Can anything other than co2 cause low ph

[C. Eymann]

I do have several big fish. I have certainly seen plenty of tanks with more though. I don’t feed super heavy. I use hpd and mastic, so not much wast. I feed my corals often, but I would not say a crazy amount.

Whats your ORP hang at usually? biggest thing that surprises me is that 11 liters of kalk is a lot for your size of system so its suprising you are having issues with pH

 

[Herby’s reef]

I do have several big fish. I have certainly seen plenty of tanks with more though. I don’t feed super heavy. I use hpd and mastic, so not much wast. I feed my corals often, but I would not say a crazy amount.

I don’t carbon dose.

 

[Herby’s reef]

Whats your ORP hang at usually? biggest thing that surprises me is that 11 liters of kalk is a lot for your size of system so its suprising you are having issues with pH

I don’t have an orp probe.
I agree, seems like ph should for sure be good.

 

[Cory]

Very Low or no boron could cause this problem. However, i would aerate the same water outside and test the ph first. Your co2 meter could be really off, or accurate.

 

[C. Eymann]

how are you dosing kalkwasser? because you should obviously try to dose the majority of it outside of the photoperiod, If using a controller like apex,, making a reverse photoperiod dosing schedule to keep pH elevated however throttled back enough not to cause alk swings
How are you adding kalkwasser? because if its just an unsealed container a ato or doser is pulling out of it can lose potency by reacting with atmospheric CO2, a sealed Nielsen reactor is a different story where water is pushed through via ato or doser / not exposed to ambiet CO2 and can be more potent as far as pH benefit is concerned.

 

[Herby’s reef]

how are you dosing kalkwasser? because you should obviously try to dose the majority of it outside of the photoperiod, If using a controller like apex,, making a reverse photoperiod dosing schedule to keep pH elevated however throttled back enough not to cause alk swings
How are you adding kalkwasser? because if its just an unsealed container a ato or doser is pulling out of it can lose potency by reacting with atmospheric CO2, a sealed Nielsen reactor is a different story where water is pushed through via ato or doser / not exposed to ambiet CO2 and can be more potent as far as pH benefit is concerned.

I do dose it 24 hours at a constant rate through an avast marine kalk reactor using a versa pump. I may try increasing the dose at night compared to the day, but I’m not sure how much I can change it without causing dkh fluctuations

 

[lubeck]

Did you ever get your ph issues resolved?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Did you ever get your ph issues resolved?

Are you experiencing a pH issue?

 

[WetPringleChip]

Are you experiencing a pH issue?

Are you experiencing a pH issue?

I am. Kind of lost at this point. Tank is a IM15 pretty heavy coral load 2 clowns and a gramma. All my params check out except ph. Tank has always sort of grown slower than my tanks I had years ago. Figured its just how nanos are, any who… i got an apex and saw the readings on my ph probe and was freaked out peak was 7.76 and bottomed at 7.43, recalibrated the new probe again and same readings. Since then I raised my alk from 9 to 10 (3 days ago since its been at 10dkh), added an air pump 50gallons per hour 2 days ago and plugged my protein skimmer intake outside my window today. Alk is now 7.95 peak and bottoms at 7.66. Id love to get it higher but Im not sure what else to do.

 

[DeputyDog95]

I'm going though the same thing.

I also have an air exchanger and when the office is empty the CO2 is typically around 450. When full, maybe 650.

Generally speaking, I was seeing max pH at around 8.4 to 8.5 depending on the day.

I went from dosing 4 liters of Kalk at night to 11 liters, and it often goes below 8.2 which is the preset that triggers the Kalk doser. And now the pH barely gets above 8.25.

I also dose soda ash and ca, that went from 400ml/day to 250ml per day and even with the lower amount, my Alk went from 8.5 to 9.5 dkh.

I have no clue what's going on. Haven't changed anything.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I am. Kind of lost at this point. Tank is a IM15 pretty heavy coral load 2 clowns and a gramma. All my params check out except ph. Tank has always sort of grown slower than my tanks I had years ago. Figured its just how nanos are, any who… i got an apex and saw the readings on my ph probe and was freaked out peak was 7.76 and bottomed at 7.43, recalibrated the new probe again and same readings. Since then I raised my alk from 9 to 10 (3 days ago since its been at 10dkh), added an air pump 50gallons per hour 2 days ago and plugged my protein skimmer intake outside my window today. Alk is now 7.95 peak and bottoms at 7.66. Id love to get it higher but Im not sure what else to do.

Did you pin the reset button on your apex quickly then wait till it boots up then recalibrate the probe?