Hannah Instruments - Phosphate tester help
- Thread starter MrMikeB
- Start date
Trevor S
Premium Member
Mike - I dont know if this is the same manufacture, but thought I would give you link to a possibly manual for you
http://hannainst.com/usa/manuals.cfm
http://hannainst.com/usa/manuals.cfm
tfp
Active member
i'll give you a brief overview of how i use it if you wanna give it a go.
1. take one of the glass culvets and rinse it out about 5 times with tank water. then empty it as best as you can. i usually just shake any water out.
2. then add 10ml of tank water. place the clear plastic cap on the culvet and clean the glass as best as possible. no oils, fingermarks, water, etc. on it.
3. make sure there are no air bubbles in the water sample. you might need to swirl it around and let it settle for a few minutes.
4. screw on the black cap while keeping that culvet clean.
5. turn on the meter and place the culvet into place (align the notch so its firmly in place)
6. press the Zero button to calibrate the meter. you'll see SIP and then 0.00
7. remove culvet from meter, unscrew black cap and remove the clear plastic cap.
8. empty contents of one packet into culvet. this part is difficult to explain but i cut the packet down to create a funnel that empties into the culvet.
9. put plastic clear plastic cap on and SHAKE until all the powder is dissolved. usually about 3min. make sure no bubbles are there.
10. clean that culvet again like step 2 and then screw on black cap.
11. place sample back into the meter and press the READ TIMED button. after 3 minutes, you'll get the reading.
12. turn off unit and rinse out and dry culvet and your done.
1. take one of the glass culvets and rinse it out about 5 times with tank water. then empty it as best as you can. i usually just shake any water out.
2. then add 10ml of tank water. place the clear plastic cap on the culvet and clean the glass as best as possible. no oils, fingermarks, water, etc. on it.
3. make sure there are no air bubbles in the water sample. you might need to swirl it around and let it settle for a few minutes.
4. screw on the black cap while keeping that culvet clean.
5. turn on the meter and place the culvet into place (align the notch so its firmly in place)
6. press the Zero button to calibrate the meter. you'll see SIP and then 0.00
7. remove culvet from meter, unscrew black cap and remove the clear plastic cap.
8. empty contents of one packet into culvet. this part is difficult to explain but i cut the packet down to create a funnel that empties into the culvet.
9. put plastic clear plastic cap on and SHAKE until all the powder is dissolved. usually about 3min. make sure no bubbles are there.
10. clean that culvet again like step 2 and then screw on black cap.
11. place sample back into the meter and press the READ TIMED button. after 3 minutes, you'll get the reading.
12. turn off unit and rinse out and dry culvet and your done.
ThunderDog
Premium Member
Tim here are the instructions from Foster & Smith and I think you do a better job.
Hanna Phosphate Photometers
Use Instructions
Turn the meter on by pressing the "ON/OFF" button.
When the LCD displays "---", the meter is ready.
Fill the cuvet to the 10 ml line with sample water and replace cap.
Place the cuvet into the holder. Ensure the notch on the cap is positioned securely into the groove.
Press "ZERO" and "SIP" (sampling in progress) will appear.
Wait for a few seconds and the display will show "-0.0-." The meter is now zeroed and ready for measurement.
Remove the cuvet and add the contents of one reagent packet.
Replace the cap and shake gently.
Reinsert the cuvet into the meter.
Press "READ TIMED" button. The display will countdown prior to the measurement; alternately, wait for 3 minutes and press "READ DIRECT." In both cases, "SIP" will appear during the measurement.
The LCD displays concentration in mg/L of phosphate.
Convert the ion concentration to P2O5 by multiplying by 1.49.
Convert the ion concentration to P (Phosphate) by multiplying by 0.33.
Tips
Do not touch the cuvet walls with hands.
Always close the cuvet during calibration and testing to prevent contamination and erroneous results.
Do not let the test sample stand too long after reagent is added or accuracy will diminish.
Always wipe clean the cuvet with a lint-free cloth before it is placed in the measurement chamber.
Always ensure the sample is free from debris.
It is recommended that a zero reading is taken for each sample.
Discard the sample immediately after testing to prevent the cuvet walls from becoming stained.
Remove all bubbles from the test sample prior to testing by gently swirling the cuvet. Bubbles may cause higher and inaccurate readings.
All reaction times are referred to as 20°C (68°F). As a general rule of thumb, they should be doubled at 10°C (50°F) and halved at 30°C (86°F).
Hanna Phosphate Photometers
Use Instructions
Turn the meter on by pressing the "ON/OFF" button.
When the LCD displays "---", the meter is ready.
Fill the cuvet to the 10 ml line with sample water and replace cap.
Place the cuvet into the holder. Ensure the notch on the cap is positioned securely into the groove.
Press "ZERO" and "SIP" (sampling in progress) will appear.
Wait for a few seconds and the display will show "-0.0-." The meter is now zeroed and ready for measurement.
Remove the cuvet and add the contents of one reagent packet.
Replace the cap and shake gently.
Reinsert the cuvet into the meter.
Press "READ TIMED" button. The display will countdown prior to the measurement; alternately, wait for 3 minutes and press "READ DIRECT." In both cases, "SIP" will appear during the measurement.
The LCD displays concentration in mg/L of phosphate.
Convert the ion concentration to P2O5 by multiplying by 1.49.
Convert the ion concentration to P (Phosphate) by multiplying by 0.33.
Tips
Do not touch the cuvet walls with hands.
Always close the cuvet during calibration and testing to prevent contamination and erroneous results.
Do not let the test sample stand too long after reagent is added or accuracy will diminish.
Always wipe clean the cuvet with a lint-free cloth before it is placed in the measurement chamber.
Always ensure the sample is free from debris.
It is recommended that a zero reading is taken for each sample.
Discard the sample immediately after testing to prevent the cuvet walls from becoming stained.
Remove all bubbles from the test sample prior to testing by gently swirling the cuvet. Bubbles may cause higher and inaccurate readings.
All reaction times are referred to as 20°C (68°F). As a general rule of thumb, they should be doubled at 10°C (50°F) and halved at 30°C (86°F).
Marc Daniels
Premium Member
Is the the same thing as the Hanna Phosphate Colorometer?
Marc Daniels
Premium Member
Maybe not easier to use, but much easier and accurate to read. Instead of trying to compare to a color chart, or figuring out if it is true blue, or has changed "enough" color...the machine reads the results and displays the reading.
It also reads to a much lower level than the reagent kits.
It also reads to a much lower level than the reagent kits.
MrMikeB
New member
Oooo... The photometer is cooolio! Thanks all for your help!
I bought the PO4 tester as a way to get consistent and accurate results when testing some of my more sensitive systems. Color charts and me don't get a long very well, especially when you are trying to be on the low end of the scale. As for whether it is easier to use, I would say its on par. The concept is simple: record a base for current light penetration, add a PO4 reagent, and then record the delta in light penetration, compute the PO4.
Colorimeters, from how I understand them to work, are a bit more sophisticated in that they can measure the absorbtion of certain light wavelengths and using chemistry laws can determine concentration of a particular solute. This makes these devices more adaptable to recording concentrations of different solutes since it can measure various light wavelengths - whereas photometers use reagents to measure simple light penetration. They are also much more expensive.
I bought the PO4 tester as a way to get consistent and accurate results when testing some of my more sensitive systems. Color charts and me don't get a long very well, especially when you are trying to be on the low end of the scale. As for whether it is easier to use, I would say its on par. The concept is simple: record a base for current light penetration, add a PO4 reagent, and then record the delta in light penetration, compute the PO4.
Colorimeters, from how I understand them to work, are a bit more sophisticated in that they can measure the absorbtion of certain light wavelengths and using chemistry laws can determine concentration of a particular solute. This makes these devices more adaptable to recording concentrations of different solutes since it can measure various light wavelengths - whereas photometers use reagents to measure simple light penetration. They are also much more expensive.
MrMikeB
New member
I have been given a great opportunity to study the affects of PO4 on macroalgaes and GFO. My coral QT was brought online recently and due to some judgment errors on electrical requirements on my part, much of the biological filtration was wiped out, causing a mini-cycle. This huge bioload in turn produced massive amounts of PO4 and nitrates, which has yielded some really impressive fields of hair algae. As in its a literal brackish swamp.
I am going to take a couple readings (right now over 20ppm!) to watch the effects of PO4 levels in the water stream and the hair algae growth over the next week or so. The idea is not to validate algae consumes PO4 (this is known), but really how much and over what time. Given no other additional bio load will be introduced during the test, nor is there any other form of PO4 export occurring, any drop in the readings will have to be a direct result of absorption from the algae.
Then when I am done playing with the green stuff, I will install the GFO media and observe the affects on PO4 levels and the visual affects on the algae over time.
Why? To get a better understanding of using natural algae PO4 exportation vs GFO PO4 absorption over time, vs. volume of each required. There seems to be a lack of metrics on this and has always been something I questioned. It was not set up as a experiment to begin with and would never stand up to scrutiny, but I cannot pass up an opportunity like this to at least satisfy a hunch.
I am going to take a couple readings (right now over 20ppm!) to watch the effects of PO4 levels in the water stream and the hair algae growth over the next week or so. The idea is not to validate algae consumes PO4 (this is known), but really how much and over what time. Given no other additional bio load will be introduced during the test, nor is there any other form of PO4 export occurring, any drop in the readings will have to be a direct result of absorption from the algae.
Then when I am done playing with the green stuff, I will install the GFO media and observe the affects on PO4 levels and the visual affects on the algae over time.
Why? To get a better understanding of using natural algae PO4 exportation vs GFO PO4 absorption over time, vs. volume of each required. There seems to be a lack of metrics on this and has always been something I questioned. It was not set up as a experiment to begin with and would never stand up to scrutiny, but I cannot pass up an opportunity like this to at least satisfy a hunch.
