magnesium photometer *CAN be used for saltwater

Has anyone here used or know if this could be used to test saltwater?
Calcium and Magnesium Portable Photometer, HI 96752 | HANNA Instruments USA
It's described for Agriculture and Hydroponics, but a lfs i was talking to said it should be able to work for saltwater too. Dunno if any truth to this. However at it being a 200 dollar digital photometer for Magnesium, I am tempted to find out after so many inconsistent Mg test kits.

Looks identical to
Hanna HI96713C ISE Meter Phosphate Kit - Hanna Testers - Hanna Instruments - Test Kits/Electronic Testers

or even looking into this beast
Multiparameter Photometer for Laboratories, HI 83200 | HANNA Instruments

 

I don't think it can be used with saltwater, when I talked to their support about it they mentioned things are a lot harder to make for SW.

Hardware is easy to make, the reagent is hard to make.

 

I have had pretty good luck with Red Sea Pro Mag test kit, I would check that out until Hanna makes a handheld Mag tester.

Red Sea Magnesium Pro Test Kit - 100 Tests

 

Lol every company will tell you statements like that to make you keep buying different kits = more money for them.
How many times have you heard a company say our product can't be modded or upgraded or only used with this. Every time another person has gone out and found a way around it. If it can be used for hydroponics and agriculture i can't see saltwater being too far off. Maybe another company has a slightly different regent that will work. The photometer is the light measuring device inside the machine the regents just help it identify so possibly something else could be used that might work out.

Or maybe upon asking hanna might realize they already have the photometer that a different regent for saltwater is a cheap fix to open up a whole new customer base for this meter in the long run.

 

We have been waiting for the saltwater version of the portable Mg photometer for over a year now. I think their calcium meter was a flop and set them back

 

Thats a good point. I've heard alot of people couldnt get accurate results.
But,
I love their calcium reader has been giving me accurate results since day one.
I've been using distilled water and obviously different syringes because A) those white lines are not 10ml. And B) the syringes it came with were a little off. Since my old seachem kits came with a calcium reference I've used it in the tester and it gave me the same reading the reference was written at.

 

after contacting hanna instruments the technical support rep i found out the Mag checker I listed CAN be used for saltwater as well.She even contacted their R&D department and they confirmed it can be used and saltwater wont interfere with its readings.

 

The big thing is that their larger meters are much more expensive than the hand held ones they have been developing for the hobbyist level. $200 vs. $50

 

Cool, I wonder why their support guy said it couldn't.

 

dingo you are right, it is about 4x the price of a normal checker, however it is a calcium and Magnesium photometer. So you get 2 testers in one. so 200 vs 100 which would be each kit sold seperately. Its a one time buy and the regents are cheap. IF it is consistent its totally worth the price in my books compared to the salifert tests that give me different readings based on each kit or the elos. factor in mag tests are pretty expensive on their own I think if it is accurate that is an easy investment.

Biocube I'm not sure why the rep you spoke with said it couldn't, the reps i spoke with double checked the interference with the photometer and came back saying saltwater will not throw it off and it is fine to use to measure.