Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

You sure you're doing it right VLT ?

Who's a clever boy then

i tell ya, i love walking into the green house every morning and look at the meter and it tells me everything i need know in 2 sec.....i paid $125 for my meter and it tells me 6 different critical things, cal'ed it once, and still have the same probes....replacement probes are about $20, if i had to test the water each and every time i walked in the green house i would be looking for a more time saving way to do things, even if it meant spending a little extra....money well spent from my experiences.

Name
Brand
What measurements
Where to buy

Photo...we love photos

i'll do you one better
ebay item # 230602293854

and click my links at the bottom for pics and operation

:laug hing3:

just bought my freshwater test kit
ebay item # 320676873069

welcome to the wonderfull world of aquaponics

Not much use then...

I want to know
PH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Temp

yeah its more useful in hydro

well its been a 2 weeks and i have found my meter very useful for monitoring PH and temp.

I have a leftover tds, temp, and ph tester from my old hydro system. I did love the instant gratification of the tester but those kind of electronic testers are extremely expensive for AP. A master test with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate is something like 2k-3k (if I remember correctly). The API test kit is a bit annoying, takes about 10 mins to get through all the tests, which means once your system is running smoothly you will have a tendency to not check the system for long stretches of time, maybe months.

I used the electronic tester to test PH for a few months before switching to the API PH test. While waiting the five minutes for the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests to resolve, it is easy to put 3 drops in a tube to get an instant reading of PH. Since you are there already, why bother with another piece of equipment?

yeah if you don't already have it then it really isn't worth the extra money, but if you have one (say from the old hydroponics days) then it really comes in handy for PH and temp, i have noticed that it comes in handy with the PPM display also....say if everything tested ok (o,o,o) and PH was good but you saw a sudden spike in ppm and your fish started dieing and you had no indication from your test kit as to why, the ppm display could give you a hint where the problem is before you suffer major loss..... those master testers are that much and not worth it for small scale AP....i wonder if "growing power" uses them, or just test kits.....anyway, maybe one day we can get our hands on a meter that does it all for a reasonable price.....i'm just a meter guy i guess