Am I colour blind...?

[andsoitgoes]

I'm having one hell of a time actually reading the PH and other type tests. I know I don't have the high-end brands, but I still think I could get an accurate idea as to what's going on.

The kit I have is a hagen "master" test kit - it's been very useful in some ways to help me keep an eye on the general ideas of the tank levels, but now that I'm getting more into salt, and things are getting a bit more "pinpoint" - I'm having problems.

For example, I have yet to take a ph reading that I can accurately say "Yep, that's x.x" - it was the same with my freshwater tanks, but accuracy wasn't as important.

I want to do this right, and I want to succeed - but I don't want to spend tons of money on electronic monitors or test kits that are 5x as expensive just to run into the same problems.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

[andresont]

Good things never come cheep.
I alwayes have been using PinPont Monitors PH, Salinity and ORP all on adapters power suply. This way you can get a reading instantly any time day or night, no tests, no colors, no guessing pure joy.

[Dale]

I don't know about you.. but I am blue green colour blind

Just some thoughts.

I routinely use a Salifert pH test kit and find the colour difference between say 8.3 and 8.0 pretty easy to read. In an ordinary reef or FOWLR using coral based substrate your pH shouldn't move quickly so I don't think one needs to really worry about the pH that much (famous last words). Just a quick check to see if it's in that ball park is all I really worry about. There shouldn't be anything moving the pH that quickly in the reef. Almost always it is 8.3 and if it's 8.0 I make a note to keep a closer eye on things.
If you run a Ca reactor (or something else that affects pH like regular dosing of kalk etc...) then you want to become more attentive though, more to shifting trends so you can correct them. At that point you may wish to consider a pH probe so that you aren't manually doing tests all the time.

[marie]

I'll tell you a secret


... after trying to read the salifert ph tests and failing miserably, I didn't test my ph again for years. It wasn't until I got my calcium reactor and a ph monitor that I knew what the ph was doing in my tanks

I did drip kalk at night on all my tanks though so I knew my ph had to be on the high side

[Delphinus]

Don't bother testing pH with a testkit!! First of all it doesn't really tell you much anyhow. If you're trying to dial in a calcium reactor, you need a monitor, forget trying to compare greens and yellows, you'll only give yourself a headache!

Some test kits are better than others. Ca and Alk test kits can come in a titration style (add dropwise into solution until you get a colour change from blue to red or vice versa ... pretty hard to miss even if slightly colourblind). Just count the drops to the change and viola'.

Some don't come in titration though, and for those (eg. nitrate) you just kinda need to try the various brands until you find one you like. Seachem, Elos, Salifert, etc.

Monitors and controllers are nice too, if you can stomach the startup cost. The nice thing though is that it should be a one-time cost (purchase of the unit), not so much an ongoing cost.

[ed99]

I had one of those Hagen test kits a few years ago and I also struggled reading the pH. The colour often didn't match any of the ones on the card.