New Grower My first autos

[Noods]

Hey aperson, :Sharing One: before you used your pH meter the first time, did you first saturate it in pH 4 solution for ...what, an hour or two?... to get it "workable"? They usually come dry and need to be saturated before the first use. Sorry, just wanna make sure.

I don't know what kind of water you bought that ended up with an 8.4, so I can't say much about that, but you're right about the distilled water, generally speaking. But you can not use it to check your pH meter! It is usually right about 7, but I've had more than one jug that was up at 8. Probably contaminated somehow. Who knows. If you use it, check it with a pH meter that's been properly calibrated with calibration solutions. <--- solutionS is Plural!

If you can't collect rainwater, and you are sure your tap water is f'd, then use distilled water. Or RO water if you can find someone selling it in your area. If you look online at your town or city's public authorities website, you might be able to dig a little and find the "latest" readings for the water in the mains in your area. If they are trustworthy is another debate.

There's most definitely chlorine and or chloramine in your tap water, so if you do use it make sure you leave the water set out overnight at least. I use two 5 liter empty distilled water jugs full of tap water and cycle through them.

 

[aperson]

I did hold the meter in storage solution, but I have buffers 4 and 7 but I don't wanna use em unless necessary. Rain water is out of the question. I don't wanna stress myself with what water to use until I know if my meter works. First that and after I'll be on the hunt for water. So should I use my 7 buffer to check the meter or I go buy the bottle with color for ph check lol

 

[Duckster]

A little side note to what Noods was saying about leaving your water out for 24 hours. If chlorine is the local method of disinfection, leaving the water out and aerating it is a good way to remove the chlorine because it is very unstable. However if Chloramine (chlorine + ammonia) is being used, you will need an additional step. Chloramine use has become much more prevalent in recent years because of its long term stability and residual. It also creates little or no THMs or other harmful disinfection by products in our drinking water. You will need to add a chemical (available in aquarium shops) that breaks the bond between the chlorine and ammonia. Once this is done, you can bubble like you would with regular chlorinated water. I know a bit about water chemistry but Andy Botwin seems to be the resident expert.

 

[Noods]

Use em both my friend. Make sure you got it calibrated right and then you'll know if it works. Stick it in the 4 solution and it should say... 4.00 (Or whatever number it says on the bottle. Mine is 4.01). It does have the automatic temp adjustment function, right?

If it's not the right reading, adjust it according to the users manual.
Stick it in the 7.** solution and it should say 7... or you adjust that as well.

You're gonna want to get comfortable with calibrating it after every couple of uses. A good meter that's kept clean and well cared for will usually give a stable reading for a long tome. But you still wanna check regularly to be sure. :thumbs:

 

[aperson]

Yes but in order to know what my tap water contains I must do some lab tests that are not available for me. Does chloride change ph? I so some water purification systems but no cash

 

[Duckster]

In general a pH meter can last forever, it is the electrode that is the weak link. They don't last more than a couple of years. If you have a meter that has a replaceable electrode (the glass bits at the bottom) all the better.

 

[aperson]

I need to figure everything before I start... I'll calibrate the damned thing. I spent on the buffer a total of 3€ so at least I can buy thous. I am sooo poor qq

 

[Duckster]

Yes but in order to know what my tap water contains I must do some lab tests that are not available for me. Does chloride change ph? I so some water purification systems but no cash

This is a simple question for your local water supplier. "What are you using for disinfection" This is a big issue for people with aquariums, so tell them you have an aquarium and they will think nothing of it.

 

[aperson]

All I found searching the web is that they use inly a small amount if chlor and I sent a mail to them, hopefully they will reply. but my tap water is also ph 8+. If I let the cl evaporate will the ph change?

 

[Noods]

:dunno: Set some out overnight and measure it after about 12 hrs and see what happens.