ph strips are awful, I couldn't get comfortable with them at all. I use liquid drops now and I too will try to get a meter. I don't like the drops that much, but they are better than the strips. Also, are you using the nuets from the hydro place? The last ones I got, the bloom one was brown and left a stain on the reservoir. i didn't like it at all. Any suggestions about what are the best nuets to use?