Best ph device?

Notsolostfish · May 5, 2026

Whats the best PH tool i can buy if i want to test my reef tank Ph?

Reef Jedi · May 5, 2026

Personally I wouldn’t worry or chase ph numbers. If you must the RedSea test kit is pretty accurate. Do you have a controller of any kind?

promotheus2070 · May 5, 2026

Icp test is most accurate .
Im using just for daily check up a milwaukee controler with probe

promotheus2070 · May 5, 2026

promotheus2070 said:
Icp test is most accurate .
Im using just for daily check up a milwaukee controler with probe

X-37B · May 5, 2026

I use several handheld units.
Double junction probes and calibrate them periodically to keep them accurate. I use a Milwaukee and old Hanna.
Make sure you keep the tip submerged in a storage solution for long life.

X-37B · May 5, 2026

I use this Hanna as a monitor in my main. Its on 24/7 and is quite accurate. Ph, SG, Temp.

Notsolostfish · May 5, 2026

X-37B said:
I use this Hanna as a monitor in my main. Its on 24/7 and is quite accurate. Ph, SG, Temp.

Heard those things not that accurate? Reviews are not that great could be wrong

X-37B · May 5, 2026

Notsolostfish said:
Heard those things not that accurate? Reviews are not that great could be wrong

Yea I have heard the same. Its been on my 150 for 2 years. It does drift and needs to be cleaned when it starts.
I use this 90% of the time. I use it to adjust chems for gardening also. I have had this one for years and replaced the probe once.

promotheus2070 · May 5, 2026

Notsolostfish said:
Heard those things not that accurate? Reviews are not that great could be wrong

I read and hear alot of bad reviews on some hanna device's . Especially the salinity meter pen . I must say i have never got an issue with it but i do callibrate every new batch of saltmix then im sure whats going in is on point . Also every time when used i dip the probes is RO .
I think an margin of error with these steps would be very low .

jackintheboxfish · May 5, 2026

promotheus2070 said:
Icp test is most accurate .
Im using just for daily check up a milwaukee controler with probe

I personally think ICP is not a good choice here :). PH fluctuates throughout the lighting period but the sample is only taken at a particular moment. Also the water sample needs to be shipped and so it’s days old - bacteria etc. would’ve caused the sample to have a pretty different PH from the tank by the time it gets to the lab.

promotheus2070 · May 5, 2026

jackintheboxfish said:
I personally think ICP is not a good choice here :). PH fluctuates throughout the lighting period but the sample is only taken at a particular moment. Also the water sample needs to be shipped and so it’s days old - bacteria etc. would’ve caused the sample to have a pretty different PH from the tank by the time it gets to the lab.

You’re right to point that out — I stand corrected.
For the specifiek ph value its not the best .
But checking if u are in the area of a good ph i thinks its fine . I dont see a sample going from 8.3 ph to 7.7 or something .

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 5, 2026

promotheus2070 said:
Icp test is most accurate .
Im using just for daily check up a milwaukee controler with probe

for pH? I disagree. It is something that can change when a sample is sealed up for multiple days. That is most especially true if it is a sample that is not microfiltered to remove microorganisms before adding tot eh container.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 5, 2026

Notsolostfish said:
Whats the best PH tool i can buy if i want to test my reef tank Ph?

If you freshly and properly calibrate it with good pH 7 and 10 (or similar) standards, most any pH meter is adequate.

exnisstech · May 5, 2026

I wouldn't say it is best but I run a Milwaukee mc120 meter. Is been monitoring 24/7 for about 9 months. I only added it because I wanted to monitor my pH bump after adding an outside airline to the skimmer. I don't compare with any other device because it reads consistently and changes as it should during lights off etc. I don't really care about the pH number but I wanted to see if acro growth would increase if I increased pH which it has.

X-37B · May 5, 2026

exnisstech said:
I wouldn't say it is best but I run a Milwaukee mc120 meter. Is been monitoring 24/7 for about 9 months. I only added it because I wanted to monitor my pH bump after adding an outside airline to the skimmer. I don't compare with any other device because it reads consistently and changes as it should during lights off etc. I don't really care about the pH number but I wanted to see if acro growth would increase if I increased pH which it has.

I definitely saw an increase in growth when I started kalk. Night time ph was 7.6 and after starting kalk 24/7 its 7.9-8 at night.
I have been turning my carx up every few days to keep alk at 7.5.
Growth is realative as the colonies get bigger growth increases exponentially if parameters are stable.

exnisstech · May 5, 2026

X-37B said:
I definitely saw an increase in growth when I started kalk. Night time ph was 7.6 and after starting kalk 24/7 its 7.9-8 at night.
I have been turning my carx up every few days to keep alk at 7.5.
Growth is realative as the colonies get bigger growth increases exponentially if parameters are stable.

Similar. My pH was running 7.6 - 7.9 daily. The fresh air bump took me to 8.0 - 8.3 daily. In less than two months I had to increase my AFR from 35ml daily to 60ml to keep up with consumption. Coral started growing fast enough I could see the growth where I would have to look through previous photos to actual see it before.
I used to poopoo the idea if chasing pH but its definitely been worth while for acros IMO. I don't bother with testing on my other tanks.

Notsolostfish · May 20, 2026

X-37B said:
Yea I have heard the same. Its been on my 150 for 2 years. It does drift and needs to be cleaned when it starts.
I use this 90% of the time. I use it to adjust chems for gardening also. I have had this one for years and replaced the probe once.

I am interesting in this one. What do you store the probe in?