Quote:
Originally Posted by Dsekula
If you decide to take the plunge I'd highly recommend the DR900 for the price difference as there are many many more uses.
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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!