ph accuracy ?

[KahluaZzZ]

Hi again guys. I tested my water . I have 0 chlorine, 0 nitrite ( well nothing very alive in the tank so..), my hardness is approx. 400 ppm, the salt is at 1.023 and my ph is well...not sure. I have 2 test kits. The big Hagen suitcase, and the Mardel strips. The hagen tells me i have 8.2 and the Mardel 8.4. Since there's is no way i can see if my water is even more alkalin, like 8.6 or up..i need help to find a real accurate test for the ph. My substrate is crushed coral ( about 30 lbs for 55 gallons ).
I know both salt mix and crushed coral raise the ph..


btw. I had lotta' hairs in my instant ocean saltmix and they're not mine ! LOL

 

[NightRydaz01]

8.6-8.4 PH is pretty Natural for a new setup and won't go down to much probably will balance out at 8.2-8.0.
I seem to get hairs with my Instant Ocean Mix 2 but I think there my dogs hairs im not sure i just pick em out and let the water sit and make sure i have a lid on my backup water bucket. I use Aquarium Pharmacuticals Inc. Test kits. seems pretty accurate to me. Your tank will start to develope within the next 2-3 weeks. Does you tank have any ammonia yet?

 

[KahluaZzZ]

nope 0 ammonia.

 

[1979camaro]

is there anything in the tank which would cause ammonia? you need something to start the cycle (ideally live rock...though there are other options like raw shrimp)

as far as your pH, most of the salt mixes are designed to raise it to 8.3 when you make the mix. handy. i use buffer in my top off water just to make sure im not diluting that any. as far as the high range test kit, i dont know of one specifically...but i would trust the test tube over the strips so you are probably doing just fine there...just to be sure, why not test again with the hagen

 

[S.Reef]

Well...either one is fine.

 

[1979camaro]

if i understand correctly, though, he was concerned that perhaps the pH was higher than what was tested b/c the strips didnt read above 8.4 but i could be mistaken