Hard time understanding what's happening

[Cheesus]

Hey guys, I'm having trouble understanding what's going on in my tank. I recently installed a c02 scrubber because my pH was hitting 7.4. It seems to have worked but now, no matter how much alk I dose I can not get the levels to increase. I'm using brightwell 8.3 liquid. I have a 125 gallon tank and I am dosing 14ml a day.

Alk sits right around 7.6 and pH is 7.9/8.1

Any insights?

 

[nereefpat]

Using this calculator: https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

It looks like, in 125 gallons, 14 mLs of 'brightwell 8.3 liquid' would increase alk by about 0.35 dKH. Tanks can easily consume more than that in a day.

 

[arking_mark]

Hey guys, I'm having trouble understanding what's going on in my tank. I recently installed a c02 scrubber because my pH was hitting 7.4. It seems to have worked but now, no matter how much alk I dose I can not get the levels to increase. I'm using brightwell 8.3 liquid. I have a 125 gallon tank and I am dosing 14ml a day.

Alk sits right around 7.6 and pH is 7.9/8.1

Any insights?

Hobby test kits aren't very accurate, so take their measurements with a grain of salt.

I would recommend dosing a balanced Alk/Ca supplement(s). For most practical purposes Alk/Ca is consumed equally in a reef tank through abiotic and biological formation of CaCO3.

You're pH reading of 7.4 is nigh impossible unless your tank has poor aeration and therefore retaining CO2. Either you meter is off (likely) or you have flow/aeration problems (likely as well).

Most tanks consume between .5 and 4.5 dKH per day. You should measure your tank's consumption to determine your ionically balanced dosing regime.

If you have ionically imbalanced your tank consider larger water changes with a quality salt that matches your desired parameters.

 

[Cheesus]

It was reading 7.4 via Apex, alk has been checked with Trident and salifert. Both read near the same.

Using this calculator: https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

It looks like, in 125 gallons, 14 mLs of 'brightwell 8.3 liquid' would increase alk by about 0.35 dKH. Tanks can easily consume more than that in a day.

Thank you. I haven't ever had to dose this much before and I was worried.

 

[arking_mark]

It was reading 7.4 via Apex, alk has been checked with Trident and salifert. Both read near the same.


Thank you. I haven't ever had to dose this much before and I was worried.

You tank CO2 would have to be extremely high for a pH of 7.4...around 3500ppm. Since almost all of this would come from the CO2 in the air...your in-home CO2 levels would cause you noticable health problems with extended exposure. As this is unlikely the case, then there must be something else causing the low reading. Either poor tank aeration or the pH meter is out of calibration or not working properly.

Post in thread 'Aquarium pH Distilled' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquarium-ph-distilled.853474/post-9413326

 

[Cheesus]

Interesting, I would lean toward the probe being off. The surface agitation is good.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Interesting, I would lean toward the probe being off. The surface agitation is good.

They’re notorious for being off. Try to recalibrate if it will let you

 

[Cheesus]

They’re notorious for being off. Try to recalibrate if it will let you

Haven't had to do that yet, I need the pH solution correct?

 

[nereefpat]

Haven't had to do that yet, I need the pH solution correct?

You will need pH buffers at pH 7.0 &10.0

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Haven't had to do that yet, I need the pH solution correct?

Yes neptune offers them in packets. You’ll want 7.0 and 10.0

I also bought bottled solutions too because I had to do it a bunch on mine

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Yes neptune offers them in packets. You’ll want 7.0 and 10.0

I also bought bottled solutions too because I had to do it a bunch on mine

Point of note, float the packets in the sump or tank and do your calibration with the ph and temp probe together in the packet at near or around the tank water temp. I would recommend a couple packets just because it may not go through on the first pass

 

[Cheesus]

Point of note, float the packets in the sump or tank and do your calibration with the ph and temp probe together in the packet at near or around the tank water temp. I would recommend a couple packets just because it may not go through on the first pass

Thanks for the tip. I'll order extra.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

Thanks for the tip. I'll order extra.

Feel free to pm if you get stuck. I have 3 apex in my systems and I’ve arm wrestled some, clear sailing for others. I don’t want to discourage it but it’s kind of finicky in my experience (sometimes)

 

[Cheesus]

Feel free to pm if you get stuck. I have 3 apex in my systems and I’ve arm wrestled some, clear sailing for others. I don’t want to discourage it but it’s kind of finicky in my experience (sometimes)

For sure. I appreciate that. Hopefully I can get the pH probe to work better than my trident lol

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

For sure. I appreciate that. Hopefully I can get the pH probe to work better than my trident lol

See I’m 180 out, my trident has been a rockstar, my apex would’ve been strangled once or twice if I could’ve found it’s neck

 

[Cheesus]

It's just the calc reading for me. It's never even close.

 

[homer1475]

Apex PH meter is notorious for being flaky. Worst part is needing to separate the wire from anything else to avoid electrical interference(known issue).

 

[Cheesus]

Well, this was interesting

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well, this was interesting

Did you have a big gathering of people?

 

[Cheesus]

Not at all, I fed some benepets and oyster feast.
I really think my probe is going haywire.

Also, it's the legendary Randy Holmes-Farley!