AquaVitro 8.4?

[saltwaterbeginner48]

Hello!

My tank has been up and running for about 5 months now and I consistently have a low pH. I have FLUVAL 13.5 with stocked with a bi colored blenny, a emerald crab, a snail, a duncan coral, some green star polyps and a dragons eye zooa. I also have a protein skimmer addd on to the tank as well. My water levels all checked off as good always except the pH was low, like around 8.0 and my Nitrates were super high for a while. The Nitrates have went down over time to .5 now and everything else looks great I think? I just moved my tank as I moved to a new place and after running the tank for 2 weeks the pH is back to being low and this time it is even lower like 7.6 now. I have 8.4 by AquaVitro and have used that to raise the pH in the past, however I heard from someone that it can cause fish to die or something but they did not elaborate. Before I start dosing the tank again I just wanted some input on what you guys think about it.

My water levels:
pH:7.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:.5
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 460
KH: 161.1
Gravity: 1.025

I also use RO water.

 

[1ByLand2BySea]

AquaVitro 8.4 is just an alkalinity additive to maintain it and does not kill fish.
My advise to you is not to play around with pH in such a small body of water as the swings could be far more harmful than letting your naturally run at a low pH. Just let it be.

 

[MaxxuM]

Hello!

My tank has been up and running for about 5 months now and I consistently have a low pH. I have FLUVAL 13.5 with stocked with a bi colored blenny, a emerald crab, a snail, a duncan coral, some green star polyps and a dragons eye zooa. I also have a protein skimmer addd on to the tank as well. My water levels all checked off as good always except the pH was low, like around 8.0 and my Nitrates were super high for a while. The Nitrates have went down over time to .5 now and everything else looks great I think? I just moved my tank as I moved to a new place and after running the tank for 2 weeks the pH is back to being low and this time it is even lower like 7.6 now. I have 8.4 by AquaVitro and have used that to raise the pH in the past, however I heard from someone that it can cause fish to die or something but they did not elaborate. Before I start dosing the tank again I just wanted some input on what you guys think about it.

My water levels:
pH:7.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:.5
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 460
KH: 161.1
Gravity: 1.025

I also use RO water.

You're getting a low pH because your tank isn't getting enough oxygen. CO2 drags down pH. 7.6 isn't horrible, but if you want to raise it you'll need to open it up to the room air and get your water surface more agitated. You do not want to use a buffer to raise pH. Over time it will mess with alkalinity.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ive used 8.4 in the past and it works, but the numbers slowly dropped unless more was added

 

[saltwaterbeginner48]

You're getting a low pH because your tank isn't getting enough oxygen. CO2 drags down pH. 7.6 isn't horrible, but if you want to raise it you'll need to open it up to the room air and get your water surface more agitated. You do not want to use a buffer to raise pH. Over time it will mess with alkalinity.

Ohh ok that makes sense! When you say open it up to the room air, what exactly do you mean by that? Like how would I go about it?

 

[MaxxuM]

Ohh ok that makes sense! When you say open it up to the room air, what exactly do you mean by that? Like how would I go about it?

If I'm not mistaken, the 13.5 can be fitted with a skimmer. A skimmer would help to raise pH. Also, you can aim the pump return more toward the surface so there's ripples. Adding a wave maker would also help. That should get you near 8. Leaving the feeding door open might help a little more too.

 

[saltwaterbeginner48]

If I'm not mistaken, the 13.5 can be fitted with a skimmer. A skimmer would help to raise pH. Also, you can aim the pump return more toward the surface so there's ripples. Adding a wave maker would also help. That should get you near 8. Leaving the feeding door open might help a little more too.

Yah I have the skimmer! And I aimed the pump return towards the surface now so hopefully it works! Thank u!