Three test kits, big difference

[ShawnSaucier]

I have Hanna, Trident and an AquaSpin for testing my water. I understand that each will have a downside, but use all three to try to find a common middle. Usually all are pretty close.
I have been having issues on my CA readings lately.
Hanna : CA 544. Alk 9.4. MG 1463
Trident: CA 381 Alk 9.2. Mg 1448
AquaSpin: CA 437 Alk 8.5. MG 1435

Thinking I need to swap the Hanna Regents on the CA though have a use by date of 10/11/2028 as this isn’t the first time that the CA #’s have been so far apart.

Tank is 6 months old, rock cycled for almost 1 year. All frags, SPS heavier. Monthly 20% water changes. Total volume 240-ish. Dose 750 mls of Kalk daily through Avast K2 stirrer and Apex Dos ( calibrated once a month). Tank runs very clean. Fed 5 times a day plus Phyto 3-4x a week and Tropic Marin Amino 2x a week.

I had taken all dosing off line for a week and had 50+/- ppm fluctuations daily in the Trident testing which I have found odd with no additions.

UV runs 24/7, Chaeto Reactor runs on reverse light cycle to display lights. Filtration handled by Red Sea ReefMat 1200 and Deltec 1000xi Skimmer.

Any recommendations?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The Hanna calcium is poorly designed,IMO, and gives folks many problems.

Try these tests on some new salt water and see which are most plausible.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

The Hanna calcium is poorly designed,IMO, and gives folks many problems.

Try these tests on some new salt water and see which are most plausible.

Randy,
Thank you for your response. I picked up me cuvettes, reagent and a Salifert CA test kit. Why not add a fourth… lol
And brands you would recommend?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

For calcium, folks generally like Salifert. I’m not measuring it in my current tank, deciding to go by alk alone for AFR dosing. Seems to work fine, based on an icp.

 

[York1]

I use the hanna checkers but always keep a back up for Cal and Alk. I use salifert as my back up tests.

 

[js-3Design]

Hanna calcium works fine. But you need distilled water for it.
Also, always buy reference water and take the difference into account

 

[mcarroll]

I agree that the Hanna Ca meter is finicky....and Hanna's are in general finicky already compared to "regular" drip/titration tests. If you've been using it a while, then new cuvettes might solve the problem – they need to be in pristine condition IME. (Goes for all their kits that use cuvettes, not just Ca.)

This is more of a side issue, but I also don't know about the value of comparing results between kits. Since they are different testing methods, isn't it more of a coincidence when they match, and isn't consistency between tests on the same kit really what we care about? (The Hanna may be falling down on both fronts...)

I agree with running the "sanity check" on one or all of the kits using a fresh mixed batch of saltwater too. I tend to do this when I get an outlier result like that. Running a test in duplicate or triplicate to see if I'm contributing to the test error is another thing I might do....."can the kit (with me running it) still get consistent results at least?"

 

[KStatefan]

I am surprised there was not more variation in the MG readings.

 

[afboundguy]

I have Hanna, Trident and an AquaSpin for testing my water. I understand that each will have a downside, but use all three to try to find a common middle. Usually all are pretty close.
I have been having issues on my CA readings lately.
Hanna : CA 544. Alk 9.4. MG 1463
Trident: CA 381 Alk 9.2. Mg 1448
AquaSpin: CA 437 Alk 8.5. MG 1435

Thinking I need to swap the Hanna Regents on the CA though have a use by date of 10/11/2028 as this isn’t the first time that the CA #’s have been so far apart.

Tank is 6 months old, rock cycled for almost 1 year. All frags, SPS heavier. Monthly 20% water changes. Total volume 240-ish. Dose 750 mls of Kalk daily through Avast K2 stirrer and Apex Dos ( calibrated once a month). Tank runs very clean. Fed 5 times a day plus Phyto 3-4x a week and Tropic Marin Amino 2x a week.

I had taken all dosing off line for a week and had 50+/- ppm fluctuations daily in the Trident testing which I have found odd with no additions.

UV runs 24/7, Chaeto Reactor runs on reverse light cycle to display lights. Filtration handled by Red Sea ReefMat 1200 and Deltec 1000xi Skimmer.

Any recommendations?

I have to echo what others have said about Calcium Hannah checkers. I did not have much luck with them and had similar results of over 100+ difference between my AF and Salifert test kits so I got rid of it. The alkalinity and magnesium differences seem fine and I am a big fan of consistent readings over time for a specific test kit that I stick with and us a different brand to test it every month or two to verify it's still close.

 

[js-3Design]

I have to echo what others have said about Calcium Hannah checkers. I did not have much luck with them and had similar results of over 100+ difference between my AF and Salifert test kits so I got rid of it. The alkalinity and magnesium differences seem fine and I am a big fan of consistent readings over time for a specific test kit that I stick with and us a different brand to test it every month or two to verify it's still close.

What water did you use?

 

[ShawnSaucier]

Ran the Salifert test multiple times with a 440 reading consistent. Might be time to chuck the Hanna or just ride the Alk wave.
As I am trying a more SPS dominant system, I find myself really concerned on #’s which I really haven’t chased in my past systems ( Heavy LPS with a few SPS). And maybe muddying the waters with so many test kits.
Recalibrating the Trident with the new readings now.
Ideally would like to boost PH to stay consistently in the 8.0-8.2 range and was there when adding 3500 mls of Kalk nightly. I dropped down as I was getting high readings (imo) on CA both in the Trident and Hanna. Alk @ 10 CA @ 580..
Unfortunately with work causing extended travel time I have to rely on the Trident for readings when I am not home.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWiW, exact calcium values are not very important as long as there is at least about 380 ppm.

 

[exnisstech]

I did one test with my Hanna calcium checker then sold it and went back to salifert. I test 4 tanks so I try to use what seems to work without spending half the day running tests. I just try for stability in an acceptable to me range vs targeting an exactly number. I gave up using multiple tests because it felt like tail chasing to me. I only do a second test if I get a strange / unexpected result from the first test.

 

[ShawnSaucier]

FWiW, exact calcium values are not very important as long as there is at least about 380 ppm.

I agree, just when it was coming in so high it caused some concern. Don’t want to get home to a solid sand bed…

 

[js-3Design]

I did one test with my Hanna calcium checker then sold it and went back to salifert. I test 4 tanks so I try to use what seems to work without spending half the day running tests. I just try for stability in an acceptable to me range vs targeting an exactly number. I gave up using multiple tests because it felt like tail chasing to me. I only do a second test if I get a strange / unexpected result from the first test.

It literally takes less than 2 minutes to test CA with hanna.
I start with hanna no3 which takes 6 minute wait time
Hanna Po4 takes 3 minutes wait time.
Then i test hanna calcium
Then i test hanna KH.

And then i wait 2 minutes for the no3 to complete.

In that time i also double clean everything with distilled water.

I really just dont understand the hate towards hanna CA its very accurate and very fast to test and very consistent.

 

[exnisstech]

It literally takes less than 2 minutes to test CA with hanna.
I start with hanna no3 which takes 6 minute wait time
Hanna Po4 takes 3 minutes wait time.
Then i test hanna calcium
Then i test hanna KH.

And then i wait 2 minutes for the no3 to complete.

In that time i also double clean everything with distilled water.

I really just dont understand the hate towards hanna CA its very accurate and very fast to test and very consistent.

It been a few years and I can't even remember the process but i remember being frustrated using the Hanna calcium. Maybe because I had already used something first that I found easier.

PS I also only check calcium every month or two sometimes longer and salifert is plenty accurate enough. I've never had to make adjustments to calcium so it's not high priority test for me.

 

[js-3Design]

It been a few years and I can't even remember the process but i remember being frustrated using the Hanna calcium. Maybe because I had already used something first that I found easier.

PS I also only check calcium every month or two sometimes longer and salifert is plenty accurate enough. I've never had to make adjustments to calcium so it's not high priority test for me.

Frustrated how?

I test calcium 2 times per week. No3 and po4 same. Kh maybe 2 times per month.
I dose modern reef six part and adjust it by calcium. So a very accurate reading is important for me.

 

[exnisstech]

Frustrated how?

I test calcium 2 times per week. No3 and po4 same. Kh maybe 2 times per month.
I dose modern reef six part and adjust it by calcium. So a very accurate reading is important for me.

I think the process of needing to use RO or something I don't really remember exactly TBH. I just remember selling mine after 1 test because I found the salifert easier for me. I love my Hanna testers just not calcium. I test 4 tanks weekly using Hanna HR NO3, ULR PO4 and alk and at times alk very often if I'm tweaking my dosing. I also have their PH and copper testers.

PS: Often I get frustrated over things most people probably would not. Its a character trait I have

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It literally takes less than 2 minutes to test CA with hanna.
I start with hanna no3 which takes 6 minute wait time
Hanna Po4 takes 3 minutes wait time.
Then i test hanna calcium
Then i test hanna KH.

And then i wait 2 minutes for the no3 to complete.

In that time i also double clean everything with distilled water.

I really just dont understand the hate towards hanna CA its very accurate and very fast to test and very consistent.

I don’t hate it. I just think it’s a poor design that functionally gives lots of reefers headaches.

A much better test would mimic their other checkers where the bulk of the sample was tank water, instead of having a high multiplier on a tiny bit of tank water.

 

[mcarroll]

Frustrated how?

If you are only familiar with Hanna kits and are good at using them, you may not understand.

If you are familiar with other test kits (eg Salifert) then you know the differences between the tests – those are the sources of frustration.

In a nutshell: There are many more steps, including making one of the reagents, and much more precision involved in the use of Hanna's meters, or any like them. There's nothing wrong with Hanna's gear IMO. It's just not for everyone and every situation. (But what is??)

(For what it's worth, I was an early tester when the Ca meters came out....I'll verify from my own experience that they are hard to use when coming from "standard" test its like Salifert and Hach. But with practice I was able to get readings that matched pretty closely from all three. So ultiate no issue with them. For folks that need help with the readings for any reason, Hanna or similar is still a good option – worth the practice it takes to get better at it.)