New Hanna marine checkers: magnesium and ammonia

[Muffin87]

Maybe I was the only one who was left in the dark, but some German sites show:

• HI783 Hanna Marine Magnesium Checker
• HI784 Hanna Marine Ammonia Checker

I'm so glad I won't have to do any more titration tests. Anyone else is very keen to try out the new magnesium checker?

The Magnesium one is scheduled for release on April 15 in Germany.
Range: 1000-1800 ppm / Resolution: 5 ppm / Accuracy: ±5% of the reading at 25°C
By google-translating the manual on Hanna's German site, it seems pretty easy to use.

• Prepare your "blank" with 4 ml of reagent A, plus 5 ml of unreacted sample
• Put the "blank" into checker, press the button, wait for C2
• Get the "blank" out of the checker, add 1 ml reagent B. Invert 5 times.
• Put the reacted sample back into the checker. Press button once. (no waiting time), the display shows the result.

The ammonia one looks a tad more complex:
Range: 0-2.5 ppm / Resolution: 0.01 ppm / Accuracy: ±5% of the reading at 25°C

• Prepare your "blank" by adding 14 drops of reagent A and one sachet of reagent B to 10 ml of unreacted sample.
• Shake the "blank" gently for 30-45 seconds, and let the "blank" stand for 30 seconds to eliminate bubbles.
• Put the "blank" into checker, press the button, wait for C2.
• Get the "blank" out of the checker, add 12 drops of reagent C. Invert 5 times.
• Put the reacted sample back into the checker. Press and HOLD the button. After a 15 minutes wait, the display shows the result.

The steps of the ammonia checker remind me a lot of the Red Sea ammonia test. Same reagents: two droppers, one powder. Same wait time: 15 mins.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I hope the magnesium one works better than their calcium checker.

 

[Woodyman]

I hope the magnesium one works better than their calcium checker.

Agree! It at least sounds easier to use!

 

[Gtinnel]

I absolutely hate doing the red sea magnesium test. I can't wait for it to come out, but I'll probably wait to see reviews before buying. Although the steps seem pretty easy, unlike the LR nitrate that everyone was excited for.

 

[Muffin87]

I hope the magnesium one works better than their calcium checker.

Well the calcium one is inherently flawed because of the miniscule amount of the sample water, no? This one uses a much larger amount of sample, and no RO/DI with potential traces of mag / calcium.

 

[mdb_talon]

Based off their alk(reagent) and calc checkers i dont trust them enough to hand over any more of my money without seeing a lot of reviews.

 

[moz71]

I absolutely hate doing the red sea magnesium test. I can't wait for it to come out, but I'll probably wait to see reviews before buying. Although the steps seem pretty easy, unlike the LR nitrate that everyone was excited for.

I am with you! Takes forever to test. I don’t know how many times I lost track on how many single drops I put in when mixing in between each drop. But I do love the accuracy!

 

[Muffin87]

Based off their alk(reagent)

what's the issue with the alk reagent? I've heard about it, but I couldn't exactly understand. Could you summarise it for me?

 

[mdb_talon]

At best it goes bad quickly. Read a thread recently it does better in the fridge.

My bigger issue is just drastically inconsistent reagents(ie 2-3dkh variance between two newly opened bottles). At first I thought i just got really unlucky a couple times but have seen enough people with same issue i wont waste any ore money on it.

As a side note....selling hanna alk checker(and some bad reagents) cheap

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well the calcium one is inherently flawed because of the minuscule amount of the sample water, no? This one uses a much larger amount of sample, and no RO/DI with potential traces of mag / calcium.

That would be an improvement, yes.

 

[Gtinnel]

At best it goes bad quickly. Read a thread recently it does better in the fridge.

My bigger issue is just drastically inconsistent reagents(ie 2-3dkh variance between two newly opened bottles). At first I thought i just got really unlucky a couple times but have seen enough people with same issue i wont waste any ore money on it.

As a side note....selling hanna alk checker(and some bad reagents) cheap

Maybe it's because mine is fairly new, I just bought my first reagent refill, but mine has always been consistent with my red sea kit and my trident. So far in my experience it's the best checker they make. Hopefully my opinion doesn't change in the future.

 

[moz71]

My experience I included on that thread has been I get consistent readings until I get a bad regent or when get to bottom of my regent. Even seem some clumps in it. This is why refrigeration may help. But when it’s good it’s good

 

[mdb_talon]

Maybe it's because mine is fairly new, I just bought my first reagent refill, but mine has always been consistent with my red sea kit and my trident. So far in my experience it's the best checker they make. Hopefully my opinion doesn't change in the future.

Ya hopefully you always have good luck with it i just not willing to risk it anymore. I use the elos and the salifert now. I do still use the phosphate checker just cause my eyes cant do the color shade test kits well.

 

[Malcontent]

610 nm...that means this could be the first salicylate method ammonia test ever in Hanna's entire product line!

 

[Nick Steele]

Seeing as I only check mag once a month or so I don’t see this being worthwhile for me. Salifert is good enough

 

[jsker]

Just an FYI. I have not had an issue with the Hanna tests in years, once I stopped using the same syringes, tips. My testing has been pretty consistent. There is an operator error every once in a while

 

[Muffin87]

610 nm...that means this could be the first salicylate method ammonia test ever in Hanna's entire product line!

what's special about it? I'm curious.

 

[Malcontent]

what's special about it? I'm curious.

Nessler tests will turn an unreadable brown color when used with some water conditioners. The reagents contain mercury and should be disposed of as hazmat.

It's very rare to see Nessler ammonia tests.

 

[Muffin87]

Nessler tests will turn an unreadable brown color when used with some water conditioners. The reagents contain mercury and should be disposed of as hazmat.

It's very rare to see Nessler ammonia tests.

The manual does say "modification of the salicylate method. The reaction between ammonia-ammonium and the reagent causes a blue-green coloration of the sample."

I wonder if you could then also use it to test your rodi effluent without buying a freshwater ammonia checker just for that. It'd be useful for those who have chloramines.

 

[Dan_P]

Maybe I was the only one who was left in the dark, but some German sites show:

• HI783 Hanna Marine Magnesium Checker
• HI784 Hanna Marine Ammonia Checker

I'm so glad I won't have to do any more titration tests. Anyone else is very keen to try out the new magnesium checker?

The Magnesium one is scheduled for release on April 15 in Germany.
Range: 1000-1800 ppm / Resolution: 5 ppm / Accuracy: ±5% of the reading at 25°C
By google-translating the manual on Hanna's German site, it seems pretty easy to use.

• Prepare your "blank" with 4 ml of reagent A, plus 5 ml of unreacted sample
• Put the "blank" into checker, press the button, wait for C2
• Get the "blank" out of the checker, add 1 ml reagent B. Invert 5 times.
• Put the reacted sample back into the checker. Press button once. (no waiting time), the display shows the result.

The ammonia one looks a tad more complex:
Range: 0-2.5 ppm / Resolution: 0.01 ppm / Accuracy: ±5% of the reading at 25°C

• Prepare your "blank" by adding 14 drops of reagent A and one sachet of reagent B to 10 ml of unreacted sample.
• Shake the "blank" gently for 30-45 seconds, and let the "blank" stand for 30 seconds to eliminate bubbles.
• Put the "blank" into checker, press the button, wait for C2.
• Get the "blank" out of the checker, add 12 drops of reagent C. Invert 5 times.
• Put the reacted sample back into the checker. Press and HOLD the button. After a 15 minutes wait, the display shows the result.

The steps of the ammonia checker remind me a lot of the Red Sea ammonia test. Same reagents: two droppers, one powder. Same wait time: 15 mins.

@ taricha and converted the API ammonia test to be read with the low range silica tester, 610 nm, with similar specs as above.

The sachet likely contains a chelating agent like sodium citrate to keep calcium and magnesium from precipitating at high pH of the test. The first liquid is probably the salicylate and the catalyst, and the last reagent is the bleach. There are alternative reagents they might have selected to stabilize the baseline, like an alternative catalyst.

On a separate note, we are modifying the API nitrate test to be read with the Hanna high range nitrate Checker. So far we seem to have beat the HR NO3 test in sensitivity. It is like having an HR Checker that reads up to 50 ppm but with the sensitivity of the LR NO3 Checker, reading down to several tenths of a ppm. If the good news stands up to rigorous testing, I am sure there will be a Eureka! post that will share the details.