How to maintain ph?

[chris124]

How do you maintain ph? Please help.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Unless you have a carbon dioxide problem in your house, pH will be maintained by keeping the proper levels of Alk and Calc. Don't chase pH....it will take care of itself.

 

[chris124]

What do you use to maintain alk and what test kit?

 

[StikHedRon]

There are many options available to allow you to maintain proper alk levels and Calcium levels. I think the most widely used test kits are probably Salifert or Red Sea pro for testing these parameters.

 

[chris124]

Thanks. My tank has been running for five months with no problems with ph. But now the ph has gone from 8.0 to 8.2 this has happened over about a week. What could be making it rise? I haven't added any chems to the tank. What do I need to do because i;am lost when it comes to ph? Any help would be great.

 

[StikHedRon]

Fresh air will cause PH to rise, have you opened your windows up recently? like stated earlier I wouldn't worry about PH that much. Anything between 7.8-8.3 is really ideal. Focus your attention to the proper Alk, Cal and mag levels and you should be good to go.

 

[chris124]

Yes I opened the window last night.

 

[StikHedRon]

Thats what happened, got some fresh air in there and it bumped up your PH. Thats a good thing!!

 

[chris124]

Thanks. Ph is coming back down to normal now.

 

[EW_Fish]

8.2 is good.

 

[Crusinjimbo]

If your can plumb your skimmer air input to outside air your ph will remain very steady and somewhat elevated. Mine rose by .2.

 

[glb]

Ph shifts like that are totally fine. I have a co2 problem that keeps my ph around 8.0 (I live in south Florida so my house doesn't get outside air). But my tank does just fine. As long as alk, ca and mg are good, I wouldn't mess with the numbers to raise ph. That could cause problems and if it's excess co2, dosing won't help anyway. Good luck!!