Help Looking to raise PH

[galantra]

So I am a little stump with this one. I am having issues with my PH dropping down to 7.8 but during the night and during the day with lights on as high as 8.
My current system is around 180gal mix reef with more SPS than others.

I have a Ca Rx with a second chamber that keeps my alk around 9dkh but my issue has been going on before that was added.

I have a Refugium that is reverse time of main tank. I have used a O2 scrubber which didn’t give much of a change. And been currently using outside air via tube to the skimmer and that has no effect at all. My tank is very well ventilated
What else can I do? I am stumped

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My tank is very well ventilated
What else can I do? I am stumped

That is likely the issue, if you have high CO2 home air. The room air getting to the tank top is competing with the low CO2 air in the skimmer.

pH 7.8 is not a big deal and I wouldn't agonize over it, but fresher air to the room will help, as will using the highest pH alk additive (hydroxide) when you need alk.

 

[arking_mark]

Lessons learned in trying to maintain pH stability

For those interested in maintaining pH stability around +/- 0.05 I have a couple of lessons learned. These are things that I found out on my journey to pH stability. Prior to seeking pH stability my tank pH was consistently around ~7.9. However, much of this journey went on before the tank was...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[galantra]

Thanks for the info was striving for better growth with higher PH.

This wasn’t a concern years back staying around 8.2 -8.3

 

[arking_mark]

Thanks for the info was striving for better growth with higher PH.

This wasn’t a concern years back staying around 8.2 -8.3

With my setup, I can pretty much dial-in a pH. However, my journey began with wanting to establish an ULM system that was able to maintain stability and I went down a pH rabbit hole. To get back to ULM, in the future I'll probably ditch everything, but AFR if I can. I will say the journey was fun and I learned a lot.

 

[fushi]

You could cut back on your calcium reactor and use randys higher ph boost 2 part. It has a extremely strong ph boost, just be careful with lye.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/second-new-diy-two-part-recipe-with-higher-ph-boost.357080/

"You can use this calculator and the entry for Randy's Recipe #1:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html"

 

[jmichaelh7]

you are running a co2 scrubber already ... the other option is kalkwasser

 

[galantra]

You could cut back on your calcium reactor and use randys higher ph boost 2 part. It has a extremely strong ph boost, just be careful with lye.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/second-new-diy-two-part-recipe-with-higher-ph-boost.357080/

"You can use this calculator and the entry for Randy's Recipe #1:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html"

Went to a ca rx since I was dosing over 200ml + wasn’t cost effective for me and too many swings in alk.

 

[galantra]

you are running a co2 scrubber already ... the other option is kalkwasser

I didn’t add that but I had try kalkwasser to my ato water wasn’t all that much of a jump for me

 

[fushi]

Went to a ca rx since I was dosing over 200ml + wasn’t cost effective for me and too many swings in alk.

Were you dosing all that manualy causing the alk to swing?

I understand your switch to a carx, if i was dosing that much I would switch too.
I just find low ph to be more detremental than alk swings and would rather dose a little high ph 2 part along with a calcium reactor than have low ph.

You could also try adding a second skimmer connected to outside air just for the purpose of degassing and run it with the cup off.

 

[fushi]

Went to a ca rx since I was dosing over 200ml + wasn’t cost effective for me and too many swings in alk.

I should have mentioned this earlier but are you running your carx effluent into your skimmer water intake?

 

[arking_mark]

Getting the most out of Kalkwasser basically requires you to use it to your evaporation limit. Generally speaking, this is usually somewhere around 1% for most aquariums. This amount of Kalkwasser will replace ~1dKH worth of Alk and a comparable amount of Ca. This is why most tanks require a supplemental Ca/Kalk dosing. From a pH perspective, this amount of Kalkwasser will raise pH by about 0.6 NBS. I have found that a continuous drip of Kalkwasser raises my average pH by about 0.1 NBS. Using a very oversized CO2 scrubbed Skimmer, I can overcome my higher house CO2 aeration occurring from powerheads and return pumps and gain an additional 0.2 NBS bump.

 

[galantra]

I should have mentioned this earlier but are you running your carx effluent into your skimmer water intake?

No right into my Refugium

 

[JMetaxas]

I raised the pH in my 260 gallon system by using a Co2 scrubber and half strength Kalkwasser in my ATO water. ( 1 Tsp per gallon)

Together they took my pH from 7.7-8.0 to 8.0-8.3. I don't know how much each contributes as I added them close to the same time.

 

[fushi]

No right into my Refugium

I would run it to the skimmer first. You can usually pick up .1-.2 ph.