Cloudy Water and *climbing* PH

[Toob]

Hello - I know there are a lot of cloudy water threads, and I think I understand the typical root causes. But I have mostly seen cloudy water in combination with low/falling PH, and yet my PH has been climbing.

It's now at 8.4, up from about 8.0 a week ago when this started. I don't believe it is microbubbles - cloudiness did not go away during an hour long quiet pump period. I figured it was a bacterial bloom which is no big deal, but the climbing PH is puzzling. I think maybe some kind of precipitation issue? I admit I don't fully understand this or know how to solve it.

Relatively new to the hobby, but have done a lot of research and things have been going pretty well until this point. *I don't dose anything*, use filter floss, and added carbon to try and combat the cloudiness with no impact. Small skimmer, good pod population, small ball of chaeto. Details on the tank:

~4 months old, 2" sandbed, Reefer 170.
2 clowns, a BTA, a starry blenny, and a cleaner shrimp. various snails/hermits
several small/frag LPS including a goni, frogspawn, alveopora, and a couple SPS.

All inhabitants are doing great, in fact i daresay they look even better since this cloudiness has begun. Everyone full extended/open all day, shrimp doing his thing, fish are happy and the clowns are mostly bonded with the BTA.

Parameters:
Phos - 0.09
Nitrate - 9.5
Calcium - 530
Alk - 9.1
Mg - not tested
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Temp - 79 f
Salinity - 1.025
PH - 8.4 and climbing, after many, many stable weeks right at 8.0

I change about 25% water every 2 weeks, including this last weekend which only made the cloudiness worse, if anything. Using Red Sea Coral Pro recently, though I started the tank with Aquaforest until I ran out. All params have been incredibly stable - I was testing daily until recently since it was kind of a waste, and now I test every 2-3 days. I noticed PH rising via my Hydros4 probe. Virtually no algae so far except I think the beginning of some coralline that I seeded a couple months ago.

Anyway - it's the rising PH that really seems strange. I don't mind waiting out a bacterial bloom or whatever, but have a feeling now that maybe it is something else...?


2 weeks ago:

Today:

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello - I know there are a lot of cloudy water threads, and I think I understand the typical root causes. But I have mostly seen cloudy water in combination with low/falling PH, and yet my PH has been climbing.

It's now at 8.4, up from about 8.0 a week ago when this started. I don't believe it is microbubbles - cloudiness did not go away during an hour long quiet pump period. I figured it was a bacterial bloom which is no big deal, but the climbing PH is puzzling. I think maybe some kind of precipitation issue? I admit I don't fully understand this or know how to solve it.

Relatively new to the hobby, but have done a lot of research and things have been going pretty well until this point. *I don't dose anything*, use filter floss, and added carbon to try and combat the cloudiness with no impact. Small skimmer, good pod population, small ball of chaeto. Details on the tank:

~4 months old, 2" sandbed, Reefer 170.
2 clowns, a BTA, a starry blenny, and a cleaner shrimp. various snails/hermits
several small/frag LPS including a goni, frogspawn, alveopora, and a couple SPS.

All inhabitants are doing great, in fact i daresay they look even better since this cloudiness has begun. Everyone full extended/open all day, shrimp doing his thing, fish are happy and the clowns are mostly bonded with the BTA.

Parameters:
Phos - 0.09
Nitrate - 9.5
Calcium - 530
Alk - 9.1
Mg - not tested
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Temp - 79 f
Salinity - 1.025
PH - 8.4 and climbing, after many, many stable weeks right at 8.0

I change about 25% water every 2 weeks, including this last weekend which only made the cloudiness worse, if anything. Using Red Sea Coral Pro recently, though I started the tank with Aquaforest until I ran out. All params have been incredibly stable - I was testing daily until recently since it was kind of a waste, and now I test every 2-3 days. I noticed PH rising via my Hydros4 probe. Virtually no algae so far except I think the beginning of some coralline that I seeded a couple months ago.

Anyway - it's the rising PH that really seems strange. I don't mind waiting out a bacterial bloom or whatever, but have a feeling now that maybe it is something else...?


2 weeks ago:

Today:

Thanks for any insight!

Just a thought - if the cloudiness is due to algae, that will uptake carbon dioxide that in turn would cause a pH rise. To test for this, check the pH first thing in the morning before the lights are on, then again just before the lights go out.
Jay

 

[Toob]

Just a thought - if the cloudiness is due to algae, that will uptake carbon dioxide that in turn would cause a pH rise. To test for this, check the pH first thing in the morning before the lights are on, then again just before the lights go out.
Jay

Thanks - I'm monitoring the PH pretty much 24/7 via probe. It does indeed fall a bit at night (as it always has) and then climbs again during the day, a little higher each day.

My understanding was an algae bloom would look more greenish, and my cloudiness is very white. I also have a super clean sandy bottom and pretty minimal algae growth on the glass. Perhaps that's not relevant though, and it is indeed algae? What action would you suggest to try and remedy/test that theory?

Appreciate the response!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks - I'm monitoring the PH pretty much 24/7 via probe. It does indeed fall a bit at night (as it always has) and then climbs again during the day, a little higher each day.

My understanding was an algae bloom would look more greenish, and my cloudiness is very white. I also have a super clean sandy bottom and pretty minimal algae growth on the glass. Perhaps that's not relevant though, and it is indeed algae? What action would you suggest to try and remedy/test that theory?

Appreciate the response!

Free floating algae is indeed usually green. I was just thinking it might be a mixed biome of algae and bacteria.

What is the day/night pH flucuation?
Is there any way you can increase the mechanical filtration to try and remove the cloudiness?

Jay