Alpha Aquaculture
Designer Clownfish Hatchery
Are you having problems with corals dying and you don't know why?
Your pH could be too low and it could be from you breathing around your tank.
I just had another reefer ask me for help with his pH issues and I typed up all of this for him. I decided to post my advice in this thread to help others with the same problem. To start I would buy a Milwaukee Ph monitor (or similar device) and have the probe always in your sump and constantly monitor it. What you will find is that the pH changes from day to night based on the photosynthesis in your tank. When the lights are on and the corals and algae are photosynthesizing the pH goes up. When its dark the pH goes down. Many people have their tanks in a basement where there are rarely people. Imo this helps the pH a ton. Ph issues occcur for me when me and my friends are chillin a lot. When I have a lot of people around my tank for a long time the pH goes down. This is because the CO2 from people breathing dissolves into the water to form carbonic acid. Acids like carbonic acid lower the pH of the water. When enough CO2 dissolves into the water the pH goes down. When it goes down too much it can negatively effect corals and mess with their stable conditions. Most people recommend a ph of 8.0 to 8.3 for a reef tank. In my experience a pH of 7.8 or lower will begin to cause issues and corals can die under these conditions. Something must be done if your pH is this low.
As far as solutions, there are only a few real options imo. The most obvious is to keep people away from your tank. Or keep your tank in a spot where no people will be around. This is tough because we all have tanks to show off to our friends so you don't wanna keep it hidden. Also I find that if there is no one around to see your tank you let it go downhill. How often do you hear someone say that they won't show off their tank cuz they haven't kept up with maintenance and water changes? We need to show off our tanks!
Another option is to add algaes like macro algaes or an algal turf scrubber. I have both on my tank. Many people use chaeto but I prefer red bubble algae because its more colorful. Run these macro algaes on a reverse daylight photoperiod. The idea is to keep something photosynthesizing while your main display lights are out. This will help keep the pH high but might not be enough if you have a lot of people around breathing. You could always have a larger reverse daylight photoperiod tank with more macros. The larger the amount of macros photosynthesizing the more it will help. Sometimes photosynthesis alone will not be enough to control the CO2 from peoples breath. I have had my pH remain too low even when my display lights are on. Another solution is needed.
I next decided to try dosing Kalkwasser. Initially I dosed it out of a 5g bucket with a Aqualifter pump. I had to mix it daily and make new batches every few days. When this Kalk powder is mixed with RO water it must be added slowly to avoid increasing the pH too fast. The goal is to have this Kalk/RO mixture additions match your evaporation rate so no further RO is needed to keep your salinity stable. This 5g bucket method was working but not consistently and it was a pain. Next I began using a Kalkwasser Reactor and a Reeffiller pump. While costly this combo has worked flawlessly for me. The Reeffiller pump can be dialed in to exactly match the evaporation rate of your tank. It takes a few days but you can get it right easily. Other people successfully use dosing peristalic pumps. There are many options out there that are cheaper than the Reeffiller. With a Kalk Reactor you only have to add Kalk powder every few weeks. You can measure the pH of your effluent with the pH monitor to make sure you don't need to add more kalk powder yet to your reactor. The pH of your effluent should be around 12. Run your Kalk Reactor on a timer at night when your pH drops to its lowest or whenever you need it most. My Kalk Reactor has the added benefit of keeping my Alkalinity and Calcium levels right where I want them without any further additions. I use Bulk Reef Supply Kalk because its pharmaceutical quality and the cheapest.
There is another option that is the easiest and cheapest. Introduce fresh air in to your tank room so the air is not so saturated with CO2 from people breathing. This method should be your first option. It works well. You can also use an air pump and airstone to bubble out the extra CO2 from your water. I had a window near my tank and used a small computer fan in it. This fan blew air in right near my air pump which sucked it in and bubble low CO2 air in to my tank. As these air bubbles went through the tank they picked up the extra CO2 that was lowering the pH. This worked very well at keep my pH from getting too low or too raise it once it was too low. Together with these other options a stable pH can be achieved. A stable pH can keep your corals happy
I hope these quick explanations paint a picture of how CO2 changes pH in aquariums and solutions for how to keep it from getting too low.
If I have missed anything please feel free to post a correction. Lets help all those who need pH advice
Kris
Your pH could be too low and it could be from you breathing around your tank.
I just had another reefer ask me for help with his pH issues and I typed up all of this for him. I decided to post my advice in this thread to help others with the same problem. To start I would buy a Milwaukee Ph monitor (or similar device) and have the probe always in your sump and constantly monitor it. What you will find is that the pH changes from day to night based on the photosynthesis in your tank. When the lights are on and the corals and algae are photosynthesizing the pH goes up. When its dark the pH goes down. Many people have their tanks in a basement where there are rarely people. Imo this helps the pH a ton. Ph issues occcur for me when me and my friends are chillin a lot. When I have a lot of people around my tank for a long time the pH goes down. This is because the CO2 from people breathing dissolves into the water to form carbonic acid. Acids like carbonic acid lower the pH of the water. When enough CO2 dissolves into the water the pH goes down. When it goes down too much it can negatively effect corals and mess with their stable conditions. Most people recommend a ph of 8.0 to 8.3 for a reef tank. In my experience a pH of 7.8 or lower will begin to cause issues and corals can die under these conditions. Something must be done if your pH is this low.
As far as solutions, there are only a few real options imo. The most obvious is to keep people away from your tank. Or keep your tank in a spot where no people will be around. This is tough because we all have tanks to show off to our friends so you don't wanna keep it hidden. Also I find that if there is no one around to see your tank you let it go downhill. How often do you hear someone say that they won't show off their tank cuz they haven't kept up with maintenance and water changes? We need to show off our tanks!
Another option is to add algaes like macro algaes or an algal turf scrubber. I have both on my tank. Many people use chaeto but I prefer red bubble algae because its more colorful. Run these macro algaes on a reverse daylight photoperiod. The idea is to keep something photosynthesizing while your main display lights are out. This will help keep the pH high but might not be enough if you have a lot of people around breathing. You could always have a larger reverse daylight photoperiod tank with more macros. The larger the amount of macros photosynthesizing the more it will help. Sometimes photosynthesis alone will not be enough to control the CO2 from peoples breath. I have had my pH remain too low even when my display lights are on. Another solution is needed.
I next decided to try dosing Kalkwasser. Initially I dosed it out of a 5g bucket with a Aqualifter pump. I had to mix it daily and make new batches every few days. When this Kalk powder is mixed with RO water it must be added slowly to avoid increasing the pH too fast. The goal is to have this Kalk/RO mixture additions match your evaporation rate so no further RO is needed to keep your salinity stable. This 5g bucket method was working but not consistently and it was a pain. Next I began using a Kalkwasser Reactor and a Reeffiller pump. While costly this combo has worked flawlessly for me. The Reeffiller pump can be dialed in to exactly match the evaporation rate of your tank. It takes a few days but you can get it right easily. Other people successfully use dosing peristalic pumps. There are many options out there that are cheaper than the Reeffiller. With a Kalk Reactor you only have to add Kalk powder every few weeks. You can measure the pH of your effluent with the pH monitor to make sure you don't need to add more kalk powder yet to your reactor. The pH of your effluent should be around 12. Run your Kalk Reactor on a timer at night when your pH drops to its lowest or whenever you need it most. My Kalk Reactor has the added benefit of keeping my Alkalinity and Calcium levels right where I want them without any further additions. I use Bulk Reef Supply Kalk because its pharmaceutical quality and the cheapest.
There is another option that is the easiest and cheapest. Introduce fresh air in to your tank room so the air is not so saturated with CO2 from people breathing. This method should be your first option. It works well. You can also use an air pump and airstone to bubble out the extra CO2 from your water. I had a window near my tank and used a small computer fan in it. This fan blew air in right near my air pump which sucked it in and bubble low CO2 air in to my tank. As these air bubbles went through the tank they picked up the extra CO2 that was lowering the pH. This worked very well at keep my pH from getting too low or too raise it once it was too low. Together with these other options a stable pH can be achieved. A stable pH can keep your corals happy
I hope these quick explanations paint a picture of how CO2 changes pH in aquariums and solutions for how to keep it from getting too low.
If I have missed anything please feel free to post a correction. Lets help all those who need pH advice
Kris
