Water Testing

[JustRon]

What do you use to test the base water? I am not really asking about things such as Ammonia, but the hardness and chemical composition of your water before fish.

I have used a couple of chemical water test kits in the past, but since I am now going to get a room going again, I thought it might be best to put together thoughts on the entire process of making some of the critical fishroom decisions.

I am starting a BLOG. Is that the right place to put thoughts and document the process of setting up a room?

I will be modifying an old talk I have given in the past about the larger commercial type of fishroom I set up in the past, but this is just going to be more detailed and more in line with the issues affecting hobbyist rooms.

 

[Lively]

When I need to test, I use the litmus test strip things. They are fairly cheap, fast, not messy and I've tested them against the mini chemistry sets and they've been accurate.

I do use a liquid test kit to test hardness with my softwater tank, but only because I need lower than what shows up on the regular test. Other than that, I don't keep anything that is picky enough to require more accurate testing.

Blogs are cool for that sorta thing! I've been remiss on keeping my own up...

 

[longstocking]

I use the actual tube tests that give more acurate readings.... something like this Ron...

http://www.kensfish.com/testkit/gh_kh_test_kit.jpg

I usually only test for KH... that will tell me where my ph is usually.


We are pretty close... I would imagine your water is close to mine. low kh is your biggest issue. Major swings in ph then. Just buffer the water up with either baking soda or crushed coral.


or if you want .. bring a sample of your water to aquafest and give it to me and I can test it for you and email you the results since all you really are wating is your KH. I would bet your gh is low as well....