What all can we monitor?

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rossbryant1956
Posts: 471
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:08 pm
Location: Montgomery Village, MD

What all can we monitor?

Post by rossbryant1956 »

We are discussing the relative merits of RA over other competitive brands and the question came up around:
On the parameters monitored question, (pH/temp/ORP/salinity/Alk-dKH/other), I see temperature and pH as the big winners. No votes for alk/dKH - is there no automated monitoring, or just too expensive? What are the "Other" parameters that people are watching via the controller?
Your comments and thoughts are welcomed.
Roscoe's Reefs - Starting Over Again:

Building new 29g Nano after landlord went berserk over my 4 75 gallon tanks, Multiple RA's, Water mixing stations, etc. Your help welcomed in remembering all I've forgotten.
rimai
Posts: 12857
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:47 pm

Re: What all can we monitor?

Post by rimai »

Alk-dKH is explained in depth by Randy and I can google and find his article.
I think the only way to do it is by titration and color change, so you would need a very precise piece of equipment to mix reagents and a colorimeter to look for color changes.
Then, you need to make sure you dispose and clean all the equipment by flushing with RO, so it doesn't affect future readings.
I think it is just too expensive. There is no such thing as a simple probe for that. Probes are ion selective. They have a very thin PVC membrane that lets only specific ions to pass. By doing so, it creates an electric voltage between the inside and outside of this membrane. This is the voltage that can be measured and interpolated to give you scaled readings.
Alkalinity is not an ion. It's the abilitity to neutralize acids.
I hope this helps a bit :)
Roberto.
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