In Regulate pH and Electrical Conductivity, if ph and ec are out of acceptable range, which one will be corrected first, ph or ec?
You should ALWAYS top off your tank with fresh water and nothing else before measuring pH or EC!
The only thing that you can do to “adjust” EC is to add fresh water to your reservoir (lowers the EC by diluting the solution).
I really don’t understand why this EC/pH function was even created in the first place.
EC doesn’t really tell you anything at all, it’s really a totally useless “measurement” and doesn’t need to be constantly monitored. The only time you really need to take an EC reading is when you mix a new fresh tank of nutrients to make sure you have roughly the recommended nutrient concentration as per the nutrient manufacturer’s instructions. If you are topping off your tank with fresh water on a daily basis to offset any evaporation and transpiration taking place, you really don’t need to continue taking EC readings at all. Most nutrient manufacturers tell you to mix a new tank once every 2-3 weeks depending on the size of the tank and number of plants you are growing, and to never add any nutrients to the tank after the initial mixing of a new tank… only add fresh water… otherwise you are only throwing off the correct nutrient ratios.
All EC tells you is the electrical conductivity of your nutrient solution… which tells you, nothing really… except maybe a very rough and inaccurate extrapolation of how much total nutrients are dissolved in the water. Which you can’t change. Adding more nutrients to the water (or anything for that matter) will only increase the EC reading. The only way to lower EC is to add pure fresh water. And since water will constantly be evaporating and transpiring from the tank, all you need to do is make sure you top off the tank with fresh water every day to replace what evaporates. If you do this, your EC reading should stay pretty much the same over the 2-3 weeks between mixing a new tank.
I don’t even bother taking EC readings at all anymore. I know what the base EC reading is on my tap water, and I always mix my nutrients at the same exact ratios every time I mix a new tank, so I know that my nutrient levels are always correct.
EC will always be adjusted first, as adding nutrients will change the pH. Once EC is within the acceptable range, pH will be adjusted.