Random Thought Thread

[Mrfish55]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Today's water change resulted in 6 broken corals....crap....

That's not so bad, isn't there a Victoria frag swap at the end of the month? I would love to attend but I have to be in Orlando that week.

[lastlight]

Yes I've dropped my cutters and performed a frag before too. We need to maybe have a safety string that ties around the handle and a pinky finger maybe lol.

My large hollywood stunner is on the smallest model of magfloat. I tried mounting it on the 19mm for fun and it fell down after a few minutes of the powerheads mixing things up.

[lockrookie]

why is it shipping has to be so much from the states....

[lastlight]

Biggest waste of money ever: Hanna Phosphate Checker.

This putrid looking brown hair algae is having an absolute heyday on all the rock that was added to my stuff from the previous tank. So I do two tests tonight to determine whether my gfo needs replacing after only 2 weeks in operation.

Both tests: 0.00

When you're already ****ed because it's damn near impossible to get all the damn reagent out of those little packets let alone into the vial... and it slaps you with a zero reading twice... I damn near threw the thing out!

[waynemah]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Biggest waste of money ever: Hanna Phosphate Checker.

This putrid looking brown hair algae is having an absolute heyday on all the rock that was added to my stuff from the previous tank. So I do two tests tonight to determine whether my gfo needs replacing after only 2 weeks in operation.

Both tests: 0.00

When you're already ****ed because it's damn near impossible to get all the damn reagent out of those little packets let alone into the vial... and it slaps you with a zero reading twice... I damn near threw the thing out!

Had one, threw it out.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Biggest waste of money ever: Hanna Phosphate Checker.

This putrid looking brown hair algae is having an absolute heyday on all the rock that was added to my stuff from the previous tank. So I do two tests tonight to determine whether my gfo needs replacing after only 2 weeks in operation.

Both tests: 0.00

When you're already ****ed because it's damn near impossible to get all the damn reagent out of those little packets let alone into the vial... and it slaps you with a zero reading twice... I damn near threw the thing out!

I've heard they are very particular, you have to measure exactly right and follow the instructions perfectly or they wont work. Going to try one out later on my tank, I'll let you know how it goes.

[reefwars]

seems to be a bit cold out there this morning my dog didnt want to go out he went to the door then turned around and said screw this and went back to bed lol

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Biggest waste of money ever: Hanna Phosphate Checker.

This putrid looking brown hair algae is having an absolute heyday on all the rock that was added to my stuff from the previous tank. So I do two tests tonight to determine whether my gfo needs replacing after only 2 weeks in operation.

Both tests: 0.00

When you're already ****ed because it's damn near impossible to get all the damn reagent out of those little packets let alone into the vial... and it slaps you with a zero reading twice... I damn near threw the thing out!

I find measuring phosphate one of the more frustrating exercises in the domain of "measuring stuff" in this hobby. Second only to measuring potassium (which still reigns supreme, IMHO, as one of the most asinine methods of testing anything, you'd have more accurate results by licking your finger, sticking said finger into the tank, and then stating out loud, emphatically, the first random number that pops into your head. It's important that you state it out loud emphatically, if you have any hesitation or politeness in your tone when stating the number, you have to perform the test again).

Hanna sure doesn't make it convenient to get their little powdered reagents into those little test tubes, without spilling some. I've discovered a whole new repertoire of swearing thanks to those little checkers.

(At least the Alk checker uses a liquid reagent: soooo much easier to use and get consistent results.)

The best test kit I ever used for measuring PO4 was the D-D/Merck low-range kit. You can't get it anymore. Which is a real shame, it was the ONLY test kit I found you could really have any confidence in the numbers produced... Every other one, Hanna included, you really have to take the results with a small grain of salt.

[Parker]

That dissapoints me, I thought I was doing well with the Hanna as my results seemed to drop steadily when I was using it to test while bumping up my pellets. Now I'm doubting my numbers. You couldn't let me live in my own happy little world could you!

[Delphinus]

You're one of the weird ones IMO. Which, don't get me wrong, I WISH I was one of the weird ones who can discern a deterministic trend when testing PO4.

Everytime I've complained about the numbers I get, I get 1 of 3 potential replies (I even took my concerns to Hanna directly when I was using the predecessor of the checker, a larger blue coloured photometer that retailed at the time closer to $300 )

1) Your PO4 is low enough, stop whining (never mind the PO4 related symptoms in the tank they must be because you are crazy)

2) Those variable readings are well within the specified error range, so you must be crazy

3) Mine works just fine so you must be crazy. I just took a single test reading on my tank, it said 0.00, and I only need one test per year to know that this is correct.

4) (I never said I could count) Did you try cleaning your test vial? It has to be very clean. Oh you clean the test vial beforehand? Then you must be crazy. Oh wait, did you try cleaning it with RO/DI? Oh you did. Well fine then, you must be crazy.

If someone would just hand me the @#$%!!! koolaid, I would happily drink it.