Fluctuating nitrate measurements

[Matthijs]

Hello,

After 2 years of long waiting I finally recieved the ION D.
Honnestly I'm dissapointed as I have (mainly) weird nitrate readings.

1st : 6mg/l 10.01.22 09:26
2nd : 1mg/l 11.01.22 11:16
3rd : 9mg/l 11.01.22 11:49
4th : 9mg/l 11.01.22 12:23
5th : 0mg/l 11.01.22 15:44
6th : 10mg/l 11.01.22 19:13
7th : 0mg/l 12.01.22 10:54

Calcium allso fluctuated from 416mg/l till 440mg/l in that timelapse.

I followed the manual step by step, soaked the sensor in tap water for +30min and waited +12 hours after I tapped the "prepare measurement cell" button.
I calibrated the pumps each 4 times to be sure my calibration was good. Measurements from the tubings are good and there is no interference from other power cords.
Am I the only or is this "normal"?
Or is there something I can do?

Kind regards,
Matthijs

[Ads-jj]

I have a issue where the first reading is well off then if I test again immediately after I actually get readings which are representative, currently got a ticket open trying to find out why I have to perform 2 tests to get the correct readings, cant seem to think of anything else and like you nitrate readings are very sporadic and calcium levels also, have you noticed on the tests that come back with strange results that the sensor performance % has dropped? then after doing a test again the sensor performance goes back to 100%? I only test once a day so haven't seen how mine would perform over the day but testing again straight away seems to be more accurate for me, would be interesting to see if yours does a similar thing?

one suggestion was to tighten the probe holder incase air is getting pulled into the unit but that hasn't worked for me, I would suggest opening a ticket with ghl though as you then get support on your issue if you haven't already done so

Adam

[Thilo]

Yes, please open a ticket and provide a screenshot of the sensor deltas (click on the i or ... button at the sensor performance section): https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/support/tickets-enquiries/

[Matthijs]

I have a issue where the first reading is well off then if I test again immediately after I actually get readings which are representative, currently got a ticket open trying to find out why I have to perform 2 tests to get the correct readings, cant seem to think of anything else and like you nitrate readings are very sporadic and calcium levels also, have you noticed on the tests that come back with strange results that the sensor performance % has dropped? then after doing a test again the sensor performance goes back to 100%? I only test once a day so haven't seen how mine would perform over the day but testing again straight away seems to be more accurate for me, would be interesting to see if yours does a similar thing?

one suggestion was to tighten the probe holder incase air is getting pulled into the unit but that hasn't worked for me, I would suggest opening a ticket with ghl though as you then get support on your issue if you haven't already done so

Adam

Hi Adam,

I hope your problem is solved in meantime.

I have no weird values on my ION sensor, untill now performance has always been 100%.

For some reason the first readings fluctuated a lot but I've let the ION Director run in and I'm blown away from the results this last week! The measured parameters are steady as could be.

13140

I start the measurements manually as I dont feel the necessity to measure these parameters every day as the ION director drinks the same volume of reference fluids as I drink beer :p
I hope GHL will come with an update to do measurements every x days instead of x each day.

Grtz,
Matthijs

[Matthijs]

Yes, please open a ticket and provide a screenshot of the sensor deltas (click on the i or ... button at the sensor performance section): https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/support/tickets-enquiries/

Hi Thilo,

The "problem" solved itself as you can read in my message above.
Measurements are pinpoint now!
If you could pass on the message on the ammount of automatic measurements (x measurements/week instead of x measurements/day) to the developers, that would be awesome.

Kind regards,
Matthijs

[Thilo]

Hi,

a corresponding adjustment is already noted. But we have to investigate the effect of longer measurement pauses on the sensor in order to define a maximum distance between two measurements.

[bin6006]

Hi,

a corresponding adjustment is already noted. But we have to investigate the effect of longer measurement pauses on the sensor in order to define a maximum distance between two measurements.

Hello, is it possible to determine the maximum interval between two measurements

[Thilo]

With the latest sensor version it is necessary to test at least once a day (else you will have to regenerate the sensor by performing multiple tests). But we will check if we can make it possible to measure e.g. once a week.