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Algae Strategy!

bugs said:
I was going to invest in a PH pen but Practical Fishkeeping's recommendation does not appear to be available anywhere! Not sure whether to trust the reviews on Amazon - how can people really tell whether the device is accurate? Surprised Aqua Essentials are not selling a device too. Hmmm...
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People on here have gone both ways; cheap and cheerful from amazon and go by what it says or Hanna make some quality ones which I think are worth investing in if you can afford one.
https://www.hannainstruments.co.uk/hi-98100-ph-checker-plus.html
 
I did come across Hanna but not the more affordable ones you linked to. Quite happy at that price!
Out of interest... I've seen images of aquarium water being tested by removing some of the water into a container. Is there a reason the probe is not simply put straight into the aquarium?
 
Interestingly the digital pen meters seem almost as faffy as liquid tests - what with calibrating, cleaning with distilled water, and storing with "storage solution". The upside is obviously having a specific value vs trying to match colours etc, however, not the simplicity I was hoping for...
 
Hi all,
bugs said:
digital pen meters seem almost as faffy as liquid tests - what with calibrating, cleaning with distilled water, and storing with "storage solution".
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pH meters are quite <"high maintenance bits of kit">, if you want something that is "plug and play" then a pH meter probably isn't for you.

I'm not a CO2 user, but If I was I would definitely rely <"on a drop checker">, rather than a cheap pH pen. The only disadvantage of drop checkers is that they take a while to reflect the actual CO2 level.

If you understand the workings of the pH meter, buffer it before use, <"store the electrode on the appropriate storage solution"> etc. then you can use a pH profile and a drop checker to give you an accurate pH profile.

cheers Darrel
 
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I just looked at the price of the buffer and storage solutions :what:...
I have a drop-checker but I like the idea behind this one. Maybe a better use of my investment, albeit not supporting the PH profiling for which I think I may just buy a liquid test kit.
 
I have been using a cheap PH pen from ebay. pen and buffers were under a tenner. It takes about 5 min to give an a accurate reading so i just clip it to the side of the tank when doing a profile. Even if the PH reading isn't exact I think the drop/change it reads is fairly accurate, along with a drop checker its probable good enough. I use the drop checker to tell me the saturation and PH pen to know when it gets there and if it stays the same. Don't need to know the exact PH.

I keep the buffer solutions in air tight containers so i can use it several time.
 
I've bought a cheap but well reviewed one off Amazon. Thanks.
 
Me too brought a cheap.on hang on side of tank if it drops from 7 to 6 before lights on i know I've got 30 ppm of co2 job done
 
john dory said:
just use a drop checker.
As long as it's green at lights on...I'm happy.
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Sure, but we often see people with problems who say they have a green DC, seems it can give false security😳
 
I'm not using particularly powerful lights,and none of my plants have a high carbon requirement.
 
I've made a start measuring PH but have another question... My KH is off the scale based on a dip test (actually, two dip tests from different brands). Does this mean my PH will be less reactive to CO2? (Something I thought I read somewhere).
 
The readings so far seem, erm, static:
Lights are on from 4pm to 11pm. CO2 runs 25hrs.

Date / Time / PH
16/10/2018 20:45 6.5
17/10/2018 12:13 6.9
17/10/2018 15:51 6.9
18/10/2018 08:32 6.9
18/10/2018 15:52 6.9
18/10/2018 23:12 6.9
19/10/2018 08:11 7.0
 
Looks like 6.9 all day? Why do you have the CO2 on 24 hours? Are you purposely dosing 24/7?
Could you test a glas of tankwater taken out of the tank the day before ( so CO2 has gassed out).
Solid dose 24/7 can work, just adapt light to it.
 
In the past I've found solenoids to be a bit of a pain. Running exceptionally hot and a whiff of unreliability. I've had both the "normal" solenoids and the low-heat versions. When I first started in planted aquariums (almost 20 years ago now :crazy:) I ran 24/7 and it was one of my most successful aquariums. I'm not ruling out other factors and I'll not rule out fitting a solenoid at some point if that seems the way to go.

In the meantime... Today is maintenance day so I'll draw of some water before I start and test that in 24 hours time to see what it shows.
 
Interestingly, the siphoned off sample; measured about 15mins after removing from the aquarium, was 7.1. The aquarium, immediately following the water change, was still at 6.9... I'd just changed about 40% of the water...
 
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