Hanna or Sailifert?
- Thread starter atteb66
- Start date
DivingTheWorld
Active member
I like them both. Hanna is quicker and easier to use. They both get accurate readings although I find that mine never match. My salifert always runs 0.3dkh higher. I don't know which one is the correct level and it doesn't matter too much as long as I only use the same one to match my tank with my W/C water.
solitude127
Proud user of IO Salt!
Hanna for me. I don't like checking colors. I would much rather have a number.
heathlindner25
New member
+1.... love the combo pro kit for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium.
hate their nitrate phosphate kit
swiftvision
New member
My Hanna ALK almost killed my tank.
Completely inaccurate as in was showing ALK at 3.5dkh when it was 15!
Completely inaccurate as in was showing ALK at 3.5dkh when it was 15!
Reef Frog
New member
I find the Red Sea Alk test the simplest test to use. Just a vial of water and 1ml of fluid in the syringe. Salifert is good too but it's a 2 step process. The kit quality & ergonomics of the Red Sea product is superior IMO. It's well thought out. I find both kits have an easy to discern color change and are both accurate enough for my needs. But I don't like the 1ml syringes in these kits. The piston is black & so is the lettering on the syringe, so it can be a challenge to read for some people. I have to look closely in good light with some dime store eye glasses. Both companies should include extra syringes in the kits as they can break before the kits reagents are used up.
BENT: Yes that air space should always be there. It's been accounted for in the design. You can prove it to yourself if you have a small measurement tube. I was a little innerved when I first saw this, thinking that the airspace might change for test to test, but it works.
BENT: Yes that air space should always be there. It's been accounted for in the design. You can prove it to yourself if you have a small measurement tube. I was a little innerved when I first saw this, thinking that the airspace might change for test to test, but it works.
heathlindner25
New member
the air bubble is a non issue ,it doesn't matter....as long as you draw the plunger up to 1.0ml ,it will be accurate you are measuring how far the plunger moves
Just ignore that there is air. Pretend it's liquid. Since you are doing a titration, all you care about is the volume of reagent you are adding. The fact that there is air making up some of the volume of the syringe doesn't matter unless you were to use the full volume of the syringe, and count the air pocket as liquid.
Reef Frog
New member
Posts 10, 11 & 12 are all saying the same thing I think which is correct: Draw the liquid up to where the bottom ring on the piston is on the 1 ml marking. Ignore the air space under the piston. The tip will be full of liquid.
Take your reading from the same ring, again gnoring the air space you see, and you'll be fine. As the instruction #13 say. Don't jam the tip on too tightly.
I don't really like these syringes all that much. They're delicate and hard to read. Anybody know of good alternatives that are easy to get mail order? I'm not keen on shopping for these in a pharmacy...
Take your reading from the same ring, again gnoring the air space you see, and you'll be fine. As the instruction #13 say. Don't jam the tip on too tightly.
I don't really like these syringes all that much. They're delicate and hard to read. Anybody know of good alternatives that are easy to get mail order? I'm not keen on shopping for these in a pharmacy...
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seamonster124
New member
I find API to be very easy for ALK
jason2459
Well-known member
Same here. Unless you need more precision for some reason API Alk kit is perfect for me. It tests in the range I look to be in, I get consistent results time and time again, it's cheap, and accurate enough for me. It's very easy to see the color change.
Happyschneider
New member
Bent, get a standard solution (ideally two from two different solutions) and test again. That should do the trick.
Here is a picture from the Red Sea instructions booklet where they describe how to fill the syringe. It shows that you leave the air pocket as is and it is counted in the liquid measurement.
When I pull my plunger to the 1ml like in the photo, I only have a little over 0.8ml of solution in the syringe not 0.9ml like the photo. This confuses me and make me wonder if I am reading the end result right..
