How to raise PH

[cnjcpb]

hello all! My tank has just completed its cycle. My PH is steady holding at 7.7-7.8. dkh is at 9. I have come to the conclusion that it’s CO2 in my apartment. I have my powerhead agitating surface and running skimmer doesn’t seem to help raise it. Will adding carbon raise it to the ideal 8.1? Also, will corals survive 7.7 PH?

 

[gbroadbridge]

hello all! My tank has just completed its cycle. My PH is steady holding at 7.7-7.8. dkh is at 9. I have come to the conclusion that it’s CO2 in my apartment. I have my powerhead agitating surface and running skimmer doesn’t seem to help raise it. Will adding carbon raise it to the ideal 8.1? Also, will corals survive 7.7 PH?

I would not worry about pH in a new aquarium

However, everything you need to know can be found in the article below.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

 

[yury88]

Presice dosing head connected to ph controller +limewater at night will solve this problem easily.
In my tank ph never go below 8.35 any more.

Or you can run CO2 scrubber on skimmer, but limewater is better

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Presice dosing head connected to ph controller +limewater at night will solve this problem easily.
In my tank ph never go below 8.35 any more.

Or you can run CO2 scrubber on skimmer, but limewater is better

I do not agree. There are many, many tanks that cannot raise pH to levels they want due to one or both of these reasons:

1. The amount of kalkwasser is limited by evaporation rates.

2. Alkalinity may rise more than one desired before reaching their pH target.

 

[yury88]

I do not agree. There are many, many tanks that cannot raise pH to levels they want due to one or both of these reasons:

1. The amount of kalkwasser is limited by evaporation rates.

2. Alkalinity may rise more than one desired before reaching their pH target.

I'm using 0.8L saturated limewater(my system logging everything) for 100l to keep 8.3PH level.

Every system is different, have unique level of evaporation.
But i'm totally sure that anyone can use this method to raise horrible 7.8PH to acceptable 8.0+. Non need to focus 8.3+ from beginning.
Others methods with overpowered skimmers, refugium etc almost never works

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

But i'm totally sure that anyone can use this method to raise horrible 7.8PH to acceptable 8.0+. Non need to focus 8.3+ from beginning.

You may be totally sure, but there are many, many examples of people in this forum for whom that was untrue, and they did not reach that target. All it would take is CO2 levels in the home air substantially higher than yours.

 

[JayM]

I successfully raised mine from an average of 7.8 to an 8.0 average by simply running my skimmer air intake out of the house.

 

[cnjcpb]

You may be totally sure, but there are many, many examples of people in this forum for whom that was untrue, and they did not reach that target. All it would take is CO2 levels in the home air substantially higher than yours.

How does one reduce the co2 exchange (affordably) ? This is definitely my problem. 2 br apartment with 2 adults 1 child, dog and a cat. opening doors hasn't really helped at all.

 

[Seansea]

Get a fuge or algae scrubber. Prob talking 1.5 ph once it starts growing

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Get a fuge or algae scrubber. Prob talking 1.5 ph once it starts growing

You mean 0.15 pH units?

 

[Seansea]

Yes correct

 

[yury88]

You may be totally sure, but there are many, many examples of people in this forum for whom that was untrue, and they did not reach that target. All it would take is CO2 levels in the home air substantially higher than yours.

Yep, but limewater will raise PH, its chemistry, it's always works.
Another method - CO2 scrubber.
Can be used separately or together.

Other ways just not efficient and waste of time, easier to start from limewater+any doser and decide for yourself.

 

[yury88]

How does one reduce the co2 exchange (affordably) ? This is definitely my problem. 2 br apartment with 2 adults 1 child, dog and a cat. opening doors hasn't really helped at all.

Can you run skimmer air pipe all the way to the street?
Its an option, but mostly works not so good because your tank have enough air exchange with air in room via water surface

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yep, but limewater will raise PH, its chemistry, it's always works.
Another method - CO2 scrubber.
Can be used separately or together.

Other ways just not efficient and waste of time, easier to start from limewater+any doser and decide for yourself.

Yes, I understand the options and used kalkwasser for 20 years.

 

[cnjcpb]

Yes, I understand the options and used kalkwasser for 20 years.

is it possible to use ATO to dose this?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

is it possible to use ATO to dose this?

Kalkwasser? Yes, that’s what I did.

But it can lead to more alk variability than a dosing pump set just below the typical daily evaporation rate since evaporation is not consistent day to day and season to season.

 

[KStatefan]

Yes, I understand the options and used kalkwasser for 20 years.

and wrote a very good article on the subject

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[Sophie"s mom]

hello all! My tank has just completed its cycle. My PH is steady holding at 7.7-7.8. dkh is at 9. I have come to the conclusion that it’s CO2 in my apartment. I have my powerhead agitating surface and running skimmer doesn’t seem to help raise it. Will adding carbon raise it to the ideal 8.1? Also, will corals survive 7.7 PH?

I have a PH problem due to not opening windows. You can either butt a CO2 scrubber if you have a skimmer,, or run the air intake of the skimmer outside to fresh air. However, the surface agitation is also involved with the air in the room. I simply added house plants as they remove co2 for the room.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

However, the surface agitation is also involved with the air in the room. I simply added house plants as they remove co2 for the room.

While that doesn’t hurt anything, the benefit will be too small to be significant unless it is a greenhouse type of setting.

Studies show this to be true, but it is also intuitive in this sense. CO2 gets locked into tissue by photosynthesis, and gets released by respiration. To offset the CO2 released by a person in a day, plants would need to grow and add as much tissue mass as you consume in food everyday. That requires a very large number of houseplants based on typical growth rates.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

While that doesn’t hurt anything, the benefit will be too small to be significant unless it is a greenhouse type of setting.

Studies show this to be true, but it is also intuitive in this sense. CO2 gets locked into tissue by photosynthesis, and gets released by respiration. To offset the CO2 released by a person in a day, plants would need to grow and add as much tissue mass as you consume in food everyday. That requires a very large number of houseplants based on typical growth rates.

Agreed. That is why I actually did a combo of multiple plants in the room with the tank as well as a co2 scrubber. My hope (and so far it works) is that this will be enough to keep my PH up. So far, so good. Until I set my tank up last year, I had no idea about any of this.