Refractometers & Test Kit

[Mr Cob]

Without getting into great details that you will simply overlook or exploring all the things to control PH...the simple solution is keeping a 24 hour light cycle. It helps stabilize the light because of photosynthesis...

This means runing a light over your fuge reverse of your main display lighting.

[Europhyllia]

size of the fuge is important. I used to have a 0.5 swing with a 20g sump under a 125g tank, then I got a 55g sump and had more room for macro and it cut the swing down to 0.2
How much swing is okay will also depend on your critters. Starfish and other echinoderms are more sensitive to swings than most fish, etc.
Right now I have my Reefkeeper set to drip kalk when pH goes below a certain point and now my swing is down to less than 0.1

[Mr Cob]

That's awesome Karin! I wish I could get mine that stable. I'm thinking the 55g I just set up will be pretty stable....the fuge is huge for that sized tank.

Why is there always something else to buy in this hobby...? If I had it my way everything would be automated and digital.

[jroescher]

Karin ,
What do you use to control the flow of your kalk? To turn it on and off? Pump...solenoid ... ???

[Europhyllia]

I use the Reefkeeper Lite for control of the pump (regular Tom's Auqalifter attacjed to some rigid tubing stuck in a 5 gallon petfood container (because it's square and tall and easier to hide than a 5 gallon bucket). The Reefkeeper has a pH probe and it sends the signal to the controller. The pump comes on when pH falls and turns off when pH minimum is reached.
I evaporate more than I am adding kalk so I also have an ATO with just RO water independently from the kalk drip

[DarkHorseMBA]

Should I be testing for KH and GH? Is KH the same as Alkalinity?

[tony]

i made a long post sometime in the past about comparing my $100 milwaukee refractometer to the $30 marine depot one (i owned both). the cliffs notes, i believe them to be the exact same (one is blue and one is black). i even think they are made by the same manufacturer as well but i have no proof of this (they are 100% identical other than the color)