You can test your water's pH at home with a strip kit (about $25) or a digital pH meter, and a certified lab test is the most accurate. The hardware-store strip kits only read down to about 5, so below that you need a meter or a lab. Here is how I rank the three tests, how to take the sample, and what your number means: below 7 is acidic, at 6.0 and up plain calcite works in any size tank, and below 5.5 it takes calcite with FloMag mixed in.
You can test your water's pH at home with a strip kit (about $25) or a digital pH meter, and a certified lab test is the most accurate. The hardware-store strip kits only read down to about 5, so below that you need a meter or a lab. Here is how I rank the three tests, how to take the sample, and what your number means: below 7 is acidic, at 6.0 and up plain calcite works in any size tank, and below 5.5 it takes calcite with FloMag mixed in.
