PH Buffer? Any good?

[jayteerq]

I know people say don’t chase numbers but man 7.5 PH sucks!!! Lol I have a CO2 scrubber, crazy aeration on the water surface, dosing as much kalkwasser as alkalinity would allow but nothing works! Tanks in the basement and I have a full home so maybe a lot of co2 lol. But I’d like to stay above 8 if possible. I’ve seen the seachem ph buffer floating around but not sure if it even works. Any opinions?

 

[KrisReef]

It would be easier to throw out some of the folks at home than to balance a reef with pH buffer, and a lot more cost effective.

Outdoor air to the skimmer is the other option that could help.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Seacrap added ph goes up, then goes down almost as fast as it raises. Where is kalk taking you with alkalinity?

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I'm dosing 800ml kalk 24/7 and holding 9.0 dkh. pH drops to 8.05 before lights on and near end of lighting period it's sitting around 8.25 peak. Before kalk and running skimmer line outside, I'd only be lucky to hit 8.1 and that was keeping the windows and door open heating the place up. Night time the apex was alerting me at 3am that the pH was under 7.8

@1.1 liters a day brings alk to 9.3 solid. I found instead of using 2.6 tsp in 5000ml of RODI I use 2 1/4 tsp and get better pH and next to nothing besides the slightest dusting in the bottom of the acrylic res.

For a few bucks grab a CO2 monitor and see where your CO2 is at. Helpful little tool imo.

Also when was the last time you callibrated the probe?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

As folks have noted, a pH buffer (any buffer) when used to boost pH has three main issues, and is never the best choice when needing a significant pH boost. Don't believe some wild manufacturer claims about a buffer targeting and maintaining a specific pH.

1. It is always an alkalinity supplement, so should never be dosed more than you need to maintain alk, whether you reach a pH target or not. Nearly always, the answer is you do not reach the target.

2. Buffers do not have the highest pH boost per unit of alk added. Hydroxide si the winner there, followed by carboante. Buffers (be chemical definition) are a mix of bicarbonate (small pH lowering) and carbonate (significant pH boost). If hydroxide dosing is not in your plans, at least use carbonate for any alkalinity needs if low pH is an issue.

3. All additives that boost pH work by consuming CO2. That only lasts as long as it takes the tank to pull in more CO2 by aeration. Thus, alkalinity supplements used to boost pH need to be used daily or more often to attain any lasting benefit. They are never a once and done correction.

 

[jayteerq]

Seacrap added ph goes up, then goes down almost as fast as it raises. Where is kalk taking you with alkalinity?

My alk is stable at 9.5

 

[jayteerq]

I'm dosing 800ml kalk 24/7 and holding 9.0 dkh. pH drops to 8.05 before lights on and near end of lighting period it's sitting around 8.25 peak. Before kalk and running skimmer line outside, I'd only be lucky to hit 8.1 and that was keeping the windows and door open heating the place up. Night time the apex was alerting me at 3am that the pH was under 7.8

@1.1 liters a day brings alk to 9.3 solid. I found instead of using 2.6 tsp in 5000ml of RODI I use 2 1/4 tsp and get better pH and next to nothing besides the slightest dusting in the bottom of the acrylic res.

For a few bucks grab a CO2 monitor and see where your CO2 is at. Helpful little tool imo.

Also when was the last time you callibrated the probe?

I just calibrated my probe again a few days ago. I’ve been doing 2 tsps per gal. You recommend 2.25 tsp per gal? I’ll try that next time I refill!

 

[jayteerq]

As folks have noted, a pH buffer (any buffer) when used to boost pH has three main issues, and is never the best choice when needing a significant pH boost. Don't believe some wild manufacturer claims about a buffer targeting and maintaining a specific pH.

1. It is always an alkalinity supplement, so should never be dosed more than you need to maintain alk, whether you reach a pH target or not. Nearly always, the answer is you do not reach the target.

2. Buffers do not have the highest pH boost per unit of alk added. Hydroxide si the winner there, followed by carboante. Buffers (be chemical definition) are a mix of bicarbonate (small pH lowering) and carbonate (significant pH boost). If hydroxide dosing is not in your plans, at least use carbonate for any alkalinity needs if low pH is an issue.

3. All additives that boost pH work by consuming CO2. That only lasts as long as it takes the tank to pull in more CO2 by aeration. Thus, alkalinity supplements used to boost pH need to be used daily or more often to attain any lasting benefit. They are never a once and done correction.

Ahh so it’s like a marketing scam kalkwasser huh lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ahh so it’s like a marketing scam kalkwasser huh lol

Some claims about some buffers and pH for sure are marketing exaggerations. They take a tiny nugget of factual truth, and stretch it like gumby until it is no longer accurate.

 

[jayteerq]

Some claims about some buffers and pH for sure are marketing exaggerations. They take a tiny nugget of factual truth, and stretch it like gumby until it is no longer accurate.

That’s lowkey evil work lol

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I just calibrated my probe again a few days ago. I’ve been doing 2 tsps per gal. You recommend 2.25 tsp per gal? I’ll try that next time I refill!

I've got a 5000ml container and use BRS Pharma kalk. It was suggested to use 2.6 tsp but had kalk on the bottom of the container. I've only lowered it to 2 1/4 tsp for the 5000ml container as a bit of an experiment to see what would happen. I'm needing to check the dkh today yet to see if there is a change. I also check the pH and it was 12.76 and expect the handheld meter is off. This is what I use.