Jestersix

Possible New Digital WaterTest Kit

not really accurate with the tests I wanted. I was hot to trot on it after seeing it at MACNA... but upon further investigation, the +/- was a bit too much for me.

Be careful with Aquanerd. It is now owned and operated by an etail website,.
 
That's awesome!

Says it tests "PH, Nitrate (No3), Calcium (Ca), Phosphate (PO4), Alkalinity (AL), Total Hardness (THH)"

Seems pretty fast too, it took 25 seconds to do the pH test.

Andddd the price is affordable! Now all we need is precision and some acceptable level of accuracy.

I'm so done with titration tests :)
 
there's numerous models. The iDip is the lowest one IIRC. But the accuracy is on the dip end, not the meter itself as far as I could tell. I honestly didn't look much deeper after I saw the accuracy.
 
Am I wrong, but it looks like it simply reads the litmus paper test? So the accuracy would be directly related to the quality of the litmus test part.
 
The thing is, I don't care as much about accuracy as I care about repeatability and simplicity.

I would like a very quick simple readout that tells me if something is "off."
I can then go back and double check with Salifert or some fancy equipment to get the real value.

Any idea if it is repeatable from strip to strip?
 
given the low accuracy, I suspect it is different from strip to strip. It's cheap enough, go get one and report on it :) Salifert is just as bad as these strips :lol: But I require a greater accuracy than most.
 
So I've been looking at the website and downloaded the instructions.

It seems the strips are a way to deliver the reagents to the sample. The instructions say to dip the strips, submerging all the pads and wave it back and forth until the timer reads 1 then discard the strip. The meter will then take a reading.

There are also liquid reagents that you drop into the sample.

As far as I can tell, it is like the Hanna photometers minus the seperate bottle.

I have yet to find any specifications on the +/- range.

Lastly, I don't see anything on there that I can't already measure with my Hanna meters except Nitrate and I don't really need an exact number for that.

Alkalinity measurement says Total Alkalinity vs Carbonate Alkalinity. And it measures Magnesium Hardness (only parameter I see that would be of any use to me vs any of my Hanna meters) rather than Mg in ppm so I don't know if they mean the same thing.
 
Ok, found the accuracy in the instructions.

Total Alkalinity is 7.5% Hana is +/- 5%

Calcium is measured as a hardness (CaCo3) rather than dissoved Ca - 5% Hana is also +/- 5%

Nitrate is 15%! and lowest is 4ppm.

So just to confirm. Total Alkalinity is NOT what we measure in the hobby right? Because that encompasses Ca, Mg and all the other base elements.

@Enderturtle - what tests are you titrating?

EDIT - those numbers above are for the reg idip. The 570nm version have a different set of numbers and tests.

the 570 test for total alk and Ca hardness are 10%, nitrate is 20% and range starts at 15ppm!
 
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I wish I could get an ultra low level Nitrate Hanna checker, but I don't think they make a Nitrate checker at all. My API nitrate kit is pretty much binary (undetectable or screwed).

I use API Calc/Alk checks because the accuracy doesn't matter much to me, just consistency (since I target levels above the minimums). I use a Red Sea Mg test and it's a huge pain in the ass.

If they can make a colorimeter as good as the Hanna checkers with a re-usable system (so I don't have to buy a whole new device for each test), I would invest in that. This looks promising, but $200 seems like a lot of money for not solving any pressing issues for me.
 
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