GHL ion director and KH director review

[MohamedF]

Good day everyone , I just received few days ago the IonDirector ( one week ago ) on my both aquariums and KH Director ( three weeks ago ) .



- KH DIRECTOR : initial setup is really easy with GHL videos , all went smooth and I double checked with Hanna KH checker that I trust alot but difference was around -18/-20 % approx of the KH Director , so I readjusted the ratios on the KH to show less reading by -15 % and since then Al is smooth , and in all cases it’s not a major problem if KH is between 8 to 9 as long as it’s fixed and the director is doing amazing job in that , the swings are minimal and I’m running now between 8.5 to 8.9 daily swings as I set it up to 8.8 . So I have to admit it’s a great great device, and every few days I recheck with Hanna checker and they are going great with the same difference ratio .
a general notice : buy extra reagent as you will have to run test many times initially to be sure 100% no bubbles exist at all in the tubes otherwise it will be mess readings .

- IonDirector : the first setup was a hell of trouble till I get it done , would be great if there was a GHL official video for the setup to help people the second unit was way way easier as I already took notice of all things learning from my initial mistakes , one important setup advise ( soak the ion prob for like 1 hour in ro water before using the saltwater ) it helps stabilize the probe a lot , the first unit I let it soak for like 20-30 min ( probably was too excited to install it quick ) and I suffered a bit with miss readings till it work correctly . Regarding the readings , I had a bottle of reference solution to compare readings and all matched ok with the initial bottle readings , the readings are consistent from both devices yet in one of them still struggling with nitrate reading , one time reads 11 the second time 0 so I need to re-check with Hanna to be sure where I stand which I will do this week .
The most important tip again is to buy more reagent as for my first unit till I get things done I made like 15 tests over two days so the reagent bottle are like 30 % less , so I would advice again to always have a spare bottles till you get things done then after that one test per day would be enough once you stabilize the results .
I will post again here this week the results of all tests using Hanna checkers and the ionD , yet they mentioned clearly that we should not count on those differences as the ionD use a different technology than the normal checkers but it would be a good reference to understand where you stand with the differences . I still need to run like two or three more tests to stabilize the results then I will make the comparison accordingly .

 

[fishy27]

I'm glad to see we are starting to see some reviews. Please keep us all posted with more results. How long did it take to get your unit?

 

[FishyFishFish]

I thought the ION D probe was supposed to be wet overnight before using it?

I initially had an offset on my KHD to match my Hanna, but the readings of the KHD weren’t consistent. I think it was because, as you say, bubbles can get into the reagent tube. After a while the readings stabilized and I just removed the offset.

 

[MohamedF]

I'm glad to see we are starting to see some reviews. Please keep us all posted with more results. How long did it take to get your unit?

It was like two months .

 

[MohamedF]

I thought the ION D probe was supposed to be wet overnight before using it?

I initially had an offset on my KHD to match my Hanna, but the readings of the KHD weren’t consistent. I think it was because, as you say, bubbles can get into the reagent tube. After a while the readings stabilized and I just removed the offset.

Yes , it must be soaked in RO water for at least half hour , then you put it inside the ionD , fill the measurement room and leave it for 12 hours .
My KHD still reads with offset ( compared to Hanna checkers ) , yet it’s not a big deal as long as it keeps KH steady and it’s doing amazing job in that .

 

[mdb_talon]

Thanks for the feedback. Keep us updated.

 

[MohamedF]

The readings from the IonD are super nice I have checked with Hanna checkers and RedSea testes and the results are as follows:
PH: 8.4 (Hanna)
Salinity: 1.025 (Hanna)
Ca: 406 (Hanna)
Mg: 1420 (RedSea test so there is a big margin of error due to human factor in recognizing the color changing with every drop)
Potassium: ——
Sodium:——
Nitrate: 3. (Hanna)
Phosphate: 0.03 (Hanna)

while the test results from the IonD were ver close as follows
Ca: 399 ( instead of 406 )
MG: 1306 ( instead of 1420 )
Potassium: 423
Sodium: 10433
Nitrate: 2 ( instead of 3.01 )

for me results are perfectly accurate taking into consideration as I mentioned in MG the human color reading error and in Nitrate also human interaction in mixing the vial , pouring the contents of the reagents and spilling some outside bottle , etc .

 

[Arcticreef]

The readings from the IonD are super nice I have checked with Hanna checkers and RedSea testes and the results are as follows:
PH: 8.4 (Hanna)
Salinity: 1.025 (Hanna)
Ca: 406 (Hanna)
Mg: 1420 (RedSea test so there is a big margin of error due to human factor in recognizing the color changing with every drop)
Potassium: ——
Sodium:——
Nitrate: 3. (Hanna)
Phosphate: 0.03 (Hanna)

while the test results from the IonD were ver close as follows
Ca: 399 ( instead of 406 )
MG: 1306 ( instead of 1420 )
Potassium: 423
Sodium: 10433
Nitrate: 2 ( instead of 3.01 )

for me results are perfectly accurate taking into consideration as I mentioned in MG the human color reading error and in Nitrate also human interaction in mixing the vial , pouring the contents of the reagents and spilling some outside bottle , etc .

I noticed your Nitrate data jumps up and down quite a bit. I've only been running mine for less than a week and I also have fairly large swings (up to 8 mg/l). Are these swings going to settle or is it a true reflection of changing nitrate levels. Or is the probe still working itself in? Unfortunately my system started automatically running the first test 5 hrs after the 1hr in rodi water and not 12 hrs as recommended. Hoping that has not affected the probe's ability long term. Ion Ds CA and Mg reading are a little under my Red Sea kit readings. I'm not so much chasing numbers but more after consistency around a basic number.

 

[MohamedF]

I noticed your Nitrate data jumps up and down quite a bit. I've only been running mine for less than a week and I also have fairly large swings (up to 8 mg/l). Are these swings going to settle or is it a true reflection of changing nitrate levels. Or is the probe still working itself in? Unfortunately my system started automatically running the first test 5 hrs after the 1hr in rodi water and not 12 hrs as recommended. Hoping that has not affected the probe's ability long term. Ion Ds CA and Mg reading are a little under my Red Sea kit readings. I'm not so much chasing numbers but more after consistency around a basic number.

Regarding nitrate unfortunately I would say the prob , at least that’s my analysis , as the 2nd device that I set it up correctly giving it time etc , there is no nitrate jumps at all it’s totally almost fixed which is how it should be , but on the “fast setup one “ the swings are crazy in nitrate which I might say it’s the prob , I will give it like a month if it stayed like that I will change the prob probably .
regarding the readings , Red Sea is very hard to accurately read as it have human interaction in mixing the vials and measuring the powder in addition to eye changing color as well so as you said I would never worry about measurements, just the nitrate is the crazy swing “ I would say as it needed to be soaked in a good way first before use “ .

 

[MohamedF]

Regarding nitrate unfortunately I would say the prob , at least that’s my analysis , as the 2nd device that I set it up correctly giving it time etc , there is no nitrate jumps at all it’s totally almost fixed which is how it should be , but on the “fast setup one “ the swings are crazy in nitrate which I might say it’s the prob , I will give it like a month if it stayed like that I will change the prob probably .
regarding the readings , Red Sea is very hard to accurately read as it have human interaction in mixing the vials and measuring the powder in addition to eye changing color as well so as you said I would never worry about measurements, just the nitrate is the crazy swing “ I would say as it needed to be soaked in a good way first before use “ .

 

[West1]

Nice, keep the updates rolling in!

I’m on the fence with Apex or GHL. I prefer GHL but sincerely dislike having to use 2G WiFi and it’s kind of a deal breaker (even tho I’m using GHL dosers).

 

[MohamedF]

Nice, keep the updates rolling in!

I’m on the fence with Apex or GHL. I prefer GHL but sincerely dislike having to use 2G WiFi and it’s kind of a deal breaker (even tho I’m using GHL dosers).

Well I have to admit that connectivity sucks .. rest is working great .

 

[West1]

Well I have to admit that connectivity sucks .. rest is working great .

Is the Ion Director also 2.4ghz?

 

[MohamedF]

Is the Ion Director also 2.4ghz?

Yep . I don’t know about the Profilux if it will be better connection or no , I’m getting one next week and I will connect both KH and ion to it and make just the Profilux manage the connection , hoping that this will help .

 

[West1]

Yep . I don’t know about the Profilux if it will be better connection or no , I’m getting one next week and I will connect both KH and ion to it and make just the Profilux manage the connection , hoping that this will help .

it does my brain in on how they keep the stuff on 2.4ghz.

 

[Cali9dub]

On a side note of everyone’s set up. I would suggest putting the doser unit on top of the KHD (I can’t speak for the ION D). There are tubing inside the KHD that vibrate when testing is taking place and it will rub a hole in them subsequently leaking into your KHD and gravity will have it go into your Doser. At the very least you can save your Doser when this happens to you

 

[ColoredRock]

2.4GHz vs 5GHz: The Vital Differences & Takeaways for 2023

Here is an in-deptch comparison between 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. Know which one should you be using in 2023.

bcca.org

 

[MohamedF]

On a side note of everyone’s set up. I would suggest putting the doser unit on top of the KHD (I can’t speak for the ION D). There are tubing inside the KHD that vibrate when testing is taking place and it will rub a hole in them subsequently leaking into your KHD and gravity will have it go into your Doser. At the very least you can save your Doser when this happens to you

For sure it will be more smooth , haven’t thought about that .. emmm . The worst is that to do this I might need to take out the lines and reinsert them , maybe empty measurement cell , take out all lines and remake it . Well I will do this later on but certainly worth a try .

 

[MohamedF]

2.4GHz vs 5GHz: The Vital Differences & Takeaways for 2023

Here is an in-deptch comparison between 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. Know which one should you be using in 2023.

bcca.org

The 2.4 connection in dosers are not good at all , but I was astonished when I hooked up the Profilux to them as the Profilux connection is quite steady and fast . So I actually eliminated all the connection problems the moment I added Profilux.

 

[West1]

Updates…