The Hanna Marine Nitrate High range Checker is a new nutrient measuring tool to test nitrate levels in our reef and saltwater fish tanks. It was just last year that Hanna treated us to the low range Nitrate Checker which gave us an unprecedented look at very low levels of nitrate in our reef tanks but performing that test was pretty involved, a process that you really need to ‘sit down’ and really pay attention to what you are doing.
The new ‘High Range’ Nitrate Checker from Hanna is not so much an elevated nitrate range but more of a normal range for typical reef and fish tanks being designed for levels between 0 to 75 parts per million with 0.1 ppm resolution. This new test kit from Hanna uses just one reagent and two steps, one of those being simply the baseline measurement of the unreacted water sample and while it won’t report 0.01ppm accuracy of nitrate, it’s a much easier test to undertake.
If you’ve ever used the Hanna Alkalinity or Copper checkers the process for measuring high range nitrate is quite similar, consisting of a two step process and only one reagent. After taking the baseline measurement with the Hanna High Range Nitrate Checker, a single packet of reagent powder is mixed for two minutes with the 10 milliliter sample. Once that dissolution step is completed you simply place the sample back in the checker, press and hold the button until a seven minute timer appears, after which point an accurate reading of nitrate is clearly displayed.
The ease of use of the Hanna Marine Nitrate High range Checker will give reefers a great snapshot of normal nitrate levels but if you know your nitrates range between 0 and 1 parts per million the low range Nitrate Checker will give a much more precise reading when nitrate levels are at very low values. But the Hanna Marine High Range Nitrate Checker is not only for making sure nitrate levels are not too high, but also for ensuring that they are high enough!
Since we took the time to calculate the water volume in our Australian SPS reef tank we were able to precisely dose Brightwell Aquatics NeoNitro to raise the nitrate levels in this tank and achieved the desired value of 5 ppm NO3 we were aiming for, and verified that our dosing was correct using the new High Range Nitrate Checker from Hanna. Had we used a typical color changing nitrate test kit from other manufacturers we wouldn’t have been able to resolve the difference between 1, 5 and 10 ppm so the new checker is an awesome tool for ensuring our corals have enough nutrients in the water.
We are not nearly as critical of precise nitrate levels below 1ppm, we just want to make sure there is at least some nitrate available in our aquarium water to feed the zooxanthellae within our corals. If you want Hanna’s latest nutrient test kit it will be available next month in June or the third quarter of this year for $49, followed close behind by replacement reagents.[Hanna]
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