I used the Hanna nitrate checker for the first time on Thursday night. As I saw on a review video from the place I purchased it the testing process is fairly involved. Not undoable but it seems tedious the first few times you test with it. I've used it 3 times now and each time gets easier and more comfortable.
At first I was very unhappy with the results. The last 3 times I checked my nitrates using the Nyos test kit back in late April my levels were 25 ppm. The Hanna checker tests in the range of 0 to 5 ppm. If your levels are greater than 5 ppm then you need to go through a dilution step first. Because of my previous readings I did the dilution step for my first test. After applying the multiplier my test result was 3.1 ppm. I thought to myself there's no way my nitrate levels are that low, this thing is garbage. So I cleaned everything up and redid the test without the dilution step. My second test yielded a value of 1.18 ppm. Not believing my nitrates were that low I was thinking that I had wasted my money. Dang. However, over the weekend I had a thought that if my nitrates were somehow really that low then that might explain why some of my LPS corals were experiencing tissue recession. Sunday night I decided to test my nitrate levels using all 3 test kits that I have. Here are the results:
Red Sea: ~0.5 ppm
Nyos: <1 ppm
Hanna Checker: 1.9 ppm
To my surprise I confirmed that I really do have low nitrates. I was SUPER shocked. Dang algae scrubber works too good! Also learned that the Hanna checker seems accurate enough. I like that I no longer have to guess which color matches which color. That part I really like!! Overall I really like the new nitrate checker. You will have to get used to all of the steps but in the end I believe it to be worth it.
Enjoy!