Take it to 10?

[Bugg_zy]

So as I have posted elsewhere I am battling low PH along with a lot of other reefers it seems. Alk tested 9 this morning with the lights off and had a PH of 7.76. I have narrowed down the cause to a really small high CO2 environment. I can litterly watch the ph drop if a big meal is being cooked in the kitchen :squigglemouth: So I was wondering a few things. It seems my alk goes up slowly during the day and decreases at night. So first question is when is the best time to test Alk? And the second question is should I take my Alk up to 10 to help bump the ph up a tiny bit so it will stay above 7.8? Right now I am using a salifert kit to test, but when I had an elos kit and compared the 2 the salifert always read 1 point higher then my elos. This difference drives my nuts because I don't know which results to go with. I know the real indicator is how my corals look, but I do know if my ph stays low for any length amount of time my corals don't look as good and growth slows. Next month I am hoping to get some of those co2 absorbing pellets to give them a shot but that is next month. So take my alk to 10? and if so when is the best time of the light cycle to do the test? thanks!

 

[Bandomo]

So here's my opinion on the following, and by no means am I an expert...

PH....Dont stress over it. Many reefers successful maintain a stunning tank with a PH way lower then the recommended 8.2 rule of thumb. I feel, the more important issue is stability and try to keep the PH swings to a minimum. Honestly in all my years of reef keeping, I've never been able to keep my PH consistently at 8.2. I quit trying a long time ago, but I do successful maintain it at 7.8 with very minimal PH swings. I think having a stable ALK is MUCH more important. So again, don't stress

Testing ALK....It really doesn't matter the time of day as long as you consistently test at that exact time (give or take a couple of hours) day after day. After time, you'll get to know your tanks personality and should only bother testing when your corals are saying: HELP ME OUT WILL YA!

It used to drive me up the wall every time I got different test values from different test kits. Believe you me, cause I've used them all: Salifert, Elos, API, Red Sea, etc. So my conclusion, I've given up on that too Now i just stick with Salifert and figure out the variance using their small test sample solution. Once I complete my test and incorporate the variance I'm done. Well, unless my corals are telling me otherwise.

Secondly, I wouldn't bother trying to raise your alkalinity any further. If you're getting a reading of 9 while your lights are off, it'll more than likely be a little higher during the peak of your light cycle. If your corals aren't looking to healthy, I would start analyzing things from the bottom up: check your RO/DI, change your carbon, increase water changes, etc.

Finally, If you are looking for a product to use, take a loot at AquaVitro "Balance" by Seachem. It helps to balance the ions to help increase and stabilize PH. It shouldn't be used as a PH buffer, but rather when PH has reached its limited and struggling to increase over a certain amount, 7.76 in your case. Give it a try and let me know what happens

Hope this helps! Cheers,

 

[Bugg_zy]

Thanks so much for the reply and insight. I am in no way trying to hit 8.0 and beyond with my PH due to the environment my tank is in, just trying to have no have it drop below 7.8 at any point in the day. I am thinking about ditching the kalk at this point due to the variation in evaporation from day to day week to week and switching to brs 2 part to keep the parameters in check. The tank is doing ok coral wise atm with the exception of encrusting acros, superman, rainbow etc.. Not a pest though cause I moved them to my other tank and the are getting better color and growth. As noted testing at a different time each day is going to bring different results. I just got home from work and there is 4 hours left in the light cycle. The PH is reading 8.06 with an alk of 9.3(up .3 from when the Ph was 7.76 this morning. I also want to toss out that I am in no means gonna take a shotgun approach to changing my parameters. Mainly considering changing out to 2 part to maybe stabilize the alk/cal/mag and up the alk a point to keep the tank from dipping past 7.8, especially considering the snow is going to be flying in a few months and with my place closed up tight I am sure that is going to make an even greater impact on my PH. Also like I said I want to give these a whirl:Color Changing Medical Grade CO2 Absorbent - Low Dust - English
Expensive, but I think I it might be a better alternative then raising my alk.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Interesting, I usually just use kalk in my ato tank and dose it. That takes care of ph and alkalinity. Then I either add ca 2 part or kent marine liquid ca to increase ca. Try kent marine super buffer dkh, that has always worked for me.

 

[Bandomo]

It is a little pricey, but on the other hand, I never knew how much a tightly closed house could have such an effect on PH. You learn something new everyday. Do you know the reason/theory behind it? Would be interesting to learn.

 

[CJO]

I wouldn't stop putting in kalk. That is helping your pH. Using the CO2 media you listed in a CO2 scrubber will also help. Have you tried growing macro algae in a refugium? That's another thing that may help your pH issues. Also, how about growing some plants in your house?

CJ

 

[Bugg_zy]

It is a little pricey, but on the other hand, I never knew how much a tightly closed house could have such an effect on PH. You learn something new everyday. Do you know the reason/theory behind it? Would be interesting to learn.

Sorry I don't know the theory behind it.:squigglemouth: Today my tank was at 7.75 when I got up today(lights out). I opened the door for awhile and it jumped to 7.83. I do have a reverse light cycle fuge I run with macro that I am guessing is to small for my tank because it seems to have little to no effect. As far as the kalk I know it's good stuff but i don't like the fact that my water parameters change with the weather outside. Like 2 weeks of rain means my ph drops to low do to lack of top off water being added. Thanks again for the added input. When I get the beads I will let you folks know how they work for me. Gonna be next month though because this month is pretty tight money wise.

 

[ImageX]

you have a low oxygen count in your home... open the windows for a day or turn the vent on from the outside.. it'll raise your PH.. surprised no one has mentioned this.. your in alaska so the temp has to be somewhat nice right now outside crack open the windows and let the home get more oxygen in the house.. or like someone else said up above get more plants..

another thing that can cause this is if you have a freshwater planted tank and run co2 it'll cause your saltwater tank to drop in ph too cause it's releasing all the co2 in the area choking out the oxygen..

 

[VegasRick]

There seems to be a lot of confusion on this subject.
High co2 levels in your home are most likely the cause for low ph in your tank as stated by several people. The co2 in your tank is constantly trying to reach an equilibrium with the air in the room. CO2 is easily taken into the tank but is not easily released. Because your skimmer has a large interface for gas exchange it will cause your system to take it in faster, but it will still take it in because it isn't the only interface. So adding co2 absorbant to the intake will do a little but your tank will still be taking it in at the other interfaces. And also like stated above kalkwaser removes co2 from your system and uses it as part of your alkalinity. So keep using it if possible. The best remedy is fresh air exchange in your room, via doors, windows or installing an air exchanger into your ventillation system
Oh and raising your alk won't help

 

[Bugg_zy]

Thanks again for folks giving me more input. I knew that folks would suggest providing fresh air would fix my issues. I also know that when I open my front door the ph goes up in the tank. I do live in Alaska though and that is not a year round option. My goal here is to not shoot for 8.3, but to just keep my ph from dropping below 7.8 at night, and a year round fix for my problem. I guess things I need to know is how much of an effect does Kalk actually have on CO2. I have read it has an effect, but to what extent does it really work? I ask because even while running it in my ato it's not keeping the ph above 7.8 at night all by itself. And if it's rainy out do I just add kalk even though my tank does not need topped off as much? Or do I add more 2 parts to make up the difference? I see a lot of testing in my future :nerd: Also as stated is that this thread came about after a few weeks of rainy weather causing my ph to get lower and lower. I have since started adding 2 part at 25mil per day on my 75g to keep the kh and cal up. Ph is still dropping below 7.8 but barely now that I have my kh at 9.2ish. I could be wrong but I am thinking with the co2 absorbent it might be the last part of the puzzle to keep my tank above 7.8 at night during the winter. Thanks again for all the input and feel free to keep posting up info!

 

[VegasRick]

Kalkwasser actually uses a good bit of the co2, you can add fans to increase evaporation so that more kw can be added. There is also the option of running a refugium on an opposite light cycle from your tank, this would be my next choice if fresh air isn't an option.