Finally figured out why my numbers never matched up week to week

Started by swamp_tyler · · 1 reply
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#1
small win but felt good. kept getting weird swings on FC and pH depending on what day i tested and couldnt figure out why, turns out i was grabbing my sample right after the pump kicked on in the morning before everything circulated overnight chemicals evenly. started testing same time every day, like an hour after pump's been running, and my numbers finally make sense week to week instead of looking like the swamp's doing random stuff again.

feels dumb it took this long but nobody tells you testing timing matters this much when youre new to this. anyone else have a dumb little routine thing like that took forever to notice?

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#2
Not dumb at all, that's a real thing and not just a beginner mistake, took me a couple seasons to notice it myself. I'd push back a little on the "right after pump kicked on" theory being the whole story though, up here in Ohio I've noticed sun angle messes with my FC readings almost as much, test in full sun versus shade on the same water and I swear the color's different enough to throw a reading off. Same time every day is still the right habit, just also worth grabbing your sample out of direct light if you can.