Professional test equipment

[jglackin]

I posted this in another forum and thought that this may be of value to some of you:

www.hach.com will sell you a digital titrator (1690001) for $125. It will last you a lifetime. Or you can buy a really nice one on Ebay right now for $50. Do a search for digital titrator. They will sell you 100 powder pillows for ALK (94399) and Cal (94799) for less than $14 per pack. You can buy the titration cartridge for Alk (1438801) and CAL (1439901) for less than $15 each and a bottle of potassium hydroxide (28232H) for less than $10. I got a stir plate on Ebay for less than $50 (search "stir plate" on ebay, there's one on there now for $10). The key here is that you can be set up with professional equipment, doing digital testing, for about $200 and then refill supplies are far cheaper than buying test kits or test kit refills.


I can test my ALK and Cal this way. I have been told by HACH that I can also test magnesium this way, but I have yet to try it. For nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates, you need a spectrophotometer, which you can buy on Ebay, but it will cost you big.

 

[dreaminmel]

Hi Jim,

I came across your old post in the Alk, Ca, Mg thread and tried a search to see if you had any more info on this but only found this post. Are you still using these for testing your aquarium? I am tempted to the point that I put all of those items in my shopping cart on their website but I've never used anything besides Salifert so have some concerns. Do these come with instructions? Are the results/readings within the ranges that our hobby measures by or will I need to know how to convert? Do you prefer them because of the digital results vs. titration or are they also faster?

Thank you for any input...

 

[jglackin]

Melanie, I am out of the hobby, but I always did my testing this way. It's easier, more accurate, and it does produce numbers/results that a hobbyist would use. I am not sure about instructions. Ask Hach. They are very helpful. I worked as a volunteer in the lab at a large public aquarium for several years and this is how I got set up. I hated the hobby test kits. Good luck.