scout
New Member
I am new to the hobby. Just started a 29 gallon Oceanic Biocube around January 1 of this year. Things are going fairly well and I have certainly learned alot by reading these forums daily. Unfortunately I did not find this site until I was up and running or would have done a couple of things differently , but again all seems to be working out ok.
One area I am trying to improve is the quality of my testing. Dropped the multitest strip and the hydrometer and have gotten some Salifert test kits(about to order more) and the refractometer from this site.
I am trying to get an accurate pH value. I bought the pH meter from this site recently but have not calibrated it yet, because it requires a couple of "known" pH values and I did not know where to get those. I have found, through a search on this site, how to get those samples. But I did get frustrated because I can not find the name of the manufacturer of this meter on this site or anywhere on the meter or with its limited instructions. I had wanted to contact them about where to get the solution, but just couldn't find out who makes it. It is probably right there in front of me but again just couldn't find it.
Anyway, that got me to wondering about the quality of the meter. In my search for the "known" solutions I saw where people used some other brands but did not find any comment on this one. Does anyone have any experience with it? It was cheaper than some others that I later found, which made me a little nervous too.
Is a pH meter even necessary? In reading it seems as though an abnormal pH is not something to be treated in and of itself, but a sign of another problem. Would it be ok to just moniter the other parameters with high end test kits and follow the pH with something like a Salifert pH test kit instead of an actual meter which has to be recalibrated periodically? Just wanted to get some thoughts on which direction I should go.
Well the first post was a long one. Will try not to let it happen again. But again I appreciate any help.
One area I am trying to improve is the quality of my testing. Dropped the multitest strip and the hydrometer and have gotten some Salifert test kits(about to order more) and the refractometer from this site.
I am trying to get an accurate pH value. I bought the pH meter from this site recently but have not calibrated it yet, because it requires a couple of "known" pH values and I did not know where to get those. I have found, through a search on this site, how to get those samples. But I did get frustrated because I can not find the name of the manufacturer of this meter on this site or anywhere on the meter or with its limited instructions. I had wanted to contact them about where to get the solution, but just couldn't find out who makes it. It is probably right there in front of me but again just couldn't find it.
Anyway, that got me to wondering about the quality of the meter. In my search for the "known" solutions I saw where people used some other brands but did not find any comment on this one. Does anyone have any experience with it? It was cheaper than some others that I later found, which made me a little nervous too.
Is a pH meter even necessary? In reading it seems as though an abnormal pH is not something to be treated in and of itself, but a sign of another problem. Would it be ok to just moniter the other parameters with high end test kits and follow the pH with something like a Salifert pH test kit instead of an actual meter which has to be recalibrated periodically? Just wanted to get some thoughts on which direction I should go.
Well the first post was a long one. Will try not to let it happen again. But again I appreciate any help.
