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Unread 09/19/2018, 10:03 AM   #20
rtolz
Registered Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Chestnut Ridge, NY
Posts: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dsekula View Post
If you decide to take the plunge I'd highly recommend the DR900 for the price difference as there are many many more uses.
I've just been perusing the Hach site today. I trust the company, but drifted away from using their test kits long ago. I may go back.

I see that the DR900 can handle a number of typical aquarium chemistry tests. Can you give me some guidance for my questions below?

Hardness Calcium & Magnesium - Does this single test really give me usable results for both calcium and magnesium?

Nitrate - 3 possible methods. Any observations on which methods are simplest, fastest, cheapest, etc? Which are most appropriate for low range testing we want to see in a reef aquarium?

Phosphate - Almost a dozen methods. Same questions as for nitrate.

Alkalinity - No methods to test alkalinity. I guess I would stick with my Hanna alkalinity tester.

There are methods available for other water parameters that some people seem to be concerned with at times, though I have never tested for them: Iron, Dissolved Oxygen, Copper....

Regarding Hach's digital titrator as a supplement or alternative.... Any thoughts? This could be my Hach alternative to my Hanna alkalinity tester. I would think the digital titrator would be much more accurate than adding drops with a 1 ml syringe typical to the commonly available test kits. All I would have to do is transfer the appropriate titrating reagent from my Red Sea kit to a clean, empty cartridge to attach to the digital titrator.

The digital titrator is probably cheaper than going the DR900 route, and could be used for any typical color-change test kits that depend on measuring the number of milliliters of reagent required to cause a color-change. It's just that the DR900 seems so much more attractive in removing the subjectivity of how my eyes evaluate color changes and differences!

Any thoughts you can share would be appreciated!


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