A little help with Ph please?

[Dj City]

I'm trying to raise my Ph. It's not too bad but I know i should be able to do better.
I've got a 180gal SPS dominate reef. My Ph only gets up to about 8.12 - 8.15 or so with a night time low of about 7.24 - 7.75

I added a Co2 scrubber. No big boost in Ph.
I added kalkwasser. No big boost in Ph.
I dose B-ionic 2 part. I've come down from 30ml a day to 15ml a day now that I've added the kalkwasser. I dose just over a gallon of saturated kalk a day. 180ml 21 times a day and 100ml 3 times a day at peak Ph time for my reef which is about 6pm to 9pm.

I thought it might be a Ph probe problem so I got a new Ph probe and calibration fluid.

I calibrated the new probe and recalibrated the old one...
Probes are reading accurately.

I still can't get my ph up to where I want it.
I can't figure out what's keeping it capped pretty much at 8.12 or so.

Co2 not really providing the boost I was looking for and neither is the kalkwasser.
I tested the kalkwasser water and it's ph is 12.5 so I don't understand why the reef doesn't get above 8.12 - 8.15

What could be going on?

 

[jda]

Either decide not to worry about it, or commit to a paradigm where you replace he air in your home quite often. I mean with like an attic/whole-house fan and not by cracking a window an inch or two. Nearly all pH problems with high co2 in the home air.

You can also run a fuge on reverse light cycle which helps.

We have a 48 inch, 10-12k CFM whole house fan and with windows open on all three levels, the home air turns over every night. When we close up the house, my pH can drop .2 in about a week and rebound in a day once we get to open the windows again. This does not work in all climates, but if you can do it, it will help your tank.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Have you tried running the air intake on your skimmer to outside air?

 

[T-J]

Like others have said, it's most likely due to CO2 saturation in your home. Is your house sealed up for the summer with the A/C on?
I have to run a scrubber all summer just to stay around 8-8.1 during the day. My house is air tight and I live in Phoenix, so no fresh air for me. Tank isn't in a spot where I could run a line outside, and even if I could, I'd probably raise the water temp since it's 110 out there!
You might want to make your scrubber into a recirculating scrubber. That can help give it a bit more of a pH boots, and helps your media last longer.

 

[jda]

If the lows can get into the mid 70s, you can make this work once or twice a week. ...no idea what to do about Phoenix. About 05:00 is the best time if you live in a hot area. 99 here today, but it will be 75-76 at 21:00 and 57-58 tonight, so we have the fan on every night. In the winter, we wait for a 50-60 degree day with the sun out... which we get quite often.

 

[Privateye]

I personally wouldn't worry about 8.1. At least not without knowing the alkalinity. What's yours at?

Bicarbonate likes to buffer to 8.3. You don't really want to go beyond that. I had better luck with soda ash than kalk in terms of alkalinity.

 

[Uncle99]

I dose Alk on the hour but only while lights out.
This helps to “balance” the PH flux for me.
I carbon dose only when lights on.
I bring in outside air
I blow a fan across the surface at night.
8.1 maybe 8.2 day, 8.0 night.

 

[Dj City]

I live in Maryland so no open windows during the summer. Too hot.
Too cold in the winter too.

I have the Co2 scrubber recirculating via a tube going through the top of the skimmer pretty much air tight with the other holes taped over so air only escapes right back to the Co2 scrubber.

Can't run a line to outside the house. Too far of a run to be effective.

I have an algae reactor that lights up when display goes dark.

 

[Mical]

What are your actual Alk, Cal & Mag current readings?

 

[Dj City]

 

[Mical]

Your #'s look good, it appears it's an internal house CO2 issue. Is your tank open top (screen) or glass?

I had similar issue here in Minnesota but CO2 scrubbers (open not recycled) helped alot.

 

[Dj City]

My reef is open top but with a canopy. The canopy is pretty much open on the top. No problem with trapped air.
I have a fan in the cabinet too blowing out of the back of the cabinet.

I don't carbon dose.

 

[T-J]

I live in Maryland so no open windows during the summer. Too hot.
Too cold in the winter too.

Well, if you want higher pH, you're going to have to crack those windows when you can.

I have the Co2 scrubber recirculating via a tube going through the top of the skimmer pretty much air tight with the other holes taped over so air only escapes right back to the Co2 scrubber.

Don't do this! Take the tape off the other holes. You're creating back-pressure and reducing the effectiveness of your skimmer. Just put the tube in one hole and leave the others open. That's all you need to do. You're not letting any fresh air into your system.