Phosphate or Phosphorus test

[Shanet]

I'm a bit confused about which Hannah test I should use to text for phosphates in my tank. I have a Phosphate high range tester but I read people use a Phosphorus high range test for testing. Can you please tell me which one should I be using? Thanks

[bertoni]

There are three Hanna meters that I've seen, and they're all okay, in my opinion. Which exact model do you have? The Phosphate Checker? That's very popular, and seems reasonable. There are issues with bad reagents from time to time, though.

[tkeracer619]

Phosphorus ULR 736 is the best Hanna meter for reef tanks.

[Shanet]

Thanks for getting back to me both of you. I have the Phosphate checker. I will get the Phosphorus ULR as well.;)

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Don't forget to multiply up the result of the phosphorus checker to get units of ppm (or ppb) phosphate. :)

[dkeller_nc]

You may wish to look up experiences with the two Hanna phosphate/phosphorus checkers of interest to reefers. There are a lot of folks that report issues with the Hanna ULR phosphorus test.

In my case, I use the Hanna low-range phosphate checker - model 713. It's extremely consistent in my hands, though there's no doubt that using either checker takes some practice.

[bertoni]

I probably wouldn't spend the money on the Phosphorus ULR if I had the Phosphate Checker. The accuracy is reasonably similar, but then, the Checkers are fairly inexpensive.

[Shanet]

Thanks for the input.

[Shanet]

Having issues with my checker I think or it may be me. These are my results: 1st test = .2, next 1minute later = 3.6 next day, today = .5
I don't have an algae problem, quite the opposite but the test say I should! Any ideas?

[dkeller_nc]

You might want to skim this thread, there are lots of problems/solutions discussed in it:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2363251

[Shanet]

Thanks

[Shanet]

Seems hardly worth the effort to test for phosphates!

[dkeller_nc]

It can be very helpful if you're troubleshooting. I'm not so sure how useful it is as a weekly monitoring test when phosphates are under control, however.