Anyone have a pH monitor?

[Delphinus]

Looking to borrow one for a day or two if someone has one that they wouldn't mind lending out...

:?:

[Canadian Man]

Mee too!
Are you thinking for our reactors Tony, When we get them going?

[Delphinus]

Well, yeah. Now I'm wishing I hadn't just bought a pump that I won't use right away for a skimmer that I didn't need for a tank that I haven't even set up yet. Because Jayson has pH monitors for $115 but now I'm far too much in debt to consider buying one. Aaarrrgghhh, what an idiot am I. If only I had thought of this a day sooner then I could have not bought that pump. :x

I'm really, really hoping we can borrow someone's meter for a day or two? Mitch? Deb? Pretty please ??????

[EmilyB]

A little birdie told me you can build a reactor out of a tomatoe juice can, an old fire extinguisher, some rope, a tractor tire, an old toothbrush and some washing soda, then you won't maybe need to own a pH monitor :lol:

I don't have one, btw... :P

[Delphinus]

HUH? :? Confused....

PS. What gage rope?? You need to be more specific!! ;)

PPS. Thanks anyways..

[StirCrazy]

A little birdie told me you can build a reactor out of a tomatoe juice can, an old fire extinguisher, some rope, a tractor tire, an old toothbrush and some washing soda, then you won't maybe need to own a pH monitor :lol:

I don't have one, btw... :P

that won't work. IMHE I have found that the rope losens in a short time causing the tire to slide to fare from the extinguisher.. this allows the toothbrush to slide out of the can and as a result the washing soda doesent get mixed up which leads to a low alk output. to corect this you need to put a couple wraps of duct tape over the rope to secure it good and act as a secondary fastener.

another trick I have learned is to use a aquafresh brand tooth brush, the flexable neck alows it to move and make up for slight vibrations.

hope this helps
Steve

[Delphinus]

Does it matter if the fire extinguisher is painted red?

[StirCrazy]

I prefer blue but I guess red would work.

Steve

[Aquattro]

Steve, looks like you're the expert on this. I've been having a heck of a time with this setup and now I'm thinking my tire is wrong. Is there a preferred thread pattern? And should it be mounted or not? Mine is mounted on a split rim, which I suspect is one (of many) source of my problems. Can you please advise? Thanks!

P.S. I would REALLY like to see a pic of what you feel is the right setup!

[canadawest]

OK Brad, when you lay down a gauntlet like that you KNOW that Steve is now probably throwing something together just to take a pic of it! :lol:

:shock: <--- here's me when the pic arrives!

[MitchM]

LOL...

:arrow: :o

Mitch :lol:

[MitchM]

I'm actually hooking up my own reactor this weekend, and my monitor is an integral part, as I've got it hooked up to a switch for the CO2. (Aquamedic reactor)

If you guys are getting your own reactors going, you'll need the monitor to be in constant use...won't you? :?
My own reactor takes about 2 weeks for it to settle down to a regular pace.

This thread should probably be moved to the DIY...

Mitch :twisted:

[Delphinus]

Thanks anyways Mitch, I figured it was a long shot, but ....

I just wanted to borrow one for a day or two, to see if it's something I can't live without. You know? Well ... maybe not. I don't have the ability to go spend a grand at a time on this hobby ... I don't know how it is for others, but I tend to find that I need to be constantly prioritizing "the next hundred dollars" on the hobby. If I listen to just the vendors, then it's not guaranteed I'm prioritizing correctly. Can you see what I mean?

[Aquattro]

[quote="canadawest"]OK Brad, when you lay down a gauntlet like that you KNOW that Steve is now probably throwing something together just to take a pic of it! :lol:

quote]

And wouldn't that keep him busy for a while? Starting to see my plan?? :P

[Aquattro]

If you guys are getting your own reactors going, you'll need the monitor to be in constant use...won't you? :?
:

Depends on the type of rope, I think!
Seriously though, I did hook up a pH meter when I installed my reactor. You could use a hand held meter or good test kit, but it is easier to just open the cabinet and look at the meter. Also, with the number of tests you could potentially do, a test it could get expensive in the long term.

[Delphinus]

Brad, are there even test kits that are adequate? This goes back to why I was asking the question in the first place. I have tried about 4 or 5 different pH test kits over the years, but I found that the ranges tended to lack the resolution that are truly useful for reefkeeping. I don't want to bother with a test kit.

Seriously, I was not trying to get out of purchasing a Pinpoint .... I was just trying to get out of buying one this week. There's something like 8" of snow outside today .... I don't want to be in the doghouse much longer!!!

BTW, wouldn't a handheld be a better investment if you have multiple tanks? I know that it would be pretty convenient to just open a cabinet door and know instantly your pH value ... but ... who wants to do that 3 or 4 times over? Or are the handhelds inferior somehow?

[Aquattro]

Tony, hand held meters are fine. I agree also that test kits aren't good enough, although I have seen a Hach kit that worked pretty well.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

What are you using the pH test for ?

I have used pH test kits for a long time. Currently I use the high range pH test from Hagen. You can buy refills for the hagen kits for about $3. This test kit uses methyl. blue. They are relatively accurate (within 0.1). They don't suffer from calibration problems and Ag/AgCl reference degradation.

The pH is easier to read from a methyl. blue type test when less reagant is used (i.e. the colour is lighter so that you can tell the difference between green-blue and greener-blue).
BTW, I dialed in a calcium reactor with a test kit...same methyl blue kit.

- Victor.

[Aquattro]

Victor, hate to disagree, but of all the test kits I ever used, Hagen was the worst! It would tell me my pH was somewhere between 7.7 and 8.5; and since the color of the solution didn't match any on the reference card, I think you'd get better results by tasting the water!! IMHO :)

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Hmm.....maybe its the technique :) I don't know...but my Hagen kits agrees with my LaMotte kit. Did you shake the test tube or just swirl it ?

Oh...and do not add too much reagent (i.e. 1 to 2 drops should do the trick). It makes it hard read. But, LaMotte is pretty good....it actually has a chart with 0.1 accuracy.

- Victor.

[Canadian Man]

I gotta agree with Victor,
My hagen high range ph works very well and is easy to tell the diffrent colors.
It is by no means as accurate as a digital idea but seems to work for me.

I was only planning on using my hagen kits to dial in my reactor anyway once Tony and I get it built.

[Aquattro]

Well, maybe I'm not too bright in the Hagen test kit area. Or maybe I don't see colors so good... :)
I paid $60 for my digital meter and reading numbers is something I'm pretty good at, so...

In all fairness some test kits can be accurate (Hagen isn't on my list) and if you only need to do a limited number of tests, there isn't much point in spending the extra dollars on the meter.

[StirCrazy]

my hagen PH reads the same as my digital meter.. go figure.. I find the rest of the hagens are junk for salt water but good for fresh

Steve

[UnderWorldAquatics]

id lend you my hand held monitor tony but im probably a little far away...