Dripping Kalkwasser...Help.

[Mr Cob]

Going to dose superbuffer dkh to get PH back up. Will do small portions in case it's my test kit acting up.

Actually, I'm going to just leave things going as is until I get my PH probe.

[Mr Cob]

Youcan come get my test kit if you want to compare them. I'm only gonna be here another 30 min. or so, and won't be back till late sunday. Someone will be at the house most of the day though. I'll set them out just in case.

Thanks, Jack. I'm tired of messing with the tank and these stupid test kits so I'm just going to let the tank be and at least wait until the PH probe comes in...that will cut one chore down. Wish I could afford all mechanical monitors!!!

I hate testing! It's the only thing I don't enjoy in this hobby. Matching stupid colors that all look alike! Too much room for human error!

[OrionN]

I find that pH test kits and probe that we use in the hobby are not very good

[Troy Valentine]

Rob, have you ever dosed or tested you Magnesium level? This is a key ingredient in keeping a stable calcium/alk level in a reef tank. Especially if you have a lot of coraline growth in your tank.

[Mr Cob]

Troy, I have not. Just added it to my long list of things to do to my tank that I don't want to do.

[fishcraze]

I find that pH test kits and probe that we use in the hobby are not very good

+1. I have to have two pH probes on the tank just to make sure the reading are accurate.

[JimD]

+1. I have to have two pH probes on the tank just to make sure the reading are accurate.

How do make sure that the two meters are reading accurately? Is it possible that they could both be wrong? The reason Im asking is because Im having trouble getting two meters to read the same. My Pinpoint consistantly reads .4 higher than the sms122. Both have been calibrated and both probes are less than a year old..

[fishcraze]

.4 difference is quite high! my pinpoint and milwalkee reading ~0.1-0.2 difference, and they go up and down together. You may need to re-calibrate both.
With a redundant set, if one showing some weird reading (like either going up or keep going down as for an old probe), you can at least still have the other one to go with and switch the control to the good one if needed.

[Mr Cob]

How often do you re-calibrate?

[OrionN]

How often do you re-calibrate?

Every time I used it. Even then, I cannot trust it. I just file it away in the round filing cabinet and just forget about pH of my tank. I even not check the pH of my Calcium reactor. I just do bubble count and go from there.
pH of the tank is not really important any way. I never adjust it. There is not away to adjust it. If I added kalk too fast I can see that the coral is irritated a little. Fish never show any sign of problem with having tank pH spike up due to kalk addition.