Your experience with Hanna Magnesium Checker? .....

[chapter7]

Hey all, wanna preface this by saying I'm not trying to bash any company, but I feel it's important that we call things as we see em'! I love Hanna, and I have their Marine Master Kit, but their Magnesium test is really bad! Now, I'm super anal about being consistent with my testing procedures, and right now I test every third day cause my system is only 4 months or so old, and I'm sure there have been results that I can attribute to testing error, but here are my last ten results with the most recent first: 1590, 1655, 1505, 1590, 1720, 1515, 1605, 1535, 1560, and 1590.

I try to maintain my magnesium a lil higher, in the 1450-1500 range so I thought I was doing OK. I was previously dosing 20ml AFR into my 150 gallon system, but given the high magnesium results, I stopped altogether a while back to get the level down. I knew Hanna's Magnesium test was BS when even after I stopped dosing AFR, the magnesium results stayed high and sometimes were even higher than the previous result!

Sooooo, I picked up an Aqua Forest Magnesium Test Kit upon BRS's recommendation. The same day that Hanna gave me a 1590 reading, Aqua Forest gave me a 1425 reading! I'mma stick with Aqua Forest on this one.

Just wondering if the rest of the community has had the same experience with Hanna's Magnesium Checker??

 

[KStatefan]

I have one but have not used it since 2-24-2024 to inconsistent.
I use the RMM method now.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/just-say-no-to-magnesium-testing-rmm-is-born.1017528/

 

[jadedog]

Do you have the one with the updated reagent? I have that one and get fairly consisent and accurate results.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

As noted in the above link, I don’t consider home magnesium testing to be reliable enough to use to make dosing decisions.

 

[chapter7]

Do you have the one with the updated reagent? I have that one and get fairly consisent and accurate results.

Yes, these are fairly new kits, expiration date on the reagent is 3/2030. Consistent results are good, accuracy is another issue. I, too, was getting consistent numbers in the beginning, plus or minus 50, so I didn’t think twice.

I’m curious what your numbers with a different test kit would be. I guess that’s what I’m trying to see with this thread, for those who have used Hanna and another test kit.

 

[chapter7]

I have one but have not used it since 2-24-2024 to inconsistent.
I use the RMM method now.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/just-say-no-to-magnesium-testing-rmm-is-born.1017528/

Thank you, I will read up on this.

 

[Uncle99]

Large variations in MG results due to the small sample size.
Same with the CA checker.
Both sit on the shelf for me.

To be fair, the UL phosphorus checker is super!

 

[chapter7]

As noted in the above link, I don’t consider home magnesium testing to be reliable enough to use to make dosing decisions.

Ok, read it, so I may test this approach and stop testing altogether.

(But forgive me if this scenario has been asked a million times @Randy Holmes-Farley , but my target alkalinity is 9dkh. I’ve been able to achieve this by using 5/8 teaspoon kalkwasser into one gallon water and dosing that daily. My Calcium is stable in the low to mid-500’s. I do 15% water changes every 10 days. Is my calcium level too high? And do you think I should cease dosing kalkwasser and go back to low doses of AFR? Thank you in advance for your help.)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I recommend calcium to be about 400-550 ppm, so in my opinion, 500 ppm is fine. :)

 

[chapter7]

I recommend calcium to be about 400-550 ppm, so in my opinion, 500 ppm is fine. :)

Thank you!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You’re welcome.

Happy Reefing. :)