ph and tds pen recommendations

[Kyla]

hello! i am looking for recommendations for ph pen and tds pen brands? ive never used these before and there are so many types available online... if u have ones u love could u let me know the type u use?

thanks!

[DJW]

These are good:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Marine-Pinpoint-Monitor-Package/dp/B001EHAZ30

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1453303220&sr=1-1&keywords=hm+digital+tds

[Kyla]

thanks DJW!

[afriend]

Kyla,

Here's the one I use. Combination EC/TDS Had it about 3 years now and never had a problem, my old reliable.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hanna-Instruments-HI98311-Waterproof-Conductivity-TDS-Temp-Tester-New-/121823604822?hash=item1c5d40b056:g:2KEAAOSwHQ9WVPB C

Paul

[Cosmo]

Kyla,

Here's the one I use. Combination EC/TDS Had it about 3 years now and never had a problem, my old reliable.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hanna-Instruments-HI98311-Waterproof-Conductivity-TDS-Temp-Tester-New-/121823604822?hash=item1c5d40b056:g:2KEAAOSwHQ9WVPB C

Paul

I had this same meter and it lasted years before I dropped it on the cement and it broke enough to let water in :( I currently have the ph/ec/tds pen so one pen does it all. With Hanna pens you can replace the electrodes when they wear out so the pen itself is never obsolete

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9848

[Kyla]

thanks! i lov the idea of a multi-tester!

[DJW]

I had one of the Hanna pH meters but I'm too scatterbrained to keep the lid on and the bulb dried out. The Pinpoint stays in one tank as a monitor, then if I want the pH from a different tank, which isn't often, I put some water in a cup and drop the monitor in the cup for a minute.

[Sergey]

Take a look at http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?121964-Maintaining-Low-pH-Tanks&p=1187369&viewfull=1#post1187369, that's a recent discussion on pH and conductivity meters, although leaning towards low conductivity and pH. It's a good idea to know up front what ranges your water parameters are in to get the best meter. I'm using Hanna's HI 98129 pH/EC/temp combo meter, which is not bad, but it has its limitations.

Sergey.

[Kyla]

right now our city has soft water with low tds... but the city is planning to add sodium hydroxide to our water next year and our ph is going to skyrocket, they say it may go as high as 9.6 ...

so im trying to decide how im going to handle it... either i can add muriatic acid or some kind of "ph down" solution or i can invest in an RO. it sounds like i should get different pens depending on which route i take?

i was told that using the acid to lower the ph will increase the tds a lot whereas RO water would mean really soft water...

im kinda dreading this change. i know nothing about RO units and im afraid of how much RO im going to have to make to keep up with wc on the tanks, esp the 180g and 210g not to mention how much water its going to waste.

[afriend]

im kinda dreading this change. i know nothing about RO units and im afraid of how much RO im going to have to make to keep up with wc on the tanks, esp the 180g and 210g not to mention how much water its going to waste.

Kyla,

Here's a reference to help you answer your question above:

www.theperfectwater.com/waste-water.html

The RO system itself is not difficult to use and generally cost between $100 to $200. The difficult part is doing the plumbing. Also, you will need to add something to the water after it comes out of the RO unit in order to stabilize the pH. So it will involve a storage tank and a pump to get it to your aquariums. A possible benefit of all of this is, with a few more dollars, you could put together an automated water exchange system.

Here's a 100 gpd unit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reverse-Osmosis-Water-Filter-System-2-OUTLET-DI-RO-100-GPD-Drinking-Aquarium-NTF-/281181210229?hash=item4177b4c675:g:RUUAAOxy0QBSTx9 F

Paul

[DJW]

Kyla,

If I remember right there was going to be a public meeting where you could ask a city chemist about the pH. How did that go?

If you already age your water, switching to RO isn't something that should be intimidating. There will be some simple plumbing at first, and depending on your water you will probably mix back a little tap to get the water you are accustomed to using. With some water there might be a need for buffer.

The only real difference I have seen with RO is that you need to plan ahead so the water you need is there because it comes in so slowly, you will need to turn another valve as part of your routine, and to make it work smoothly its good if you can run a waste line from the RO filter directly to the house sewer line.

Oh, I always forget about water costs (mine is 'free'). You will use 3 or 4 times as much water, not a minor thing in some cities.

[Kyla]

Kyla,

Here's a reference to help you answer your question above:

www.theperfectwater.com/waste-water.html

The RO system itself is not difficult to use and generally cost between $100 to $200. The difficult part is doing the plumbing. Also, you will need to add something to the water after it comes out of the RO unit in order to stabilize the pH. So it will involve a storage tank and a pump to get it to your aquariums. A possible benefit of all of this is, with a few more dollars, you could put together an automated water exchange system.

Here's a 100 gpd unit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reverse-Osmosis-Water-Filter-System-2-OUTLET-DI-RO-100-GPD-Drinking-Aquarium-NTF-/281181210229?hash=item4177b4c675:g:RUUAAOxy0QBSTx9 F

Paul

im hoping to be able to mix back some tap water, but at this point i dont know how much RO to tap water % i would need to get the ph down and i wont know this until the additive is added to the city water. i looked all over town for an aging barrel and its going to cost over $300 to get one large enough to do a decent wc on my 210g. what do other ppl use for barrels when they have very large tanks or many tanks to do wc on? at least a barrel is only a 1x expense :)

any recommendations on a pump? the barrell is going to be almost as tall as me, so i dont know about putting the pump inside of it at the bottom? i have read about inline pumps where u can put a tube into the barrel instead. are these a good idea? cleaning the barrel will be interesting

[Kyla]

Kyla,

If I remember right there was going to be a public meeting where you could ask a city chemist about the pH. How did that go?

If you already age your water, switching to RO isn't something that should be intimidating. There will be some simple plumbing at first, and depending on your water you will probably mix back a little tap to get the water you are accustomed to using. With some water there might be a need for buffer.

The only real difference I have seen with RO is that you need to plan ahead so the water you need is there because it comes in so slowly, you will need to turn another valve as part of your routine, and to make it work smoothly its good if you can run a waste line from the RO filter directly to the house sewer line.

Oh, I always forget about water costs (mine is 'free'). You will use 3 or 4 times as much water, not a minor thing in some cities.

i dont age my water yet but i want to start. my hot water tank cant handle the # and % i want to do on my tanks, and when im refilling i have to sometimes do it in stages to have enough hot water... with a barrell i can heat the water to the exact temp and i dont have to keep running to the tap to adjust it as my hot water tank runs out of hot mix.

yah the increase in water cost is going to hurt!! im considering selling my 210g to reduce the cost

i had my list of questions ready to go but the night of the meeting was our worst snow storm this winter. businesses and schools were closed and the roads were dangerous. i tried to call the city and ask if they were still having the meeting but no one there knew for sure (it was offsite and they didnt have the contact numbers). it turns out they did have the meeting afterall :/

one idea i had was to ask the city for some water from their test area (they are testing the chemical in one part of the city). that way i could experiment with the muriatic acid to see just how much i would need to add to the water and what tds i ended up with after lowering the ph.

[DJW]

What will make the change hard is that you won't know ahead of time how much ageing the water will need to arrive at a settled pH and therefore it will be hard to plan enough storage. You also don't know what mix you will need until you run it through the RO.

There are ways to chain several barrels together so that you have enough aged water.

You can also install a fish-only water heater... lots of possibilities.

[afriend]

im hoping to be able to mix back some tap water, but at this point i dont know how much RO to tap water % i would need to get the ph down and i wont know this until the additive is added to the city water. i looked all over town for an aging barrel and its going to cost over $300 to get one large enough to do a decent wc on my 210g. what do other ppl use for barrels when they have very large tanks or many tanks to do wc on? at least a barrel is only a 1x expense :)

any recommendations on a pump? the barrell is going to be almost as tall as me, so i dont know about putting the pump inside of it at the bottom? i have read about inline pumps where u can put a tube into the barrel instead. are these a good idea? cleaning the barrel will be interesting

Kyla,

Here's a 130g food grade tank for about $185. Tank P/N: PV0200-32

www.protankms.com

Select "Vertical Tanks"

It has a threaded outlet at the bottom. It can be drilled on the side so that you can mount a toilet float valve inside the tank and is available at Walmart. This is what I did and have had it working for over 20 years without any issue of leaks or flooding. Never had to clean it because it contains RO water which is as clean as distilled water. Has a removable cap on the top. Here's a picture of the tank and the pump I use:

93573

Don't be concerned about all the valves. They are there to permit me to use a single pump to perform different tasks. For example, a single pump is used to pump water from the RO tank to the mix tank, AND from the mix tank to the aquarium. Here's a write up on the whole system:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122470-Part-7-Water-Exchange

Paul

[DJW]

one idea i had was to ask the city for some water from their test area (they are testing the chemical in one part of the city). that way i could experiment with the muriatic acid to see just how much i would need to add to the water and what tds i ended up with after lowering the ph.

I would go to a public restroom in that test area and get a sample for pH testing.

Oh and wear a trench coat & dark glasses...

[rickztahone]

im hoping to be able to mix back some tap water, but at this point i dont know how much RO to tap water % i would need to get the ph down and i wont know this until the additive is added to the city water. i looked all over town for an aging barrel and its going to cost over $300 to get one large enough to do a decent wc on my 210g. what do other ppl use for barrels when they have very large tanks or many tanks to do wc on? at least a barrel is only a 1x expense :)

any recommendations on a pump? the barrell is going to be almost as tall as me, so i dont know about putting the pump inside of it at the bottom? i have read about inline pumps where u can put a tube into the barrel instead. are these a good idea? cleaning the barrel will be interesting

Here are good choices on larger barrels:
https://www.dultmeier.com/products/0.920.2434/62

Additionally, check craigslist. I have seen 300g containers being sold for $150 before. They are huge, but I know they can be found on there. good luck

[Las Vegas]

Lmao!!!

[Las Vegas]

LOL! (On DJW post. )

[Jack L]

These are good:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Marine-Pinpoint-Monitor-Package/dp/B001EHAZ30

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-TDS-EZ-Measurement-Resolution/dp/B002C0A7ZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1453303220&sr=1-1&keywords=hm+digital+tds

i use and HM Digital brand one too, works fine. got rec on this board.

[Cosmo]

I had one of the Hanna pH meters but I'm too scatterbrained to keep the lid on and the bulb dried out. The Pinpoint stays in one tank as a monitor, then if I want the pH from a different tank, which isn't often, I put some water in a cup and drop the monitor in the cup for a minute.

the ph probes use a sensor in the bulb and a tiny cloth whick (Hanna has told me this, I've never been able to see it myself) and the whick is the problem with drying out. Soaking the probe for 24 hours will in most cases bring the probe back to life, assuming it doesn't have other problems. I don't remember if they suggested cleaning solution or storage solution ?? Did that a few times myself years ago so I know it works!

[DJW]

Its worth a try... I will soak the bulb in some ph 4 calibration fluid and see if it comes back to life.

[Cosmo]

Its worth a try... I will soak the bulb in some ph 4 calibration fluid and see if it comes back to life.

Hope it works for you :)