Calcium ph alk

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 20, 2015

The others are fine, but pH does appear low.

How are you measuring it?

What sort of corals do you keep? pH matters more for hard corals.

Alwmh4 · Sep 20, 2015

The ph is the spec measurement. I also have s hand held meter I'll use to check and I'll let you know what it says.

I have mixed frags.

But really what can I do about the ph anyway? Can't dose alk since its high already right

Alwmh4 · Sep 20, 2015

Apex screen shot

Alwmh4 · Sep 20, 2015

Hanna says 7.8

Which do I trust?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 20, 2015

Alwmh4 said:
The ph is the spec measurement. I also have s hand held meter I'll use to check and I'll let you know what it says.

I have mixed frags.

But really what can I do about the ph anyway? Can't dose alk since its high already right

There are many things to do, if you want, but first is to recalibrate whatever you used to measure pH.

Alwmh4 · Sep 20, 2015

I just did two weeks ago when I got the apex. I'll do it again tomm. I think I have ph calibration fluid. I'll let you know what happens

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 20, 2015

FWIW, anytime you get a pH reading that suggests taking action, double checking the calibration first is a good plan.

Alwmh4 · Sep 20, 2015

I'll make sure to remember that. I can see serious reprocusions of adding something you don't need

Alwmh4 · Sep 27, 2015

Ok so I can't get a straight answer fromy lfs. To calibrate my apex ph probe do I need the solution that they sell or can I use what I use for my Hanna ph checker?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 27, 2015

Alwmh4 said:
Ok so I can't get a straight answer fromy lfs. To calibrate my apex ph probe do I need the solution that they sell or can I use what I use for my Hanna ph checker?

Any brand of buffer of the same pH is perfectly fine.

Some meters require specific pH values (like 7 and 10 or 4 and 7), and some do not care what they are (I often use 7, 8, 9 and 10).

Alwmh4 · Sep 28, 2015

Ok I re calibrated w pinpoint fluid 7 and 10. Ph on tank today is 7.65. I have skimmer off for a couple weeks due to a treatment but pretty much the reading of ph was the same before I turned off skimmer. So how do I raise ph without adding alk and preferably wo dealing w kalk. I have kalk but it's not user friendly in that you have to make it up just about daily as I understand it.

Downbeach · Sep 28, 2015

What kind of treatment are you doing? I would turn on the skimmer, even if you lease the cup off, to allow your CO2 to reach equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere, and check ph after a day or two.

Alwmh4 · Sep 28, 2015

I put bio spira in tank as well as parasite treatment bc I think I might have ick and wanting to address it sooner than later (assuming the treatment even works). Says using skimmer will render it useless

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 28, 2015

I wouldn't worry about the pH until you get the skimmer running.

The only way to boost pH and not alkalinity is draw out CO2 by aeration.

So let's see what the pH is when you restart it, and maybe keep the home windows open if possible.