Looking for Beta Testers with low pH problems or Kalk drip users

[Carlo]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for a few beta testers of a "product" I've been working on. This is actually the first of several things/projects that I'm looking for beta testers. To the best of my knowledge there is no product of it's kind on the market.

I don't want to go into details before it's official launch for obvious reasons. I have been using this on my reef for a while now and it seems to work very well. I have a few other people also running this on their reef tanks with the same great outcome.

What I'm looking for:
People with tanks that have low pH ranges. If you have trouble keeping about 8 to 8.2 then this is perfect. If you range from 8.2 to 8.4 and would like to nail the pH at 8.4 then this is also good.

If you presently drip Kalk (lime water) then you are probably a perfect candidate for testing this as what I'm doing is basically a replacement for Kalk drips. You will get some calcium & alk additions just like Kalk but the main thing I'm going for is pH stability.

I would prefer beta testers to have some type of pH controller (IE Neptune Aquacontroller, Pinpoint, Milwaukee, etc) or at least a digital pH monitor. For my testing purposes a pH test kit is probably not good enough but I'd still consider it if you test often.

Besides the pH controller/monitor I will supply everything else needed to test the product using prototype materials (functional but not pretty). A Milwaukee Instruments pH controller can be had for under $90 online if you do not currently have a controller.

With a pH controller there isn't much that can go wrong. What I'm really trying to find out by this testing is the size of the unit needed for different tank sizes and how long the unit will last before it exhausts itself and needs to be replaced.

I will go into more detail with each tester and build the product to fit your system. You will need some space for this which will be roughly between the size of a phosban & a calcium reactor. It can be submerged in a sump or sitting dry on the floor.

If anyone is interested send me a PM. Let me know:
Tank water volume
Both low & high pH during the day/night
what you have been currently using/doing to raise your pH
What you dose for calcium and alkalinity

Thanks,
Carlo

 

[jazzsam]

If I saw this a couple days ago I would have been good with this. I already added some PH buffer the other day and I am doing good at 8.15 now. If it goes back down I will let you know though.

 

[Carlo]

Hehe, I actually thought you might have been the first to jump on this.

I've got a few people lined up for the fist set of tests but could still use a few more. They'll just have to wait for me to build the 2nd batch of prototypes. It'll be nice to try different sizes on different tanks to get some good feedback. I'll know more about reactor sizes after the first test run.

"My" reactor only runs minutes a day (in total) but holds 32 gallons of water (modified brute trash can) so I actually need to build me a normal sized "small" version too. I was cleaning out my kalk reactor and since it was empty and already completely hooked up to the Neptune controller for pH monitoring I thought, "what the heck". It worked much better then I thought so I definitely need to downgrade my size too.

Curious, what pH Buffer did you add? Most pH buffers are actually alk buffers so make sure to also check your alk level 24 and 48 hours after dosing to make sure the alk levels don't get too high.

Carlo

 

[RichT]

I second the "be careful". I almost nuked my whole tank with ph buffers. Almost a year later and I'm still recovering to this day. Ph buffers are evil. Like Carlo said, watch you Alk.

 

[jazzsam]

Hehe, I actually thought you might have been the first to jump on this.

I've got a few people lined up for the fist set of tests but could still use a few more. They'll just have to wait for me to build the 2nd batch of prototypes. It'll be nice to try different sizes on different tanks to get some good feedback. I'll know more about reactor sizes after the first test run.

"My" reactor only runs minutes a day (in total) but holds 32 gallons of water (modified brute trash can) so I actually need to build me a normal sized "small" version too. I was cleaning out my kalk reactor and since it was empty and already completely hooked up to the Neptune controller for pH monitoring I thought, "what the heck". It worked much better then I thought so I definitely need to downgrade my size too.

Curious, what pH Buffer did you add? Most pH buffers are actually alk buffers so make sure to also check your alk level 24 and 48 hours after dosing to make sure the alk levels don't get too high.

Carlo

I used Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH and I only used that because I tested my ALK and it was low also. I needed to get both up.

 

[RichT]

usually when you raise the alk the ph raises as well. Unless your tank is bazaro world like mine.

 

[Carlo]

I used Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH and I only used that because I tested my ALK and it was low also. I needed to get both up.

Perfect use of the product.

Carlo

 

[jazzsam]

I used Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH and I only used that because I tested my ALK and it was low also. I needed to get both up.

Perfect use of the product.

Carlo

I am going to test everything again probably tomorrow and see how it did with the alk because I have the Aq JR for the PH but no real fast test for the alk.

 

[Carlo]

Speaking of alkalinity tests. I've got a few different brands of test kits for alkalinity.

They all seem to test within 1dKH of each other which is close enough. The test kit I use the most is the cheap API KH test (falls about in the middle of test results). It's super easy. Fill test tube with proper amount of water and then add one drop of solution with a second or two of swirling/mixing until the color changes. Each drop equals 1 dKH (8 drops = 8dKH). Doesn't get any easier then this and it's cheap too. It's one of the few API test kits I'll use as part of my normal testing.

Carlo