RTL
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2019
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- Nyc
- What state or country do you live in
- New York
Hi all,
TL;DR: tank up about 6 months, chemistry looks good, but pH remains low at about 7.65 - 7.8. Should I care? I would like to begin adding SPS.
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Ive been reefing seriously for a few years and have mainly stuck with smaller 20-30 gallon tanks. I've had great success keeping fish and corals with these (mainly LPS, some SPS). I have rarely measured pH but consistently measure other parameters.
About 6 months ago I purchased and set up a new Red Sea Reefer 525, which is about 110g display with a 30ish gallon sump. This system runs an Apex with every bell you can think of.
I cycled the tank with Dr Tims and several grocery store shrimp (in series, not all at once) for almost 2 months. All nitrogen cycle parameters looked good. Added a first small batch of fish, nitrogen parameters continue to look good. Turned on the lights. Several days later, diatom bloom started and continues through today. I am carbon dosing to keep nitrates between 0.5 and 1. Alk typically runs around 9.5. Ca has been about 400 and mag around 1300. I also run chaeto in the sump.
I have a calcium reactor ready to go but have not set it up yet. Surprisingly, finding a CO2 source has been tricky. And this would only lower pH further? Hmm.
Perhaps the most important piece of information is that I live in a skyscraper in New York city. The windows do not open much. When I have opened the windows, the daily pH cycle is relatively unaffected.
One other comment - I set this tank up in parallel with another 20g. I seeded both with bottled coraline. The 20g has growth on the rocks while the 525 does not.
Any idea if this pH level is a problem? If it is, any potential solutions? Im not impatient - waiting months longer is definitely ok with me. Thanks for the feedback!
TL;DR: tank up about 6 months, chemistry looks good, but pH remains low at about 7.65 - 7.8. Should I care? I would like to begin adding SPS.
---
Ive been reefing seriously for a few years and have mainly stuck with smaller 20-30 gallon tanks. I've had great success keeping fish and corals with these (mainly LPS, some SPS). I have rarely measured pH but consistently measure other parameters.
About 6 months ago I purchased and set up a new Red Sea Reefer 525, which is about 110g display with a 30ish gallon sump. This system runs an Apex with every bell you can think of.
I cycled the tank with Dr Tims and several grocery store shrimp (in series, not all at once) for almost 2 months. All nitrogen cycle parameters looked good. Added a first small batch of fish, nitrogen parameters continue to look good. Turned on the lights. Several days later, diatom bloom started and continues through today. I am carbon dosing to keep nitrates between 0.5 and 1. Alk typically runs around 9.5. Ca has been about 400 and mag around 1300. I also run chaeto in the sump.
I have a calcium reactor ready to go but have not set it up yet. Surprisingly, finding a CO2 source has been tricky. And this would only lower pH further? Hmm.
Perhaps the most important piece of information is that I live in a skyscraper in New York city. The windows do not open much. When I have opened the windows, the daily pH cycle is relatively unaffected.
One other comment - I set this tank up in parallel with another 20g. I seeded both with bottled coraline. The 20g has growth on the rocks while the 525 does not.
Any idea if this pH level is a problem? If it is, any potential solutions? Im not impatient - waiting months longer is definitely ok with me. Thanks for the feedback!
