test strips ?

[Rivermist]

Hi again (a lot of questions today)


So because of my fish agitation I went to check the water.


All numbers are great, my only concern being the PH

The more i wait the more the color of the PH band changes... while all the others lose their color (as the water dries out).

Does the accurate PH result show up later than the others ?

If I only count the 25 seconds like the instructions say, it says the PH is around 6 !!!!!!!!!!! Maybe eve 5,5

But if i wait longer then 7.5

What is going on ?

Also for my alkalinity it's just a little part of the band that changes color... and it's the right color around 180


I'm a little lost


Now If I have a PH issue.

How do I correct it ?

Thx a lot

 

[sissy]

I never had luck with test strips I bought a liquid test kit and they usually cost around 25 to 28 dollars ,My pond stays stable at 9 .So i have had luck with that and keep it there but most want it around 8 .Goldfish are not fussy about ph .

 

[Rivermist]

I wouldn't pannick around 8... but if the 5.5 is accurate... I have to find a way to fix it...

Last week the test were the same, and same thing with the PH but they were acting normal.

So maybe they are really just being in love right now...

Thx for your tip... will look into a more precise test system...

 

[addy1]

at 5.5, which is our well ph, when we filled the pond, it killed the test feeder fish we put in. I would get a liquid kit and make sure on that ph.

I felt horrible for the poor fish, they didn't even last a day. That is when we discovered our ph issue. The pond had been filled for around 2 months, we thought all should be fine water wise, no chlorine since we are on a well

 

[j.w]

I like the liquid test kits the best. API ones on the net are a nice price at around $25. for a master freshwater kit. No KH or GH tho. Gotta buy those separate if you buy that master kit. You can buy the KH and GH together for about $9.

 

[Rivermist]

But it's been a month now ? wouldn't my fish be pretty dead if it as accurate ?????

The thing is it stays yellow longer and starts changing color much later than the others (like one minute).
It's also the first band so last one to get in the water first out.

I'll get a liquid test this saturday anyway.

they are behaving normal now... this morning was definitely mating chase !

 

[addy1]

Hard to say, my test strips never read well, even brand new ones. I switched to a liquid kit and a ph meter.

 

[j.w]

Whats a good brand of ph meter addy and where did you find one..............Amazon or Ebay?

 

[addy1]

This is the second one I bought, the first never worked really well, but was cheaper. This one has worked great, quick and easy. I also bought the test buffer solutions.

http://www.eseasongear.com/milwaukeeph56.html

didn't buy it from here, I did a search on price. Can't recall where I picked it up from.

 

[j.w]

Thanks addy I'll check it out.