Dose to raise pH/Alk or leave it be?

[Sphyrna_gal]

Wondering if adding more live/base rock to my reef set up will help get my pH higher than the mid to low 7s that we have. I also am seeing a drop in my alkalinity from mid 8s to mid-high 7s as well. My alk tests at 8.5-8.8 with fresh SW (use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals btw) but later on when I test from my tanks it goes down to mid to high 7s too.

I went from a SG of 1.023 up to 1.025 thinking that would maybe raise things and get some more minerals in there but my pH and alk are still mid to low 7s at the end of the day. I know they sell dosing options like reef builder or reef buffer but not sure if that's the best.

- We have a 40B tank, been going a little over a month
- Have about 25lbs of live rock and 50lbs of live sand
- All my coral frags are doing very well (acans, hammers, monti caps, zoos, xenia)
- Lights are on 24hr cycle timer and we keep temp at 78-78.5
- Have a RO unit and the pH tests out of that at 6.9 without adding the salt mix

Essentially, if I can avoid extra additives I would love to go that route so if anyone has more natural methods great. But if we did go the reef builer/buffer (best products/recommends) stuff would that stress out my tank to raise it up from say 7.7 to 8.3 like the bottles say? Because as mentioned, everything seems to be growing and looking really good just not sure if it's one of those things to leave or to change something up to get the extra boosts for pH and Alkalinity..

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Wondering if adding more live/base rock to my reef set up will help get my pH higher than the mid to low 7s that we have. I also am seeing a drop in my alkalinity from mid 8s to mid-high 7s as well. My alk tests at 8.5-8.8 with fresh SW (use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals btw) but later on when I test from my tanks it goes down to mid to high 7s too.

I went from a SG of 1.023 up to 1.025 thinking that would maybe raise things and get some more minerals in there but my pH and alk are still mid to low 7s at the end of the day. I know they sell dosing options like reef builder or reef buffer but not sure if that's the best.

- We have a 40B tank, been going a little over a month
- Have about 25lbs of live rock and 50lbs of live sand
- All my coral frags are doing very well (acans, hammers, monti caps, zoos, xenia)
- Lights are on 24hr cycle timer and we keep temp at 78-78.5
- Have a RO unit and the pH tests out of that at 6.9 without adding the salt mix

Essentially, if I can avoid extra additives I would love to go that route so if anyone has more natural methods great. But if we did go the reef builer/buffer (best products/recommends) stuff would that stress out my tank to raise it up from say 7.7 to 8.3 like the bottles say? Because as mentioned, everything seems to be growing and looking really good just not sure if it's one of those things to leave or to change something up to get the extra boosts for pH and Alkalinity..

Never dose for pH. There's lots of videos going over why pH can be low. There maybe any number of reasons. If a video suggest dosing turn it off. As far as. ALK, if you are seeing this drop, then you should be seeing calcium drop as well as magnesium though mag will drop less. At that point you will need to test and get ready to dose all three.

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

(Side note but may be helpful to someone else one day) Still reading more into this topic myself and getting ideas, BRS has an interesting article on raising pH: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/md-2020-11-how-to-raise-ph-in-your-marine-aquarium

While I do have two power heads in the tank I am wondering if the glass top we have may be an additional factor so may try to make a DIY screen top to try to get more on the oxygen exchange front. Hadn't thought about that as a factor that can impact pH but ..again maybe that will help this a bit too

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The alk above 7 dKH is fine.

The pH in the low 7’s is almost certainly inaccurate.

Do not do anything about pH at the moment. How are you measuring it?

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

I have Hanna testers for both pH and ALK

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I have Hanna testers for both pH and ALK

Which PH tester are you using? I have been considering buying this one.

Temperature and pH Meter - pHep 4 - HI98127 | Hanna Instruments

Hanna Instruments HI98127 pHep 4 Temperature and pH Meter features a replaceable electrode & floating waterproof design. Great for field and laboratory use

www.hannainst.com

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

Which PH tester are you using? I have been considering buying this one.

Temperature and pH Meter - pHep 4 - HI98127 | Hanna Instruments

Hanna Instruments HI98127 pHep 4 Temperature and pH Meter features a replaceable electrode & floating waterproof design. Great for field and laboratory use

www.hannainst.com

I haven't tried the one pictured. But I tried 2 of the Hanna HI98103 Checker pH Testers but returned them because they both arrived defective, wouldn't even get to the CAL screen. So I got the little grey egg tester model because I liked the ALK tester they had (attached the image of the one I use now).


I actually repositioned my two powerheads last night and folded my glass top so that more of the water surface was uncovered.. retested the pH this morning and it did go up. Going to try that for a bit and see if it keeps it stable or raises further. My alkalinity is still low and just ordered a hanna cal and mag tester to get a better idea of those and track those results

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

retested the pH this morning and it did go up. Going to try that for a bit and see if it keeps it stable or raises further.

To what?
How did you calibrate it?

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

Just updating my own thread with something I noticed today since ALK seems to be a common issue for folks.

A few days ago I was reading around on the forum and found this thread talking about the Hanna ALK checker/tester reagent going bad (there's a few btw): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hanna-alkalinity-test-reagent-gone-bad.1068873/#post-12780003

I tested my ALK today and I got 6.9?! I knew that number was wrong right away because I did a water change so there was no way it would be even close to that... and having read about the reagent issue I decided to open a new bottle and retest. Retested with a new bottle of the ALK reagent and my ALK was 8! So now I am wondering if that may have played a role in my low results all along- as I said my corals are doing great and growing.

Going to try to put the new reagent bottle in the fridge like others suggested.. not sure what to do with the other bottle LOL maybe keep it as a type of experiment/control. I do find it frustrating that Hanna doesn't seem to say anything about that issue nor recommend it be refrigerated on the bottle, but anyway hope this helps someone.

 

[Jipolley]

I haven't tried the one pictured. But I tried 2 of the Hanna HI98103 Checker pH Testers but returned them because they both arrived defective, wouldn't even get to the CAL screen. So I got the little grey egg tester model because I liked the ALK tester they had (attached the image of the one I use now).


I actually repositioned my two powerheads last night and folded my glass top so that more of the water surface was uncovered.. retested the pH this morning and it did go up. Going to try that for a bit and see if it keeps it stable or raises further. My alkalinity is still low and just ordered a hanna cal and mag tester to get a better idea of those and track those results

Good luck with the calcium tester. Its apparently really hard to use

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Good luck with the calcium tester. Its apparently really hard to use

There's an extra step in the flow of things but once you have done it a few times it goes quite well.

 

[exnisstech]

Good luck with the calcium tester. Its apparently really hard to use

I made one test with mine and unloaded it in the marketplace. I'm very happy with salifert for calcium

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

Good luck with the calcium tester. Its apparently really hard to use

I actually got them both (Cal and Mag) today opened them and shut them back up for later.. ha! they are SO DIFFERENT from the ALK and pH testers for sure. Like dang, is there just a digital test for everything that doesn't cost more than my entire set up and then some?! LOL