Does Ph Buffer Increase Salinity?

[rattslik]

Im trying to make my water conditions perfect and i am wondering if pH Buffer increases the salinity level?

 

[Dinodanger]

Im trying to make my water conditions perfect and i am wondering if pH Buffer increases the salinity level?

No ph buffer usually increases alk I don’t recommend using any ph additives if your looking to increase ph increase surface agitation by pointing power heads to the surface and opening a window or running your input line of skimmer outside also,using kalkwasser will increase ph by binding up c02 but kalk will also increase calcium and alk so unless your corals am using it that’s a no go

 

[Rick.45cal]

Using pH buffers in a reef tank is an antiquated idea and I personally wouldn’t use them. I think you’re better off keeping track of your alkalinity. PH and alkalinity are closely related and @Randy Holmes-Farley (our resident chemist) has written an article on their relationship Alkalinity stability? pH stability? Are they even different?

If you want to affect an increase in pH the dissolved CO2 in the water is the major factor in having a low pH, there are various ways you can can attempt to change that. From running an outside airline to your skimmer, to open windows, to running a CO2 scrubber on the intake of your skimmer air line. Some are more effective than others and it depends largely on the CO2 concentration of your household, which can be based on any number of factors, how many people live there, how tightly closed up (energy efficient) your home is etc.

 

[Larry L]

Sort of related to your question, but it also depends on how you measure salinity. A swing arm hydrometer actually measures specific gravity, so it's a measure of the density of the water. If you add stuff to your water that increases the density, even if it's not salt, then your specific gravity goes up even though actual salinity does not. That being said, I'm not sure the amount of pH buffer you'd typically add would affect overall specific gravity much.