High pH! What do i do?

Jonathan lee · Dec 6, 2018

So my corals havent been opeing fully lately for the past 2-3 weeks i think. I thought it was lighting cause i just changed my hydra settings. But few days ago i decided to check my pH and got a reading of 9.5! I was like oh crap is this even real? I didn’t think anything of it at first and thought maybe it will drop. But yesterday i tested it again and got 9.5 again! Now im freakin out! What do i do to drop the pH back down to 8.3? My ph has always been 8.2-8.3 but then now it has shot up. First time ive ever had ph this high so im wondering is this the reason my corals aren’t opening up fully? Also any ways to drop the pH fast? Im thinking of adding some vinegar later today in the meantime as i work as a chef and dont have time to go to the lfs cause they close by the time i finish work. Also, any pH reducers that would work in saltwater? All the reducers i found were for freshwater....

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 6, 2018

Yea some vinegar will help. Water changes.

But how are you testing ?
What are you dosing ?

That doesn’t seem right at all.

Jonathan lee · Dec 6, 2018

saltyfilmfolks said:
Yea some vinegar will help. Water changes.

But how are you testing ?
What are you dosing ?

That doesn’t seem right at all.

Im using a Hanna checker. Not dosing anything in my tank.

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 6, 2018

Jonathan lee said:
Im using a Hanna checker. Not dosing anything in my tank.

I would def double check that.

Pretty much impossible to do without dosing somthing.
Ok. Impossible.

Justfebreezeit · Dec 6, 2018

Agreed with salty, make sure your ph checker is calibrated.

Softhammer · Dec 6, 2018

Don’t do anything fast. Bad things happen. Unless you are using kalkwasser or pouring anything in it’s virtually impossible to get that high. Drop your lights back if you corals are not digging the increase. Also when in doubt, water change it out!

Pete Horwath · Dec 6, 2018

My ph Checker did that to me once. It just jumped right out of calibration. I'd certainly double check it with something at least before I put anything in. If your LFS is closed get a 5-1 strip from a 24hr walmart just make sure you use the color graphs for saltwater.

Muttley000 · Dec 6, 2018

Do you have a friend you could take your Hanna over to and see what it reads. Or stick it in a glass of tap water and see what it reads. It seems unlikely to get that high

Jonathan lee · Dec 6, 2018

I checked my tap water and it was

Muttley000 said:
Do you have a friend you could take your Hanna over to and see what it reads. Or stick it in a glass of tap water and see what it reads. It seems unlikely to get that high

7.1. Tbh i just jumped the gun and added some vinegar in. And the corals started opening again. In 10 mins i saw them expand larger. Ph dropped to 8.2. Im gonna get a new tester later if i can find them at ace hardware cause thats the only place open here till 10pm. I hope nothing bad happens tho since i already added in vinegar. I was rushing to work and just thought vinegar would be the quickest fix for now.

Jonathan lee · Dec 7, 2018

Update

I went to get the calibration liquid and calibrated my tester. It read 8 in 7.000 liquid. Tested my tank before water change and it showed 8.3(after adding vinegar),same as this morning before i even calibrated the checker. After water change i checked again and got a reading of 9...... is it the salt im using? Im using DD salt. It says ph will be 8.3 but i get a reading of 8.6 on freshly made saltwater using rodi water.... whats happening i dont even know.

Muttley000 · Dec 7, 2018

I don't know how that checker works but is it possible it is accurate at 7 but the scaling is off somehow as you move away from 7? Interested in seeing how this turns out!

Jonathan lee · Dec 7, 2018

Muttley000 said:
I don't know how that checker works but is it possible it is accurate at 7 but the scaling is off somehow as you move away from 7? Interested in seeing how this turns out!

Its the kind they called handheld portable something idk. They call it test pen i think. No external wire probe. You dip the whole thing into the tank to get the reading. I turned the calibration screw to exactly 7, rinsed it off with rodi and tested the tank. Still showed high ph of 9... tested the freshly made saltwater which was leftover from the water change and got 8.6... I bought the high range api ph kit and it shows 8.2. Which one do I believe hahah Hanna at 9 and api at 8.2. I also tested the saltwater from my lfs with the calibrated hanna ph test pen and got 8.3. Which i guess is prolly right. Dont know whats going on tbh. Just started like 2-3 weeks ago i realised my corals weren’t opening as big as usual. 2 months ago i tested with the Hanna(before calibration) and got 8.4.

ihavecrabs · Dec 7, 2018

Honestly, I use pH as a gauge. I never try to change pH but use it to investigate other things that may have gone awry.

I have never heard of too high pH before though [emoji23]. Usually indicative of a over dose on bicarbonate, but since you are not dosing anything then I would say faulty test or meter.

What type of salt do you use out of curiosity and did you perform a water change before your pH reading?

What is your alkalinity reading?

emilios_reeftank · Dec 7, 2018

I have a Hanna PH checker and it did the same thing, it said my PH was in the 9's and some of my corals were closed up too. Your PH is most likely high, but not at 9.5 like others were saying. I re-calibrated mine a couple of times as it sat dry for a while and it can mess with the bulb as they have to be hydrated. Did you just get this PH checker or did you sit it for a while like I did with mine? Also to drop PH make sure you are mixing your water for water changes as long as it says on the box. This will help stabilize the PH in your mixed water therefore dropping the PH in your tank. I would definitley recommend a water-change as soon as possible to bring it down though.

Dr. Dendrostein · Dec 7, 2018

Jonathan lee said:
So my corals havent been opeing fully lately for the past 2-3 weeks i think. I thought it was lighting cause i just changed my hydra settings. But few days ago i decided to check my pH and got a reading of 9.5! I was like oh crap is this even real? I didn’t think anything of it at first and thought maybe it will drop. But yesterday i tested it again and got 9.5 again! Now im freakin out! What do i do to drop the pH back down to 8.3? My ph has always been 8.2-8.3 but then now it has shot up. First time ive ever had ph this high so im wondering is this the reason my corals aren’t opening up fully? Also any ways to drop the pH fast? Im thinking of adding some vinegar later today in the meantime as i work as a chef and dont have time to go to the lfs cause they close by the time i finish work. Also, any pH reducers that would work in saltwater? All the reducers i found were for freshwater....

Now if I use liquid drain cleaner sodium hydroxide I definitely get pH 9 .5.Not you, but maybe someone sabotage like GF, or 3-4 year olds. I've heard of for 4 year olds urinating in tanks refugium. Bummer

Dr. Dendrostein · Dec 7, 2018

Jonathan lee said:
So my corals havent been opeing fully lately for the past 2-3 weeks i think. I thought it was lighting cause i just changed my hydra settings. But few days ago i decided to check my pH and got a reading of 9.5! I was like oh crap is this even real? I didn’t think anything of it at first and thought maybe it will drop. But yesterday i tested it again and got 9.5 again! Now im freakin out! What do i do to drop the pH back down to 8.3? My ph has always been 8.2-8.3 but then now it has shot up. First time ive ever had ph this high so im wondering is this the reason my corals aren’t opening up fully? Also any ways to drop the pH fast? Im thinking of adding some vinegar later today in the meantime as i work as a chef and dont have time to go to the lfs cause they close by the time i finish work. Also, any pH reducers that would work in saltwater? All the reducers i found were for freshwater....

Now if I use liquid drain cleaner sodium hydroxide I definitely get pH 9 .5.Not you, but maybe someone sabotage like GF, or 3-4 year olds. I've heard of for 4 year olds urinating in tanks refugium. Bummer

Jonathan lee · Dec 7, 2018

Jomama said:
Now if I use liquid drain cleaner sodium hydroxide I definitely get pH 9 .5.Not you, but maybe someone sabotage like GF, or 3-4 year olds. I've heard of for 4 year olds urinating in tanks refugium. Bummer

Urinating? Ahaha what the heck

Jonathan lee · Dec 7, 2018

ihavecrabs said:
Honestly, I use pH as a gauge. I never try to change pH but use it to investigate other things that may have gone awry.

I have never heard of too high pH before though [emoji23]. Usually indicative of a over dose on bicarbonate, but since you are not dosing anything then I would say faulty test or meter.

What type of salt do you use out of curiosity and did you perform a water change before your pH reading?

What is your alkalinity reading?

Dhk 9.8

Jonathan lee · Dec 7, 2018

ihavecrabs said:
Honestly, I use pH as a gauge. I never try to change pH but use it to investigate other things that may have gone awry.

I have never heard of too high pH before though [emoji23]. Usually indicative of a over dose on bicarbonate, but since you are not dosing anything then I would say faulty test or meter.

What type of salt do you use out of curiosity and did you perform a water change before your pH reading?

What is your alkalinity reading?

Also, im using DD salt and no i did not do a wc before the first reading where i got 9.5. After a wc i did test and got 8.6 but thats after adding some distilled heinz vinegar cause i was panicking when i saw 9.5 and thought i should drop it

ihavecrabs · Dec 7, 2018

Jonathan lee said:
Also, im using DD salt and no i did not do a wc before the first reading where i got 9.5. After a wc i did test and got 8.6 but thats after adding some distilled heinz vinegar cause i was panicking when i saw 9.5 and thought i should drop it

Same salt I use.. No reason it would give you a major ph bump via alkalinity due to being between 8.5-9dkh for newly mixed salt.

My suggestion is to never make changes due to pH reading alone. I always do a full suite of tests before making any radical changes (alk, ca, mg, no3, po4, temp, salinity).