to be calibrated

How much do they drift in between calibrations?

 

[gbroadbridge]

How much do they drift in between calibrations?

Depends how often you drop them

 

[EricR]

Quick take on the topic title...

For someone who is color blind, they're the best I could hope for but there will always be potential issues with mass-produced, affordable products.

I use Hanna checkers in place of color-based tests for several parameters and find them to be consistent enough to be useable for what I care about.

...plus, I learn stuff on R2R from the more experienced ... Hanna's alkalinity reagent useful life span (and possibly better storage methods) are one example.

*I also use Hanna's salinity (EC) meter which has nothing to do with color perception, and I like it (((but I did scrap Hanna calibration fluid and replace with Randy's DIY EC mix)))

 

[DE FISH]

How much do they drift in between calibrations?

Nothing noticeable it’s just for peace of mind using a scientific instrument on a hobby grade test helps with consistency in my humble opinion

 

[Malcontent]

Nothing noticeable it’s just for peace of mind using a scientific instrument on a hobby grade test helps with consistency in my humble opinion

You could start increasing the interval between calibrations since you're not seeing any significant drift.