Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss DO///TEMP///PH METER

Can any of you tell me where to find a dependable, accurate and affordable meter to check the topic values below surface level? 20 ft maximum depth...PH isn't mandatory but would be nice. Thanks for any help................Ken S

Brand names: Milwaukee, YSI, Extech, Hanna, Rosemount, Mettler Toledo, Orion, Hach, Thornton...

Milwaukee is probably going to be the least expensive, but they only come with a 13 ft cable. I am not sure if they measure Temp.

I have an Extech that measures temp, DO, and Atmospheric Oxygen. Compensates for salinity and altitude. Only has a 13 ft cable, but is quite accurate, dependable and durable. Got it from Graingers, right about 420.00.

Multi Parameter units, and those with longer cables are going to be expensive.

I got some really good deals on ebay for some water quality analyses equipment, so that might be an option.

Just going to have to do some research.

I don't know about the PH part, but Cecil let me use one almost identical to this one
http://www.ysi.com/productsdetail.php?550A-22

Accurate and dependable. Affordable? Well, that depends on your wallet.

But, if you buy one that isn't accurate and dependable, then you're just throwing money away.

I couldn't afford one back then either but I was free with the plastic money back then.

To be honest with you I think you can do without an expensive meter for recreational ponds. If you do everything right as far as construction and maintenance of your pond you shouldn't have any oxygen or PH issues in a pond. Situations that cause low oxygen in recreational ponds are preventable if you knowledgeable enough, which is one good reason to subscribe to Pond Boss and frequent this site.


99 percent of the time if you do have an oxygen issue with your pond and you didn't to anything proactively to prevent it, the most expensive oxygen meter in the world isn't going to help you.

Personally if you really want to buy a practical piece of equipment of the same price I would buy a surface aerator for emergencies. My Kasco 1/2 hp. surface aerator has saved my fish more than once during a long winter with thick ice and snow when even the diffuser wasn't enough. I've also used it in a production pond when an algae bloom was ready to crash. Of course these are high density fish populations higher than one normally finds in recreational ponds.

I agree with Cecil.

A recreational pond would not have to go through monitoring that a higher density pond would go through. So average ponding, you really dont need to do it, unless you spend the money on instruments, and somehow calibrate them, then use them, once or twice. Then they sit in your closet and degrade, then they become junk.

Hey FFF, I'll sell you my Mettler Toledo water stuff, plus some Rosemont controllers and sensors. Some GF Signet stuff also, and Aquafine UV stuff. All new by the way!

Just make sure the payment clears!

If you're pushing the limits with a certain species, knowing the temp and DO especially at certain depths could be valuable information. For example, determining DO levels and temps on a pond that is right on the border line in supporting trout.

CJ,

This stuff ain't cheap!, so for a casual measurement, It would not make too much sense to buy instruments. Especially if they would end up in the junk drawer!

This is the cheapest one I've found on Ebay, but don't know how good it is.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Milwaukee-SM600-Diss...=item335da54733

Oh, I know they aren't cheap... But neither is building, stocking or maintaining a pond.

If those Milwaukee DO meters are reliable it's not a bad price considering all the money we spend on our ponds.

YSI is supposed to be pretty good as far as mid range units go. I remember he had to send it back for some reason, but that was probably more that He could not operate the unit.

Mettler Toledo and Hach are the top dogs in water quality analysis. YSI has had a few problems and rank pretty low. Continuous problems with them not working at all. YSI is made in China, where MT and Hach are made in the USA.

Anyway, a pond dude, really dont need water quality analysis equipment!

A lot of guys just love gadgets and tools... I'm one of them.
$400-$500 dollars doesn't seem too bad to me. I say if you want it, and you have the financial means to obtain it, go for it.
Why not?

YSI is made in China? When did that happen? When I bought mine they were made in Ohio.

Hey Guys...Thanks for all the good input.....I guess I should have said why I wanted one...I have known about and had a general working knowledge of thermoclines since the 70's...but lately since I leased the 50 acre lake (that has less than 1 acre of water thats less than 6 ft deep) that led me to this site....I have wanted to learn everything I possibly could. I have been fishing another lake less than 2 miles away from the lease for 10 years that never shows a thermocline on the Lowrance? while the lease always shows a very distinct tcline around 12 ft in the summer...both are reported to have strong spring flows...one is always gin clear the other is always a little stained...considering adding a bunch of threadfin or gs in the lease....coldest surface temp I measured this winter was 42.7 but understand that in winter warmest water is deepest? also the clear pond has native golden shiners in itetc etc etc..maybe I'm overthinking this,,maybe not. Obviously I don't want to spend excess money on something to sit in a drawer.....but at this point in my life(53) I have worked very hard to be able to retire and pursue what I an passionate about and of course it's all relative....I have rod and reel combos that cost more than what your describing(while a $30. Zebco 33 and an Ugly Stik would accomplish the same thing?)So while I know I can't change the dynamics of these ponds(IT IS WHAT IT IS....I DON'T CARE FOR THAT EXPRESSION BUT IT DOES SEEM TO FIT)I definately have a strong desire to simply KNOW
Thanks Again Ken S
JKB if your serious about selling that stuff PM me.

Just a FYI. I don't know about the other meters, but the YSI requires that the probe be continually moved back and forth or up and down to continually have new water flowing over the O2 membrane to get a good reading. If you let it sit in one spot, the O2 reading keeps dropping. The sensor is stored in a chamber on the unit that has to stay moist or the membrane will dry out and become useless. A replacement membrane kit is around $50 and you get 6 replacements.

I marked the cable in 1' increments with electrical tape to have an accurate way to measure how deep the probe is.

They are all pretty much the same unless you get into the high dollar optical units.

I just read the manual on my Extech unit and it requires a velocity of 0.6 to 1.0 FEET per Minuit to get an accurate reading. Also the membranes last a long time. You fill the end of the sensor with KCL solution and it keeps everything nice and wet. There are no other requirements except to rinse it off, preferably with distilled water when you are done. The Mettler Toledo sensors I have are similar, but are industrially hardened stainless steel units and will work accurately in static conditions.

One thing neat to do with a unit that measures Atmospheric O2 levels, is to take it with you on your daily routine. The closer you get to a city, or in traffic, you will see a big drop in O2. Then go out to the forest, or farm country with vegetation, and the O2 levels really get up there.

My bad Cecil, YSI is made in the US. Sorry about that.

FFF, I think it would be bad policy to sell something to a forum member. That is just not a good idea in my book. As soon as it warms up a bit I will take inventory and put a bunch of stuff on CL. "Epay through your nose" charges sellers too much to sell. Then "PayME More" adds another 3%, even on the shipping.

No problem. It wouldn't have surprised me though. About the only thing I can find that isn't made in China anymore are the Chinese fortune cookies you get at the Chinese restaurants. I kid you not! If you don't believe me look!

And we wonder why we don't have as many manufacturing jobs. Duh!

A local company recently closed their China operations and brought all the jobs back to Grand Haven. They make high end office and industrial lighting.

Reason being, is they wanted to put a "Made in USA" sticker on their products. Cant do that if they are made in China.

A couple months ago I built a hydraulic cnc fixture for them that machined a cast iron base for their desk lamps. However, they pay suppliers like they were from China

Another company thought they would save a lot of money by having their stamping dies built in China. Wrong! A friend of mine works for another company that had to repair all of the "new" China made dies. He said the quality and accuracy was not quite there. Go figure.

Many Americans want cheap and easy these days... Chinese made stuff is often cheap and pretty darn easy to buy. It's usually a lot more expensive to buy American made and sometimes darn near impossible to find something American made!

JKB....understood

One thing people don't know is in some cases company A that does not want to buy products from China but company B their competitor is doing so and in doing so has increased their profits. So company A is forced to do the same or be run out of business.

My brother's company that supplied automotive parts lost half of their business to China in one year. There was no way they could compete. Sure many of the Chinese parts were inferior but they improved over time.

I see now even China is farming out work to even cheaper labor in Vietnam.

That is what happened here also. GM set off a series of events in the late 90's that hurt, if not shut down a lot of companies. I don't know if they still have it, but at one time, GM had a mandate that if you wanted to be a supplier, a percentage of your product had to come from china.

We are starting to see some improvement in jobs around here, but not much.