Trident vs Hydros X10+IVPro

[SlowAndStupid]

You are making the same reagent that they sell. You're buying a very concentrated form of an acid and diluting it down. You need to be comfortable doing that and take the necessary precautions to do it safely. I found it to be no different than things I did in chemistry lab in college. Otherwise, yes it actually uses it to test. Once I calibrated my doser heads I found that my alk measures very similar to my salifert alk test kit each time.

 

[jmcdona6]

wow, you know, I didn't realize people were doing this.

The hydros actually is able to use this to test? How does that work? Make the concentrate, mix so it's reagent(??), test with a hanna, calibrate the hydro, and it's good to go?

There are three options for reagent.

(1) Coralvue "Ready-to-Use." Premixed reagent. This is the most expensive option. Cost about $26/L. Your mileage will vary but a liter last me about 2 weeks, ~60 tests, or 40-45 cents per test. Convenience fee for it being ready to go.

(2) Coralvue "Concentrated Reagent." Same as the first but concentrated. Has to be diluted 4 parts RO to 1 part reagent. Also cost $25-26/L but makes 5L of usable reagent. This is what I do and gets you within the 10 cents per test range. Trade off is you need to be particular about your mixing. I ended up investing in about $50-100 worth of lab equipment to be more precise. It will pay off...sort of cool...but not everyone's thing. You can also be less precise I guess, but then the reagent becomes a variable in your testing.

(3) DIY. As SAS said, its just an acid solution they are selling you. Acid is really cheap, I've read you can get the cost per test down into the pennies range. But this goes even further into the lab experience than the last option. You need to be careful with concentrated acid obviously. You need to be more precise about your measurements. A lot of opportunity to screw something up. But if you were testing A LOT, maybe across multiple tanks...I could see it being worth it. Option 2 to me is the sweet spot. ~$10 and 20 minutes of my time each month to measure and mix. Not too bad for probably the most important metric in the tank.

 

[Hincapiej4]

There are three options for reagent.

(1) Coralvue "Ready-to-Use." Premixed reagent. This is the most expensive option. Cost about $26/L. Your mileage will vary but a liter last me about 2 weeks, ~60 tests, or 40-45 cents per test. Convenience fee for it being ready to go.

(2) Coralvue "Concentrated Reagent." Same as the first but concentrated. Has to be diluted 4 parts RO to 1 part reagent. Also cost $25-26/L but makes 5L of usable reagent. This is what I do and gets you within the 10 cents per test range. Trade off is you need to be particular about your mixing. I ended up investing in about $50-100 worth of lab equipment to be more precise. It will pay off...sort of cool...but not everyone's thing. You can also be less precise I guess, but then the reagent becomes a variable in your testing.

(3) DIY. As SAS said, its just an acid solution they are selling you. Acid is really cheap, I've read you can get the cost per test down into the pennies range. But this goes even further into the lab experience than the last option. You need to be careful with concentrated acid obviously. You need to be more precise about your measurements. A lot of opportunity to screw something up. But if you were testing A LOT, maybe across multiple tanks...I could see it being worth it. Option 2 to me is the sweet spot. ~$10 and 20 minutes of my time each month to measure and mix. Not too bad for probably the most important metric in the tank.

Honestly, I'd probably do the second option as well. I'm not experienced with acids