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Old 03-23-2013, 11:17 PM
DigitalWeight DigitalWeight is offline
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Default Started Usisng the Hanna Phosphate Checker

Received the Hanna Phosphate Checker in the mail yesterday and gave it a go today. Even though I am running GFO I have suspected my phosphate was a bit high as I seem to be dealing with some brown algae in the tank.

The tank is not even a year old yet so there are going to continue to be some settling in. I use RO/DI water which my TDS meter is reading at 001 which is good but perhaps some over feeding along with the frozen stuff I am feeding are contributing to that.



This things is pretty easy to use. However, a couple of things I learned as it took two tests to get to the results.

1. Make sure you dry the outside of the test tube before you put it in the reader. When I didn't dry it, I got an error of not enough light. This went away when I made sure it was dry.

2. Get everything set up before you do the test. You only have so much for the second step of the test and the unit will shut off if you take too long which will mean that test is over, wasting your reagent. The biggest part is making sure the reagent package is cut and ready for you to dump into then test tube.

3. Don't cut the reagent opening too big. It is a pain in the a$$ to put the powder into the test tube. Keep it smaller - like half a centimeter - so you can pour it easier.



So, my reading was high. 0.31 on the LED display - I want 0.04 or less!

It had been about 40 days since I changed my GFO so I promptly did that and will test in a couple days to see if it is lower. I also used a bit more to see if that helps. I am going to cut down on feeding as well to see if that helps.

I liked this thing - it was easy to use and less tedious than going drop by drop and waiting for a magical colour change.

If there are other ideas on what leads to high phosphates let me know!
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