Testing Water

[Danny Daniel]

Hi i searched around a bit but did not come up with anything good, does any one now of a electronic water tester that will test.

 

PH

Ammonia

Nitrate

Nitrite

Temperture

 

i feel like testing with the liquids is good but  time consuming and costly, after a month ill have a buy a new kit, but with electronic tester i only have to buy 1 time, and it can probably give me better results.

 

[Eric Warwick]

E-kits are actually more expensive(1) than hand testing and become less accurate over time. One trick in my system is testing for only nitrate.* Also, litmus paper is fine for testing pH. Temperature can be as simple as sticking a glass thermometer into the tank for the duration of your test--which should be around 6 minutes at most. However you could probably find one if you like. 

(1) I don't have the specifics on these however.

*Nitrate should stay the same once cycled so a sudden drop with solids build up should indicate both a lack of filtration and a sign of denitrifying bacteria colonizing space that's gone anaerobic. A sudden drop may also happen when the fish aren't being fed enough and/or the plants grow quicker. Considering the range of these scenarios identifying the problem should come apparent with close observation.   

[Ryan Chatterson]

Electronic meters don't become less acurate over time unless you don't take care of the probe (or you could say the same about the test strips/titration kits as chemistry in reagents is altered over time). That is why there are calibration solutions sold for the meters...to keep them accurate. It would depend on the type of meter as well. 

 

To answer your question Danny, 

The only multi parameter meter I know of that can do close to what you are looking for is the YSI Professional Plus where you can measure DO, Conductivity, PH, Nitrate, Ammonia, Chloride, Conductivity and ORP. To get all the parameters you want, you would be looking at over a thousand dollars. It is a laboratory grade meter which is why most home enthusiasts wouldnt ever go to this length for testing. 

 

On the other hand a photometer might be more in the ballpark for the home enthusiast and still a lot more accurate then test strips (which are despised in the field of aquaculture for their inaccuracy). Ive had some hands on time with this meter and it's extremely easy to use. It is factory calibrated and sealed so you don't have to re calibrate. Just fill the well, add the reagent strip to the well and wait for it to count down and give you a reading. That's about as cheap as you're gonna get on the electronic side of things. Hope this helps! :)

 http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/4567/eXact-Eco-Check-Photom...

 

[Rob Nash]

i test 5 systems at a time weekly, there is no cheaper way to do it than with drops. if you go to the hydro shop they should have a large bottle of the PH solution, the rest, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are in the deluxe fresh water kit at petsmart = $25. the one kit should last a few months if you test twice a week.

i have every digital pen they sell under $500. i dont recommend any of them. you will spend more on calibration fluids, and storage solutions, etc. than its worth. It actually takes more time to use meters.

[TCLynx]

FYI, with the meters, there are still ongoing things to buy.  Like the photo meter noted above, you still have to buy the re-agents to use with it, but the meter does the color comparison so you don't have to worry about your visual accuracy or the cards fading.  But No, meters are not going to be cheaper than the API test kit in general unless you are dealing with lots and lots of pH testing/adjustment I wouldn't bother with electric meters for just backyard use.  The only ones I sometimes wish I had are pH and DO.

 

pH meters need storage, cleaning, and calibration solutions and then you occasionally need to replace the probes so I'm gonna guess that they come out costing about the same as using the test kits plus the initial expense of the meter in the first place.

 

Test strips are not very accurate but the test kit with the test tubes are fairly accurate or at least accurate enough for our normal purposes.

 

Once your system is well cycled up, pH will be the most important thing to test regularly and you might only run the other tests one every week or two or when ever something seems amiss.

[Danny Daniel]

Thanks everyone for all your answers.

 

Ya now that you put it that way your right, i should stick to the kit i have, i thought i could get away with paying a few hundred dollars and having something that would be easier and faster to use.

 

but if i still need to buy calibrating solutions and other things seems like i already got the best kit for my backyard aquaponics.

 

 thanks again :), i just hope they come up with something new and not so expensive ,that can measure all those things we need.

[Eric Warwick]

Ok, I was under the assumption that the testing part of the probe would wear-down over time, but that's where good management steps in. 
Ryan said:

Electronic meters don't become less acurate over time unless you don't take care of the probe (or you could say the same about the test strips/titration kits as chemistry in reagents is altered over time). That is why there are calibration solutions sold for the meters...to keep them accurate. It would depend on the type of meter as well.