Most useful laboratory stuff for aquariums

[MrPatel]

I've worked in pharmaceutical laboratories for many years before starting my aquarium. I've found there's quite a few things we used in the lab that work quite well in the aquarium hobby. I'll list a few and ask if anyone else does this too.

1: Transfer Pipettes - Great for dosing small amounts of anything and for taking small amounts of tank water for testing


2: Magnetic Stir Plate - Makes mixing saltwater hands free


2B: Propeller Variant for bigger volumes


3: Electronic Balance - Eliminates guesswork for making saltwater. I used it to make a precise mark for 15 Liters in my 5gal container, and then weigh 525g of salt for the 15L. Perfect 35ppt/1.026sg saltwater every time.


4: pH Meter: Better than the strips


5: Beakers/Glassware - for general use

 

[rhitee93]

adjustable micro-pipetters. I have these in 5ml and 1ml ranges, and use them extensively. Makes my sample draws for testing very consistent.

 

[JohnNYC8]

Very helpful--thanks!

Question: one of the biggest pains is shaking the Hannah cuvettes for 2 minutes when doing certain tests on their digital checkers. Is there a good home solution for mixing/agitating them?

 

[MrPatel]

adjustable micro-pipetters. I have these in 5ml and 1ml ranges, and use them extensively. Makes my sample draws for testing very consistent.

That's a good one. I've been using the marks on the disposable pipettes, but this would be way more accurate.

 

[MrPatel]

Very helpful--thanks!

Question: one of the biggest pains is shaking the Hannah cuvettes for 2 minutes when doing certain tests on their digital checkers. Is there a good home solution for mixing/agitating them?

There's the option of a shaker table or a vortexer. Problem is they're kind of expensive. If that isn't a big deal to you, go for it!

 

[xabo]

Question: one of the biggest pains is shaking the Hannah cuvettes for 2 minutes when doing certain tests on their digital checkers. Is there a good home solution for mixing/agitating them?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Volumetric Flasks for reliable measurement of fluid volume

 

[KrisReef]

I was thinking you were going to help us out with a pharmaceutical product to ease the symptoms of reefing.

I do use a syringe to draw my Hanna sample instead of trying to line up the meniscus properly each time.

Sometimes I use beakers but often I substitute a 15ml medication bottle top for 95% of these things.

 

[Forty-Two]

in addition to the items listed by the OP - a good quality microscope!

Plus a little more hobby specific - a par meter

 

[MrPatel]

Volumetric Flasks for reliable measurement of fluid volume

100% true, but personally not worth the investment to me. I weighed 15000 grams of water into my 5 gallon jug and marked the line as 15L. I consider that effectively volumetric for the purposes of aquarium keeping (and much cheaper)

 

[MrPatel]

in addition to the items listed by the OP - a good quality microscope!

Plus a little more hobby specific - a par meter

You could see what sorts of micro stuff is growing in your tank!

 

[MrPatel]

I was thinking you were going to help us out with a pharmaceutical product to ease the symptoms of reefing.

I do use a syringe to draw my Hanna sample instead of trying to line up the meniscus properly each time.

Sometimes I use beakers but often I substitute a 15ml medication bottle top for 95% of these things.

Lol. Well, Maybe Fluoxetine can help treat coral polyp anxiety and get them to open up sooner! Stay tuned for clinical trials.

 

[Gtinnel]

Depending on the type of lab, high quality dosing pumps. My masterflex pump that I use for my AWC was from a college lab.

 

[gbroadbridge]

100% true, but personally not worth the investment to me. I weighed 15000 grams of water into my 5 gallon jug and marked the line as 15L. I consider that effectively volumetric for the purposes of aquarium keeping (and much cheaper)

Sure but 15000g of water is not necessarily 15 litres but probably close enough for mixing salt water.

Not close enough if you're diluting 1N HCl down to 0.02N for an automatic Alkalinity tester

 

[taricha]

Question: one of the biggest pains is shaking the Hannah cuvettes for 2 minutes when doing certain tests on their digital checkers. Is there a good home solution for mixing/agitating them?

@Rick Mathew found a solution. It's a nail polish shaker. Loud, but hands-free and consistent.

 

[Gtinnel]

@Rick Mathew found a solution. It's a nail polish shaker. Loud, but hands-free and consistent.

There was also a forum member who made their own. For anyone who is into diy projects.

Hanna Checker Cuvette Mixer

Hey Fellow Reefers, I wanted to share a cuvette mixer I made to mix the dry Hanna Checker reagents. I use this for the phosphate checker (2 min mix time), and the Calcium checker (15s mix). It runs off of 2 AA batteries, there is a voltage boost board to get the ~3V battery voltage up to...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Blopple]

A wash bottle with RO in it changed my life for cleaning testing vials, rinsing equipment, even cleaning the glass.

 

[Rick Mathew]

Sure but 15000g of water is not necessarily 15 litres but probably close enough for mixing salt water.

Not close enough if you're diluting 1N HCl down to 0.02N for an automatic Alkalinity tester

Here is what @taricha was talking about....works great

 

[Rick Mathew]

Very helpful--thanks!

Question: one of the biggest pains is shaking the Hannah cuvettes for 2 minutes when doing certain tests on their digital checkers. Is there a good home solution for mixing/agitating them?

 

[Rick Mathew]

A wash bottle with RO in it changed my life for cleaning testing vials, rinsing equipment, even cleaning the glass.

Yes I know what you mean....I do a lot of testing so I did a DIY "Vial Rinsing Gadget" that is like having 4 wash bottles working together...rinses 4 vials at a time...really cuts down on the testing time...Here is a link to the DIY project

VIAL RINSING GADGET---SPEEDS UP TESTING

I actually enjoy testing my tank water as well as doing a lot of experimentation to better understand and improve my measurement results as well as provide new insights to share with the Reefing community. However the one thing I do not enjoy is the rinsing and cleaning of the vials I use in the...

www.reef2reef.com