Dark leathery leafs

[Daskahn]

Hello everyone.. I'm glad to be here as a old enthusiast with new spirit and drive.
ive done some research and come up with my own home built set up.. I'm not growing anything specific just random bag seeds.. yes I know it's a bit more tricky to get specifics but this is my learning process and I rather not waste the good stuff on mistake time...
so here goes Basic run down
im using a bubbleponics system
and a 600w mh
every was going splendidly (much better then previous grows in soil)
used tap water (never phd) and nuts no problems grew better then I've seen before

switched to fruiting one started showing signs of possible ph problems. With strips down the edges and what no and the others had a much lighter green where the colas were suppose to start forming so I wasn't sure which sign was bad if not both, a few days after switch..
so did some more reading..
what I noticed was I should test ph and or change water every week(🤦🏼*♂️ I hadn't changed the water at all)
figured changing water would fix everything
so I tested ph of the water in the reservoir(I rushed to my local Walmart and got a fish tank ph test strip kit..)
the ph strip didn't go below 6.2 and that's what it tested at..
so I became confused tested the "fresh" tap water it tested 6.8 confusion grew..
changed water anyways added the tablet that came with the fish tank test kid (said it neutralized the chlorine and made it better for the fish so figured it'll be worth a shot..
all plants became real droopy so 1 I figured that means they soaked up a lot of water real fast(could be good sign)
so I waited slowly and surely they started to perk back up..
but growth has slowed way down.. and leaves seem a little leathery...
mil assuming I probably atleast temparily improved the situation with the water.. what are you helpful hints about the leathery leaves and growth cus I'm not really seeing any fruit yet and extra growth.. but more importantly we are on a time crunch cus lease is up in september

ps I do have pictures but when I tried to upload them it said the size was to large.. no idea how to change that

[ellz]

It sounds like the tablet you added shocked the plants. My advice would be to drain the tank and fill it with pHed water only. They look healthy other than that so I think you just shocked them. Once they are healthy again you can add nutrients and they should be okay. As for the pH tester you got, it sounds limited to a very small range. You need one that can measure a bigger range if you want the best results. The tester could say 6 because that is the lowest it can go but in reality it could be much lower than 6 so you want something that reads the full range. As for changing the water, you should do that every 7 to 10 days for best results. The ideal pH for the grow is 5.5 to 6.5 for hydroponics.