measure alkalinity in ppm or meq?

[cskillet]

The water tester I bought today measures alkalinity using ppm but I hear everyone else talking about it in terms of meq/L. Is there any conversion chart to use? My tank had an alkalinity of about 240 ppm and a PH around 8.4 ... Also, are there any thoughts about the accuracy of the color strip water testers. I can sort of gague it with my eye but I can't get a precise reading doing it that way.

[jman785]

Color strip water testers aren't accurate on such small things...such as aquariums...they are made for pools and spa's...which are much higher gallonages. Plus, the room for accuracy is probably say in between 1-2 points in pH, and we just can't have that in our aquariums...

Most reefkeepers measure alkalinity in dKH. This is what you'll tend to see around on the forums...dKH, I recommend measuring in this form.

- Jared

[MikeS]

ppm to dKH = ppm/17.9
dKH to meq/L = dKH/2.8
ppm to meq/L = ppm/50

240ppm = 4.8 meq/L=13.4 dKH

IF your readings were accurate...that's a bit too high...you want to shoot for between 2.5-4.0 meq/L or 7- 11 dKH

Mike

[cskillet]

thanks guys... that's good stuff.

What exact water testers do you use for your tanks? Cause mine says that it's for aquariums... probably for much larger ones than my 16 gallon beast. I bought a Mardel Master Test Kit... Thanks a lot.

Chris

[MikeS]

I use the Seachem alk test...also have the Tetra KH test kit...the tetra kit is cheap, easy to use, and correlates well with my Seachem kit...

Mike