Anyone have a pH monitor?

[MitchM]

LOL...



Mitch

[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!

quote]

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

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Carpentersreef

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.