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Milwaukee ph probe

zozo said:
Í guess as long as it is in the filters outlet tube, in front of the diffuser/reactor the measurment is most accurate. because all co2 comming from the filter id fully dissolved in the water. But i think this is peanuts, it circulates in such a rate you wont measure much difference where ever you put it.. As long as you do not bubble on top of it.. But what is not dissolved obviously wont be measured.

One thing more important, i do not know if this has improved on the newer types of Milwaukee's, but the SMS122 as i'm using is very sensitive to electrical interference like stray voltage and especialy, the pumps magnetic field. Reports of this are to find all over the net, the buzzing relai..If that is the case you could see a the pH value on the meter constantly fluctuate with 0.1 or 0.2 units. The set threshold probably is factory set at 0.1, so if there is interference and reaches the desired set value, the relai will rapidly click, switching on and off, or even start to buzz like mad i duet with the solenoid. Caused by the fluctuation..

If you experience this than remove the probe as far away from the source causing it.

In my case i'd put it behind the heater in front of the reactor as far away from the pump. :) Also outside the cabinet, because there is to much elecytronics in the cabinet which could cause interference. Just to be sure it doesn't occure.. Mind if it does and you're not at home, it'll buzz for hours to come and might burn or wear out and trash the relai or solenoid..
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Thank you for the hint. Very helpful for me when planning the layout inside the cabinet.
 
Julian said:
Just to throw in another perspective.

I've used 3 different pH controllers over the years, if I think about all the money I've spent on them and extra probes etc it's probably close to £1000. I have stopped using them because I've come to the conclusion that they offer very little benefit other than acting as a safety measure so your pH doesn't drop too low and you gas your fish.

In my opinion, CO2 really isn't the fine art that it's made out to be. Lighting and flow are fare more important. Not enough light, your plants won't even use the CO2. Not enough flow, and they won't get to use it either. Plants will do fine even without the '1 point pH drop' an hour before lights on, so expensive equipment such as pH controllers are very unnecessary.

Yes, you need to get your CO2 right initially, and this is where the controller is most useful. But once CO2 levels are set, you have to pay it very little attention. A £5 pH probe off ebay will do exactly the same job and isn't really required.

Ultimately, you need as much CO2 in your tank before it makes the inhabitants uncomfortable, so your fish will be the best indicators of how much CO2 you need (along with a drop checker of course).

My point is you can achieve exactly the same results without over complicating things, and I think that you, like me, will come to this conclusion eventually.

I know what it's like when you get an idea in your head, you don't care how much it costs or how complicated it is, as long as it achieves the objective. But often the realisation kicks in later on that actually this may not have been the best course of action and you could have saved yourself a lot of hassle/time/money if you'd kept things simple.

Good luck to you though whatever you decide to do.
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I already bought everything, so I'll make my own experiences, which is half of the fun, and report back. I'll be gone twice a year for a week and needs this to be running automatically somehow. The PH probe and controller should at least be good as a cut off if things go down.
 
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