HHow do I lower the PH in my tank

[Lou Raffael]

Hi all,

I just got water in my tank and got it running. I'm about to start the bacteria process but my PH keeps going up and I don't know how to lower it. Can someone help and tell me what I can do to get it back down? I'm at 9.03 and still climbing. I don't have any fish or coral in the tank yet, thought I should get this settled before I start with cycling the tank to get it ready for fish.

Thank you

 

[Smo]

Could your test kit possibly be wrong? Might take a sample to a LFS and have them test. If still really high then what type of rock are you using? Does the water test this high if you mix your salt in a bucket? Possibly a bad salt mix. Just thinking out loud...

 

[Lou Raffael]

I'm getting these readings from my Apex probe which was calibrated before installed. I also just did a manual test with a red sea kit and it read above 8.6 which is the highest it goes.

 

[Smo]

If you mix some fresh salt water in a bucket...what pH do you get? Would narrow it down to the salt mix or something in the DT.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If this is seawater, the pH of 9 is not correct unless it is new salt water that has not been aerated.

Further, pH is never too high in a reef tank at normal alkalinity unless you overdose limewater (kalkwasser).

If it is fresh water prior to adding the salt, ignore the pH.