Bet ya'll aint never been asked this one!

[MizTanks]

When reading the API ph chart after testing~do you hold the vial directly up against the white or off~off which would allow the light to shine through~reason for my question is: When I hold it up against the white I get a reading of 8.0~away from the white I get a 7.8~which do I read as being correct?
Before the move I always had a ph reading of a steady 8.4. The above readings are low, why would this be?

[tazzy695]

did your source water change I would suspect this would be the cause of the ph difference

[schminksbro]

Take it outside in the sun and hold it against the card.

[Sir Patrick]

^ agreed

Tazzy has a good point. Wondered the same myself.

[schminksbro]

Could also be that the new home has a higher CO2 concentration possibly due to better insulation.

[MizTanks]

Water source has changed but only slightly~instead of using the Culligen dispenser I'm now using store bought spring water~which says on the label that is it filtered by way of RO/DI~I could pick up a tap unit that they sell at our LFS~it's made for SW usage.