Hanna Instruments Colorimeters

[h20poloman]

Again, I may be one the prime examples of a lazy reefer. I want the best for my reef and while fairly dedicated don't ever live up to the dedication that many do with routine water changes and testing of their water params. While I may be lazy, I still enjoy my gadgets and this hobby continues to improve to make tasks that may be considered chores easier to handle and actually enjoyable in some cases. When it comes to testing, I've tried a variety of kits and my standards are Salifert and Elos with the later being the quicker of the two to accomplish results.

I had heard and read about Hanna starting to make affordable colorimeter. The definition of colorimeter as taken from the trusty wikipedia is "A colorimeter is a device used in colorimetry. In scientific fields the word generally refers to the device that measures the absorbance of particular wavelengths of light by a specific solution. This device is most commonly used to determine the concentration of a known solute in a given solution by the application of the Beer-Lambert law, which states that the concentration of a solute is proportional to the absorbance."

In English, this is a test kit that provides the most accurate results compared to trying to eyeball the various color changes and give your best guesstimate of where it lands on the chart. So far they have 2 "checkers" for sale on the market. The Phosphate (P04) and most recently an Alkalinity checker. Calcium and Magnesium checkers will be coming soon. These checkers have typically been around $50/each and come usually with about 6 test packets. The checkers come with a couple vials that hold 10ml of water sample. You pour in the reaction powder, shake, and place it into the checker. Each checker comes with a battery and has an LED screen that provides various readouts and a timer. While I was under the impression that this would make testing a faster process, it still will take about the same amount of time, however, it takes the guess work out of the reading. It is quicker in the sense that you don't have to mix so many various reaction chemicals together, just add one packet, mix and place.

You can purchase additional test packets pretty much at any store that sells the checkers for around $10 for 25 packets. Considering most test kits are around $25-35/each, the additional costs seems fairly minimal for reliable results.

http://glassbox-design.com/2010/hann...e-colorimeter/

[LarryM]

So Marlin,
Did you really understand that stuff you wrote? :hideeyes:

I have the po and the only thing that bugs me is you gotta be quick dumping the packet and mixing before the unit shuts off.

How accurate is it if you dont get all the powder in there?

Always wondered that on powdered reageants. does a few particles differnce affect the outcome...

[h20poloman]

well Larry, I have to believe it's better than me trying to figure out which color line matches the final sample. I'm not so sure about the powder piece but considering all the test kits have multiple reagents that rely on a steady hand and best estimation I feel confident this is a more reliable means of testing my water outside of sending my samples to a scientific lab. :lol:

[LarryM]

Wasnt being negative.. Like I said I use one too. All the "accurate" tests use powdered regents. was just a general question for some of those chemists out there. I always try to get every speck of powder out of the little pouch. And the spoons... how level is level? Was wondering how critical it was to accuracy. I am sure the little macheine that dumps the powder in is not exact.


just a curious mind.

I like my colorimeter

[kjsreef]

I wouldn't worry too much about getting all the powder in. This method relies on the phosphate reacting with the reagent to form a blue colored product. The reagent is likely there in excess so unless you were at the high end of the scale, I doubt that the amount of reagent would have an effect.

Think about it this way, say there is enough reagent to detect 100 units of phosphate. If you only have 50 units of phosphate in your sample, you would dose as little as 1/2 of the packet and still get an accurate reading. Now, say you have 200 units of phosphate, the meter is still only going to read up to the 100 unit level.

Morale of the story, getting most is probably good enough.

Did this make any sense?

[Bogg]

Water changes dude, water changes :)
No I use the older version and I really like it, it's nice to have an idea of where your levels are especially when carbon dosing it makes things much easier to find your correct dosing amount.

[Radman]

Ok since I was working on my ATS... I decided to give this a try... check out this link...

http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=593733#post593733