ORP meters

I know ORP stands for Oxidation-Reduction Potential and it is a measurement to oxidize contaminants... But I don't understand how we use this in our hobby or if it's necessary to measure (thinking about getting one with my Apex controller)

 

They were the rage about 10 years ago. Yes I see where they could be relevant if you have an on going issue, with something like failure to thrive for corals or mysterious deaths of fish at night and such.

Fascinated in brain numbing science, but not really even close to necessary in the average home aquarium.

Basically a neat expensive toy.

 

No lack of those in this hobby! What exactly would it help identify?

 

Lower oxygenation with relation or reflected in the oxidizing potential, that might lead to hypoxia of fish and corals, especially at night.

If you have not read this link and are interested in ORP, this pretty much covers it.

ORP and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Me I would spend my money on some nice Evotech mp60 before a ORP monitor. I can see the practical use in public aquariums for them though.

 

Yeah, definitely not something I'm putting high on my shopping list. Perfect link, thank you!

I programmed my mp60s today. Still getting them dialed in. Seem amazing so far.

 

On a controller that tracks (AND GRAPHS) ORP, you can see when you accidentally overfed, that your carbon needs to be changed, that your skimmer needs to be cleaned.

I know when my dog is sick. I can see a CHANGE in behavior. If I look at an ORP graph, I can see if my reef is getting sick. There is value in an ORP meter, if you understand it.

I don't have one right now. I've been doing this a bit and I can tell by my corals, when something is "off". In fact, I usually know what is off before I even drag out my test kits.

Necessary? NO Useful? YES

 

As it turns out it's only about an $80 add on to the Apex controller that I plan to get anyhow. I'll probably get one just to have another test that's automated and can easily be graphed over time.

With all the benefits Inwall listed, I think it's absolutely worth that investment.

 

Nice analogy.

Boys and Toys....

Yes a very cool instrument.

@Thatgrimguy, dang you already have the mp60, nice.

 

Exactly!

I was going in to get 2 mp40s and the owner had just pulled the MP60 out of his home tank because it he couldn't get placement right, was blowing the polyps off his Monti cap. Anyhow, I was able to get 2 MP 60s for only $200 more than 2 40s! (I'm such a sucker for a deal...)