Hanna test kits

[Gregcoyote]

One of the best investments I have made in the last couple of years has to be purchasing the Hanna test kits. I don't test compulsively, but my system is operating at maximum coral load, so keeping an eye on things seemed prudent. I bought almost all of them except the Ph kit, my reef controller monitors that fine.

Got the:
Phosphate
Alkalinity
Calcium
Ultra low nitrite (ppb)
Iodine

The phosphate tester is a must have if you're trying to raise corals IMO as it gives consistent measurements below .1 ppm.
Alkalinity, again a must have if you have a heavily loaded tank, alk can go south on you pretty fast.
Calcium, it's a nice tester, but maybe not as necessary as the others as you don't worry much about overdosing calcium and good reef salt is loaded with it already.
Ultra low nitrite. This is a cool one. Thought you had zero nitrites? Not so much, as this measures in ppb. Mine shows 18 ppb, which is really low. That's .018 ppm.
Iodine. Got sick of not knowing and looking at the iodine supplement bottle thinking if only I would add some, my SPS corals would double in size over night. Did the test and it was high at .1 (natural seawater is less than half that). So at least it retired the iodine bottle.

Bulk Reef Supply sells them for about $50 each. There are reagents that come with the kits, but you will end up ordering more. Color charts work, but this is much more consistent...and easier.

 

[Phranque]

Agreed, they are nice, but that's quite a bit to spend for all those...... IMO, the phosphate checker is, hands down, the one to have. I got so tired of trying to discern between the slightest shades of green.... drove me up a wall. The only problem I have is my big a$$ hands & those little reagent packets don't get along!!!

I did manage to get my hands on the alk & calc checkers from a club member to check against my Red Sea titration kits. The Red Sea kits were suprisingly close.... the RS alk test is actually much faster to run & refills are far cheaper for the number of tests you get, and I really don't check calc often enough to justify getting one.

 

[sanderson417]

Great insight gents. Thank you

Regards,

SA

 

[Sniperhank]

I do enjoy my Hanna testers. Simply awesome and leaps and bounds better than liquid tests IMO. I have the calcium, all, and phosphate testers. Only use phosphate frequently.

 

[bskerrichard27]

Yep me to phosphate was so much nicer don't know how I would get along without it know....

 

[Gregcoyote]

The phosphate kit gets used weekly. If there was just one you bought, that's the one. My test kits all together cost me much less than a fancy led panel or big protein skimmer, but I think they (at least the major ones) are worth every penny.

For $50 I answered the question, does my reef need iodine? That was worth buying that one alone.

 

[MikeYQM]

Fully concur. I've used them as a staple for a long time. Make sure you get Phosphate Low Range though. My only complaint about Hanna is the lack of Nitrate & Magnesium checkers. They've been on their "to do" list fir years, but they are a large company & aquatics only makes up a small fraction of their market.

I used Red Sea Pro Mag & NO3 for the first time today (from Elos & others before) and readily liked them. Not cheap, but well worth it. The Nitrate color wheel helps my color blind eyes get a good read.