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questions about water testing meters

Instead of arbitrarily flushing my pots every so often I was thinking of getting something to simply test the excess water. Also I am curious about what's going on in there as in addition such information would be useful in telling me when it is time to change media instead of guessing and just arbitrarily doing it by a "rule of thumb".

I am thinking all i would need would be a tds and ph meter....after looking into it a little I do have 1 question in regards to the equipment.....obviously u get what u pay for but also there is no need to pay for all the bells and whistles one does not need.

I think one can get separate "value meters" for around $15 for each of them or pay 3x of the combined cost and get the combination meter for around $90. What advantages does that fancy *** meter have over the separate meters? Or am i just paying for a bunch of functions I do not need?

Is there an alternative i do not know about? perhaps a "value" combination meter i can find for about $40-$50?
 
TDS/conductivity meters are very simple. a cheap one won't be much different than an expensive one. pH meters will vary more, in my lab i use some pretty nice pH meters($1000 meter/$400 probe) and one cheaper field meter(~$200). the field meter tends to lose calibration more readily but it's a bit more rugged. i've never used a pH meter that was only 15 bucks but i wouldn't put much stock in it if it can't be calibrated. for that kind of money i would use quality pH test strips (multiple indicators)that are very accurate.
 
Just curious but how would these meters tell you its time to repot?

I paid $15 for a tds meter and its great. Search the forum and you will find the highest recommended model.
 
would the results change on the trapped excess water when the media has begun to breakdown?

thx for the advice btw.
 
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