pH test strips for trout streams

[k-bob]

I see that many state surveys provide pH data from test strips rather than electronic gauges; data is sometimes given at the level of one tenth of a unit for example 7.1 or 6. 8. If anyone can recommend a particular test strip I would appreciate it. I ordered ones online that read from 5.2 to 6.8 in increments of two tenths. Seems good for brook trout streams, will try. Unlike electronic conductivity gauges, electronic pH gauges are too expensive, high maintenance, and unreliable over time IMHO... thanks

 

[FarmerDave]

I'm guessing pool test strips will work if you are looking at say 6.8 to 8.0 (that is from memory), but since they are just color bars, don't expect great accuracy. Should give you rough ballpark.

Then again, if PH is that high, why bother. Just fish.;-)

 

[salmonoid]

eTekCity digital pH meters can be had for as little as $8.00. I can't vouch for their long term reliability (only had mine for less than a year), so your comment about digital meters might be true, but at that price, you can buy one per year.

 

[FarmerDave]

Come to think of it, I do have a cheap PH meter around here someplace that I bought quite awhile ago. I got it for testing soil. For that you have to mix it with distilled water so as not to influence the test, so no reason why you can't use it to test just water. I've used it for that too, but don't take it fishing with me.

It's an old analog meter, but it doesn't surprise me that there are small inexpensive digital meters out there.

 

[k-bob]

salmonoid. that might be a good idea I have bought $100 $150 gauges that didn't work out long term

interesting that the state people seem to be using strips and not electronic gauges at least some of the time

pH info would be handy when there are a lot of little streams and limited time

 

[Millsertime]

Below is very similar to what I use to test PH for the local watershed. All testing is performed stream side and it takes 2-3 minutes. We also test nitrates and phosphates with similar equipment. No electronics involved. It's very consistent and reliable IMO. I don't know about the price though.

http://www.amrclearinghouse.org/Sub/WATERmonitoring/CommonChemicalTests/pH.htm

 

[albud1962]

The strips are not accurate at all. If you are just trying to get a general gage for the stream you are fishing I guess they would be ok but it really doesn't tell you much.

 

[k-bob]

thanks for the info and ideas!

 

[UncleShorty]

In home brewing it is essential to control the pH of the mash, (the process of turning the barley starch into sugar).

pH strips used to be the only cost effective method of performing this test.

But the strips were horribly inaccurate, to the point of being useless.

I wouldn't trust one in any circumstance.

You can buy temperature compensated pH meters for attractive prices today.

If you are really serious about knowing water pH buy a meter. Otherwise you are better off just guessing.

My $0.02 anyway...

 

[k-bob]

Right, the strips arent reliable. thanks for the heads up on that...

"You can buy temperature compensated pH meters for attractive prices today."

thanks I see what you mean... some of these look good. (Extech)

I also like the color-based kit in millerstimes link, they're about $80 and there is a 5.6 - 8.4 range one... thanks for that idea

http://www.hach.com/ph-test-kit-5-6-8-4-ph-model-17f/product?id=7640214952&callback=pf

may be similar to gear used in state surveys that give "pH field colorimetric" info ?? (I assumed these pH numbers were from strips)....

a few surveys that report "field colorimetric" pH of trout streams:

http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Water/Drinking%20Water%20and%20Facility%20Regulation/WaterQualityPortalFiles/Class_A_PFBC_Reports/Hunter_Creek.pdf

http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Water/Drinking%20Water%20and%20Facility%20Regulation/WaterQualityPortalFiles/Class_A_PFBC_Reports/Harveys_Run.pdf

 

[k-bob]

thanks for the input. all very informative. think I'll try the Hach 5.6-8.4 kit. not too much money, should be reasonably accurate.

I fish some NEPA areas where many tribs cross a road and their headwaters geology differs. Sometimes AMD about. Some tribs have swampy headwaters, so natural acidity can be in the mix, too.

Once I start fishing, I keep on going, so selecting the tribs to fish is a big step. For AMD, a simple conductivity gauge is small light and reliable, now I should have a roadworthy pH indicator ... thanks again!

http://www.amazon.com/HM-Digital-Dissolved-Resolution-Accuracy/dp/B007KDYOMU/ref=lp_393261011_1_4/181-6853088-7627254?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1431079930&sr=1-4

 

[salmonoid]

k-bob wrote:
Right, the strips arent reliable. thanks for the heads up...

"You can buy temperature compensated pH meters for attractive prices today."

thanks I see what you mean... some of these look good.

also like the color-based kit in millerstimes link ,,,they're about $80 and there is a 5.6 - 8.4 range one... thanks for that idea

http://www.hach.com/ph-test-kit-5-6-8-4-ph-model-17f/product?id=7640214952&callback=pf

a test kit like the one above may be similar to ones used in state surveys that give "pH field colorimetric" info.... for example in these surveys:

http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Water/Drinking%20Water%20and%20Facility%20Regulation/WaterQualityPortalFiles/Class_A_PFBC_Reports/Hunter_Creek.pdf

http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Water/Drinking%20Water%20and%20Facility%20Regulation/WaterQualityPortalFiles/Class_A_PFBC_Reports/Harveys_Run.pdf

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Etekcity-Pocket-LCD-Digital-PH-Meter-Tester-0-05pH-w-ATC-Pool-Water-Aquarium-RD-/201241693248

Temperature compensated, comes with calibration packets if you want to re-calibrate at some point. $11.99, free shipping. No need to spend $80 and not limited to ph values of 5.6-8.4, for those really acidic or basic streams you find that have fish life hanging on

 

[k-bob]

I like the idea of an electronic pH gauge but my other ones went wonky on me... the kit I have ordered will cover from 5. 6 to 8.4... that should be good ... a lot of times I'm interested in reading right around 6 for those marginal ST streams.

it will be about $100 for 100 readings... if I have to replace the chemical would be $20 for another 100...

if I compare that --which I don't -- to how much it costs keep driving a car up there to fish (shudder) its nothing

sometimes I fish such small streams that there are two kinds of skunks -- the fish one and the water one... kit should at least help with the fish one

 

[Millsertime]

I'm sure there is a reason why the watershed association uses the hach ph tester. I would assume accuracy and reliability being the main reasons. If they could get by with a cheap electronic tester with the same results, I'm sure they would have went that route.

 

[k-bob]

article below reminds me of my experiences w/ electronic pH gauges... storage, calibration, and cleaning issues. (issues w/ electronic pH testers may explain why some pfbc reports give "colorimetric" data, not numbers from an electronic gauge? dont know...) Never tried a high-end electronic gauge, they get expensive...

http://www.chemaqua.com/downloads/cases/CATB8-011_9-10.pdf

I have gotten along well w/ electronic conductivity gauges, they seem cheap, light, reliable, bombproof..

 

[troutbert]

What pH "cutoff" value will you use in deciding which streams are worth fishing or not?

 

[k-bob]

hmmm. Apparently Hach kits are accurate to +/- .2 pH.

Stream pH varies seasonally with balance of runoff vs groundwater. (NEPA rainfall pH is about 4.5-5?). More runoff, lower pH on same stream. Low summer flow, pH moves up a bit.

So in high runoff conditions (rain or snowmelt), maybe I 'd take a shot at a promising looking stream (steep, drains 3/4+ mi.) at 5.8 from the kit. maybe 6 in the summer.

5.8 at low flows would not seem promising.

there are some places in skuke, sullivan, bradford, luzerne where there are many small streams w/ road access. w/ amd and mixed geology (and some w/ swampy headwaters), I think their pH and ST potential can vary a lot.

??

 

[k-bob]

Thanks for asking about the pH level I'd look for. Apparently, when summer pH is 6 or lower, ST biomass may be below the level habitat could carry (good article linked).

"Six in summer," easy to remember. A bit lower in higher flows. But I do a lot of summer fishing and like dry flies and steep streams, so I usually fish low-medium flows.

http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/cek7/Publications/Warren_et_al_2010.pdf

"Streams with a summer/fall
pH of 6.3 or higher had greater fish biomass
than systems with a pH below this value, but the
actual low-flow pH threshold below which fish
biomass was consistently lower than expected is
likely to be closer to 6.0 or less. Brook Trout and
sculpin are both reported to be highly tolerant of pH
as low as 6.0, so this threshold value may seem high.
However, stream pH in these systems can drop
dramatically during snowmelt or other periods of
intense precipitation throughout the year (Driscoll et
al. 2001). Thus, the summer/fall low-flow pH
represents the conditions of the system when additional
acid inputs are low and as such our data
provide a proxy measure of potential buffering
capacity and associated effects of episodic acidification.
Kocovsky and Carline (2005) also used baseflow
pH as their metric to evaluate the effect of
acidity on trout distribution in Pennsylvania, as did
Nislow and Lowe (2003). Nislow and Lowe (2003)
found that summer pH of 6.0 or less could be used as
a rough threshold below which Brook Trout populations
were substantially reduced relative to other
streams with comparable riparian forest conditions."

 

[k-bob]

good back-to-school video on using pH test kit... may take a few minutes:

http://www.sophia.org/tutorials/ph-testing-with-the-hach-test-kit

 

[Chaz]

k-bob wrote:
Thanks for asking about the pH level I'd look for. Apparently, when summer pH is 6 or lower, ST biomass may be below the level habitat could carry (good article linked).

"Six in summer," easy to remember. A bit lower in higher flows. But I do a lot of summer fishing and like dry flies and steep streams, so I usually fish low-medium flows.

http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/cek7/Publications/Warren_et_al_2010.pdf

"Streams with a summer/fall
pH of 6.3 or higher had greater fish biomass
than systems with a pH below this value, but the
actual low-flow pH threshold below which fish
biomass was consistently lower than expected is
likely to be closer to 6.0 or less. Brook Trout and
sculpin are both reported to be highly tolerant of pH
as low as 6.0, so this threshold value may seem high.
However, stream pH in these systems can drop
dramatically during snowmelt or other periods of
intense precipitation throughout the year (Driscoll et
al. 2001). Thus, the summer/fall low-flow pH
represents the conditions of the system when additional
acid inputs are low and as such our data
provide a proxy measure of potential buffering
capacity and associated effects of episodic acidification.
Kocovsky and Carline (2005) also used baseflow
pH as their metric to evaluate the effect of
acidity on trout distribution in Pennsylvania, as did
Nislow and Lowe (2003). Nislow and Lowe (2003)
found that summer pH of 6.0 or less could be used as
a rough threshold below which Brook Trout populations
were substantially reduced relative to other
streams with comparable riparian forest conditions."

Good stuff Bob.
Thus in many ST streams that is why we don't always catch them in early spring, they are just not in those streams, or taking a hiatus from feeding, using less energy.