View Full Version : How long does pH stay constant in a jar?
lunarlanderboy
10/06/2009, 08:00 PM
If I take water from my aquarium in a sealed jar to my work where I have a fancy pH meter will it still be the same as my aquarium water or will something about it change if it sits on its own?
Raggamuffin
10/06/2009, 08:11 PM
kinda depends on the time it takes to get from point a to b. PH can and is effected by light, temp O2 and so on... while it shouldn't be huge it will change a bit over the short term.
Billybeau1
10/06/2009, 08:44 PM
I suspect if the jar is tightly capped, pH will be mostly unaffected for the short term at least. :)
Flipper62
10/06/2009, 10:29 PM
I agree with Billybeau1. However, If I'm taking water to my LFS for testing ( I do my tests first ) I just take a sample of the same water to my LFS just to compare his results to mine. I use a brown glass sealed bottle. It works in the same way that Beer companies use for selling beer. The brown glass helps to keep the light from entering the bottle & changing the parameters of the contant.
I bought my bottles from a company called McMaster-Carr. They are a industry supply company.
bertoni
10/07/2009, 09:36 PM
The pH will change even if the jar is kept as bacteria produce carbon dioxide. If there's enough light and some phytoplankton, though, they might remove carbon dioxide. :) I haven't checked, but the reading might be stable for a fair amount of time. I wouldn't worry too much about a half hour, I guess, although I might be optimistic.
lunarlanderboy
10/12/2009, 03:29 PM
thanks for the thoughts guys!
Hawkdl2
10/12/2009, 04:46 PM
If you don't have a ph meter at home, a simple experiment would be to take a sample into work, test it, then test it a few hours later. If it's constant, it's stable. If it changes, you need to drive faster.
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