HAGEN PO4 Test Kits.

Yes I think you are right, I'll have to take a sample to one of our LFS and
get them to test it.
In theory yours would be correct, But if there's a difference in paperwork
between kits over here in Australia then there just may as well also be a
difference in bottles btween yours and ours here where we are....That's why
i wish Hagen would respond, but their last reply was a EMPTY email....
Thanks for all your replies...

Cheers
Microbot

"CheezWiz" wrote in message
...
Your theory is that using 1 drop of regent 3 in water that has no
phosphates
causes it to read high. If that were the case, I should see the same thing
here.

On Mon, 31 May 2004 12:50:04 +1000, "Microbot"
wrote:

Yes I think you are right, I'll have to take a sample to one of our LFS and
get them to test it.
In theory yours would be correct, But if there's a difference in paperwork
between kits over here in Australia then there just may as well also be a
difference in bottles btween yours and ours here where we are....That's why
i wish Hagen would respond, but their last reply was a EMPTY email....
Thanks for all your replies...

Cheers
Microbot

"CheezWiz" wrote in message
...
Your theory is that using 1 drop of regent 3 in water that has no
phosphates
causes it to read high. If that were the case, I should see the same thing
here.

I would think that adding insufficient drops will cause the test to
read LOWER - aren't you adding insufficient indicator for the possible
amount of PO4?

Either way - you both might have correct kits and this could be an
export issue.
The old Hagen kits that we (Canada) saw were 3x3x3, with all 3 bottles
as plastic. They switched to the glass droppers because reagent #3
was reacting with the plastic in the bottle and making the test
unusable.
For our briefcase/Master test kit, as well as the boxed ones, it has
always been 3x3x3.

However, since you're in Oz I thought I'd mention something that might
help. Ever noticed how the stupid Hagen NO2/3 test kits come with a
large bottle #1 and a small bottle #2? And yet you need the same
amount of drops for every test? I asked our Hagen rep about it and he
said it wasn't a money grab (if it were, they wouldn't sell individual
bottles to replace used up ones), but a legal issue. Within Canada,
anyways, there is some law about chemical densities and how much can
be shipped without extra security (or somesuch - he was no expert but
that was what head office told him when they launched the lines).
It's possible that Australia had different laws and so Hagen was able
to package the third reagent at a higher concentration - so you only
need one drop to get the same amount of dissolved reagent. Then,
perhaps, Hagen decided it would be easier to simply produce all the
stuff in China (they've started doing that now) and are importing the
same stuff the rest of the world gets.
Or on the other hand, maybe someone made a SERIOUS typo and the
reagents were the same.

My suggesion? Don't buy a Hagen test kit. I've moved to Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals tests and so far I love 'em.

If we put our test kits side by side (which we have done), the results are
like this:

Skozzy: (po4 Test comes from the Master Test Kit)
3x3x1 - Final reading is very high phosphates
3x3x3 - Final reading is very low phosphates
The booklet says to use the 3x3x1 method.

Microbot: (po4 Test comes from a stand alone test kit)
3x3x1 - Final reading is very high phosphates
3x3x3 - Final reading is very low phosphates
The booklet says to use the 3x3x3 method.

The more of reagent #3 used the lower 'OR' more acurate the test.

So, looking at the above, the Master Test Kit and the Single Test Kit
produce the same results, the only difference is the booklet.

But for me it has cost a lot of extra money, because I have been doing more
frequent tests to monitor it all and always seeing high phosphates, I ended
up buying phosphate removers, each payday I would buy anything that claimed
it would remove phosphate, the average cost of each remover was around
$40aus, so far i have bought enough 'remover' to completely replace every
drop of salt water in my tank and then some.

I agree with Rikko, I will start looking at alternatives to Hagen Test
kits...

Cheers
Microbot

"skozzy" wrote in message
u...
If we put our test kits side by side (which we have done), the results are
like this:

Skozzy: (po4 Test comes from the Master Test Kit)
3x3x1 - Final reading is very high phosphates
3x3x3 - Final reading is very low phosphates
The booklet says to use the 3x3x1 method.

Microbot: (po4 Test comes from a stand alone test kit)
3x3x1 - Final reading is very high phosphates
3x3x3 - Final reading is very low phosphates
The booklet says to use the 3x3x3 method.

The more of reagent #3 used the lower 'OR' more acurate the test.

So, looking at the above, the Master Test Kit and the Single Test Kit
produce the same results, the only difference is the booklet.

But for me it has cost a lot of extra money, because I have been doing
more
frequent tests to monitor it all and always seeing high phosphates, I
ended
up buying phosphate removers, each payday I would buy anything that
claimed
it would remove phosphate, the average cost of each remover was around
$40aus, so far i have bought enough 'remover' to completely replace every
drop of salt water in my tank and then some.