Struggling with pH at 7.7 in my Marine X 110.4 despite ventilation and CO2 scrubber – Need help!

[jorgeeandreess]

Hi fellow reefers,

I’ve been battling low pH issues in my Marine X 110.4 for a long time now, and I’m really concerned. My pH just won’t go above 7.7 (sometimes it even drops to 7.6). I’ve done everything I can think of to improve the situation: I’ve moved to a bigger apartment, opened doors and windows for better ventilation, added fans, and I’m even using a CO2 scrubber. Despite all these efforts, nothing seems to work.

Has anyone else faced similar pH issues? I’m worried that this low pH might affect the health of my tank in the long run. Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[rishma]

I think people will need more info to give the best advice (water chemistry, set up, lighting, etc). but I’ll start where I always do…

Are you sure your pH is stubbornly low? How are you testing? Calibrate probe? Or if a reagent test, could the kit be bad?

I have learned the hard way that when the data doesn’t make sense, question the test.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Yeah, my first concern was pH probe calibration.....

 

[jorgeeandreess]

I think people will need more info to give the best advice (water chemistry, set up, lighting, etc). but I’ll start where I always do…

Are you sure your pH is stubbornly low? How are you testing? Calibrate probe? Or if a reagent test, could the kit be bad?

I have learned the hard way that when the data doesn’t make sense, question the test.

I have salifert and hannah. Both the same reading

 

[Sumbub]

If you have a lfs that can do testing, maybe ask them to double check your results. You've done what you can to raise it and it's not going up. Can you tell us what are your other parameters on the reef? (salt, calcium, alk, mag, etc.) What is the bioload?

 

[jorgeeandreess]

If you have a lfs that can do testing, maybe ask them to double check your results. You've done what you can to raise it and it's not going up. Can you tell us what are your other parameters on the reef? (salt, calcium, alk, mag, etc.) What is the bioload?

Hello! Thank you

Sal: 1.025
Ca: 420 ppm
Mg: 1350 ppm
Alk: 8.0
NO3: 14.9 ppm
PO4: 0.07 ppm

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I think one of the test @Randy Holmes-Farley suggest, (If I remember correctly ) is to take a sample of your tank water and aerate it with outside air, or take it outside. Do this for thirty minutes. If your PH still reads low then you may have a testing error.

 

[rishma]

Hello! Thank you

Sal: 1.025
Ca: 420 ppm
Mg: 1350 ppm
Alk: 8.0
NO3: 14.9 ppm
PO4: 0.07 ppm

Those are some great parameters.

I know you tested with two different tests which would make me think the pH is actually low, but not seeing an improvement with fresh air and a CO2 scrubber really surprises me. @TangerineSpeedo suggestion to aerate sample of water outside is a good idea

I cannot imagine what the cause of such low pH would be. Are you using a calcium reactor with CO2?

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Some additives that may contain carbon will also suppress pH. I'm dosing TM plus NP and it's lowered the pH. I also have windows and doors open and fresh air exchanger on. Before adding plus NP pH would hit 8.10 eand of day and dip to 7.9 overnight. Adding Plus NP the pH would struggle to hit 8.0 and at night fall sometimes lower than 7.8

I've added kalkwasser dosing moderate 24/7 and now the lowest it hits is 7.95 and a high of 8.07 and still climbing daily, and I'm good with that. I am still tweaking the dose so my ALK doesn't hit anything over 9dkh.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi fellow reefers,

I’ve been battling low pH issues in my Marine X 110.4 for a long time now, and I’m really concerned. My pH just won’t go above 7.7 (sometimes it even drops to 7.6). I’ve done everything I can think of to improve the situation: I’ve moved to a bigger apartment, opened doors and windows for better ventilation, added fans, and I’m even using a CO2 scrubber. Despite all these efforts, nothing seems to work.

Has anyone else faced similar pH issues? I’m worried that this low pH might affect the health of my tank in the long run. Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

If open windows do not help, then either the tank is poorly aerated or the pH measurement is off.

This is the aeration test mentioned above:

pH and the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

by Randy Holmes-Farley For many aquarists, pH is not something that they have much experience with aside from their aquarium. For many, pH is almost a black box measurement: something to be considered, but whose physical meaning makes little sense to them. This article will Read more here...

www.reefedition.com

The Aeration Test

Some of the possible causes of low pH listed above require an effort to diagnose. Problems 3 and 4 are quite common, and here is a way to distinguish them. Remove a cup of tank water and measure its pH. Then aerate it for an hour with an airstone using outside air. Its pH should rise if it is unusually low for the measured alkalinity (Figure 2). Then repeat the same experiment on a new cup of water using inside air. If its pH also rises, then the aquarium’s pH will rise simply with more aeration because it is only the aquarium that contains excess carbon dioxide. If the pH does not rise in the cup (or rises very little) when aerating with indoor air, then that air likely contains excess CO2, and more aeration with that same air will not solve the low pH problem (although aeration with fresher air should). Be careful implementing this test if the outside aeration test results in a large temperature change (more than 5°C or 10°F), because such changes alone impact pH measurements.

 

[Sumbub]

Hello! Thank you

Sal: 1.025
Ca: 420 ppm
Mg: 1350 ppm
Alk: 8.0
NO3: 14.9 ppm
PO4: 0.07 ppm

Like everyone else is saying, those numbers are great. And doing the test that Randy has suggested would give you the answer you’re searching for.

 

[jorgeeandreess]

Those are some great parameters.

I know you tested with two different tests which would make me think the pH is actually low, but not seeing an improvement with fresh air and a CO2 scrubber really surprises me. @TangerineSpeedo suggestion to aerate sample of water outside is a good idea

I cannot imagine what the cause of such low pH would be. Are you using a calcium reactor with CO2?

Hello! No, I haven’t used any reactor. I keep it very simple actually. I don’t dose anything, feed my fishes and corals and do weekly maintenance

 

[bossman818]

How old is the tank?