Anyone disgusted with Hanna instruments?

[KrisReef]

Nah, it's not just the test - cleaning those Hanna cuvettes takes too much time. If you don't drop them and leave glass shards on the floor to get your bare feet next time. Or the cap rolls away under the sink. Or the reagent goes bad.

Salifert you drop the vial and catch on the bounce

Yes, you clearly have used the Hanna curettes and tiny fumblee caps. I have a 55 gallon DI bucket and those plastic caps sink if you drop them when rinsing the curettes.

Still, the accuracy and repetition of numbers is amazing.

 

[Formulator]

Just about every vendor in our hobby is guilty of gouging us. Unfortunately we are at their mercy and highly technical unregulated industry like ours is a prime target for this type of business. The average consumer doesn’t understand the products enough to know what it should cost, so manufacturers can basically charge whatever they think people will pay, regardless of the cost to make it.

The hannah model is one of the worst. Not only are the reagents overpriced, but the entire concept of buying a different color photometer for every test is purely a money-making ploy. One of their devices has the hardware to measure any of the tests, yet they are programmed to only allow testing a single parameter. If you want the multi, it will cost you $600, instead of $60, just for a few extra lines of code and a couple more buttons.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Reefing is a seasonal hobby of excess. The industry is designed to extract cash from our disposable incomes and hopefully provide a useful product or service. Luckily there are less expensive alternatives too.

 

[Robert Ranciato]

Just about every vendor in our hobby is guilty of gouging us. Unfortunately we are at their mercy and highly technical unregulated industry like ours is a prime target for this type of business. The average consumer doesn’t understand the products enough to know what it should cost, so manufacturers can basically charge whatever they think people will pay, regardless of the cost to make it.

The hannah model is one of the worst. Not only are the reagents overpriced, but the entire concept of buying a different color photometer for every test is purely a money-making ploy. One of their devices has the hardware to measure any of the tests, yet they are programmed to only allow testing a single parameter. If you want the multi, it will cost you $600, instead of $60, just for a few extra lines of code and a couple more buttons.

I can't agree more Hanna has raised the prices on their reagents like 5 times in the last few years. I sent them an email explaining disgusting it is for them to keep increasing the price on A product you need to make another product work. I just looked at Aquacave who I use a lot because they don't charge sales tax and all the Hanna products are on sale. It might mean they are going to stop carrying them. Not sure.

 

[Robert Ranciato]

Yes, you clearly have used the Hanna curettes and tiny fumblee caps. I have a 55 gallon DI bucket and those plastic caps sink if you drop them when rinsing the curettes.

Still, the accuracy and repetition of numbers is amazing.

Not the ulr phosphate or calcium. I haven't had good results from either. The numbers are all over when I use them. Especially the calcium

 

[gbroadbridge]

I'm not sure how that's possible. The only thing I can think of is it's really old stock so they haven't ordered from Hanna from a long time. Can I ask what store it is?

I'm in Australia.

Retail Price fixing is illegal here so the stores compete on price for business.
Hanna (or anyone else) cannot legally set a retail price.

 

[VintageReefer]

I love the alk kit I’ll never go back to something else

This pipette makes any 10ml kit more accurate and consistent

 

[elysics]

No way is any test faster than Hanna for Alk. Drop by drop and swirling is very time consuming and I struggle to see the color change endpoint.

You made a huge mistake and Hanna misses you so very much!

I also have a few Salifert kits because I run out of Hanna reagents.

You don't need to do drop by drop with salifert. You can put the majority in in one go, swirl it, and then do a few more drops until the colour change. Also magnetic stirrer.

Yes you could overshoot it by doing it that way if your alkalinity is unexpectedly low and you'll have to repeat the test, but if that happens often enough that it becomes annoying then you are doing something seriously wrong with your dosing

 

[cjtabares]

I test alk 2x a week, No3 and Po4 once a week. So I need about 8 of each, that’s less then $150 a year. I’m ok with that for the convenience, and accuracy I get from the tests. I have tested back to back on all 3 on occasion, and have always been with in the margins or error.

 

[KrisReef]

Not the ulr phosphate or calcium. I haven't had good results from either. The numbers are all over when I use them. Especially the calcium

@VintageReefer post with the pipette for measuring the sample (I use a syringe) is one way to reduce error. I also wash and store my cuvettes filled with RODI after each use, and carefully follow the instructions regarding mixing and wait times with the Hanna. They are very sensitive and easy to get wild numbers, but careful use allows me to get repeatable numbers, and occasionally, wild numbers when I make a mistake.

The benefit is really the colorimetric work it does for me so I don't have to carefully drop and watch for the endpoints and the precision it has for deciding how much color change has occurred and what that means for ions present.

I do use the other test kits, but Hanna, used carefully provides me with finer resultants than the others. The price per test is greater than the other kits but the results are worth it for me as i shoot for stability.

I was given the Calcium Checker and I think it has been the most challenging to get working well. I generally focus on Alk because I am using a calcium reactor and if Alk is good, 99x/100 calcium is also right there with it. I find that calcium isnt as important as Alk when testing, and I can get good enough results with API Ca tests if I am using it in conjunction with Hanna Alk.

I should be testing tonight but I got to far under the bar at dinner and will wait until tomorrow before I try to take a measurement. The tank looks good, no worries for it.

 

[Ironic_Water]

Girl please, you should see the prices at my work for Hach equipment. The lab equipment world is wild for pricing.

 

[Spare time]

I'm buying salifert from now on the only one I have trouble with is the nitrate I can't seem to match the color with the chart.

Try the nyos kit

 

[Cichlid Dad]

You don't need to do drop by drop with salifert. You can put the majority in in one go, swirl it, and then do a few more drops until the colour change. Also magnetic stirrer.

Yes you could overshoot it by doing it that way if your alkalinity is unexpectedly low and you'll have to repeat the test, but if that happens often enough that it becomes annoying then you are doing something seriously wrong with your dosing

LOL! I thought the same thing. I know what my parameters are, so I shake the cup is I squirt the reagents to just above where the ALK calcium or magnesium will be, then add drop by drop tell it turns. Kinda hard to miss blue to pink, or pink to blue. Salufert all the way.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

No way is any test faster than Hanna for Alk. Drop by drop and swirling is very time consuming and I struggle to see the color change endpoint.

You made a huge mistake and Hanna misses you so very much!

I also have a few Salifert kits because I run out of Hanna reagents.

I use Hannah for alk and PO4. I will use theirs when I need to check ammonia and copper. Everything else is Salifert.

 

[KrisReef]

I guess I should have mentioned that my family owns a small chunk of Hanna stock?

Not really, but it was fun talking with everyone about the Checkered Situation that we have in the testing hobby. We’re really fortunate to have so many choices for determining the approximate values for our parameters.

I actually value our community here a lot.
Really do.
Kris

 

[UtahReefer]

My problem with Hanna was the hand held salinity checker. They want you to calibrate it I think once a month. I noticed that it drifted with result after about a week or so. My acro's began to lose color and some even began to have tissue loss. I began using the calibration packets about every week and a half to keep the salinity right on because all other parameter were great. Got sick of buying those calibration packets so I decided to go to a Milwaukee Digital Refractometer, that's when the horror story was revealed. Hanna showed 35ppt, first test on the Milwaukee showed 38ppt! Tested three times and the same result. About dropped my shorts. Adjusted my salinity to 35ppt via the Milwaukee and within week the acro's started coming back. Within a month completely back. Threw the Hanna in the garbage, would never trust their hand held salinity checker again!

 

[VintageReefer]

Their salinity checker is junk. You made the right move going to the Milwaukee

 

[Malcontent]

The worst thing isn't the price but the fact that you're paying a premium for unreliable reagents.

Hach total chlorine $31 per 100
Lovibond $24.23 per 100
Hanna $15 per 25

Hach ammonia $175 per 100
Lovibond ammonia $130 per 100
Hanna $25 per 25

 

[Malcontent]

The hannah model is one of the worst. Not only are the reagents overpriced, but the entire concept of buying a different color photometer for every test is purely a money-making ploy. One of their devices has the hardware to measure any of the tests, yet they are programmed to only allow testing a single parameter. If you want the multi, it will cost you $600, instead of $60, just for a few extra lines of code and a couple more buttons.

It isn't just a software limitation but hardware.

Professional colorimeters like the Lovibond MD600 have 6 different LEDs/wavelengths while the Hach DR/900 has 4. Both have interference filters which add to the cost.

 

[Malcontent]

Hanna was a defendant in this lawsuit so maybe we're helping pay the settlement.