I need help with my PH, I CANT GET IT UP!!

[am3gross]

So I have been trying to get my ph to come up, It stays around 7.7-7.8. I have my skimmer line ran outside so it can draw fresh air. I have also bought eight.four which raises it .05.

I have a 375 gallon tank, 75 gallon sump with a 40 gallon fuge. I can not buy enough of the eight.four stuff to keep this up to 8 if it was to ever get there, its not practical. I have kalk from brs, but that adds to my alk, which is already 11.4.. I have the BRS 2 part as well, which has never raised my PH that much.

I should add that the tank is in the main room that everyone stays in, I have also left canopies open, doors and windows, to no avail.

What are my options here?

CO2 scrubber? If that is the answer, then please let me know which one you think would be best for my system. I have looked at the BRS website, so I know they have a few.

Please help!

Mike

 

[CrayHawk]

I have glass covers on my tank and the sump is enclosed. Opening the windows helps raise my pH (I know you said you already run lines).

 

[Vyper]

What is your current magnesium level?

 

[am3gross]

1341

What is your current magnesium level?

 

[arking_mark]

A couple thoughts here:

1. Many reefers are successful at 7.8pH and above.
2. I don't recommend unbalanced dosing of Alk supplements (eight.four). For most practical purposes Alk and Ca are consumed equally.
3. I would do a cup aeration test to help identify the issue
4. I would also make sure my pH test was accurate
5. If the issue is higher indoor CO2 then balanced dosing of high-pH Alk with Ca that matches tank consumption can help.
6. Outdoor air plumbed to a skimmer or CO2 scrubber can help as well.

If you want to get crazy:

Tuning a Skimmer / CO2 Scrubber for pH Control

On my reefing journey, I found Kalkwasse + Skimmer + CO2 Scrubber to be very effective for bringing my pH from 7.8 - 7.9 to 8.26 - 8.36. I guess most people would just leave it at that. However, I wanted to be more efficient with the CO2 scrubbing material so I wanted to implement a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jassermd]

I had the exact same problem... 280g mixed reef with 40g sump w/ refuge.
I first plumbed the skimmer air intake to exterior with a slight bump to 7.9. I added a CO2 scrubber to the intake from outside and BAM! Once I added the CO2 scrubber, pH has been consistently 8.0-8.2, depending on temp/time of day.
Nothing fancy... and not expensive: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-universal-co2-scrubber.html

I notice my pH dropping as the media is used up, and I replace it every 30 days.
Works well!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The pH may be fine, but how are you measuring it? Did you recently calibrate the meter?

If windows are open, does the pH rise?

This has more:

http://www.reefedition.com/ph-and-the-reef-aquarium

from it:

The Aeration Test

Some of the possible causes of low pH listed above require an effort to diagnose. Problems 3 and 4 are quite common, and here is a way to distinguish them. Remove a cup of tank water and measure its pH. Then aerate it for an hour with an airstone using outside air. Its pH should rise if it is unusually low for the measured alkalinity (Figure 2). Then repeat the same experiment on a new cup of water using inside air. If its pH also rises, then the aquarium’s pH will rise simply with more aeration because it is only the aquarium that contains excess carbon dioxide. If the pH does not rise in the cup (or rises very little) when aerating with indoor air, then that air likely contains excess CO2, and more aeration with that same air will not solve the low pH problem (although aeration with fresher air should). Be careful implementing this test if the outside aeration test results in a large temperature change (more than 5°C or 10°F), because such changes alone impact pH measurements.

 

[jgirardnrg]

So I have been trying to get my ph to come up, It stays around 7.7-7.8. I have my skimmer line ran outside so it can draw fresh air. I have also bought eight.four which raises it .05.

I have a 375 gallon tank, 75 gallon sump with a 40 gallon fuge. I can not buy enough of the eight.four stuff to keep this up to 8 if it was to ever get there, its not practical. I have kalk from brs, but that adds to my alk, which is already 11.4.. I have the BRS 2 part as well, which has never raised my PH that much.

I should add that the tank is in the main room that everyone stays in, I have also left canopies open, doors and windows, to no avail.

What are my options here?

CO2 scrubber? If that is the answer, then please let me know which one you think would be best for my system. I have looked at the BRS website, so I know they have a few.

Please help!

Mike

CO2 scrubber might be the answer. I use a Phospan reactor I had laying around... bumped my ph from where you are currently to 8.2-8.4. Took 10 minutes to do and you can buy the media in bulk from a dive shop.

 

[blasterman]

1. Many reefers are successful at 7.8pH and above.
2. I don't recommend unbalanced dosing of Alk supplements (eight.four). For most practical purposes Alk and Ca are consumed equally.

#1 - yep

#2 - Nope. We deal with hordes of threads like this on a weekly basis. If anything alk and calcium being consumed at a defined ratio is the exception and not the norm. Unless you have a lot of fast growing SPS dosing equal two parts inevitably leads to sky high calcium and low alk.

 

[arking_mark]

#1 - yep

#2 - Nope. We deal with hordes of threads like this on a weekly basis. If anything alk and calcium being consumed at a defined ratio is the exception and not the norm. Unless you have a lot of fast growing SPS dosing equal two parts inevitably leads to sky high calcium and low alk.

I'll just post the article...verses your anecdotal info.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.php

 

[am3gross]

thanks everyone, I will not continue to do the eight.four.

I ordered the CO2 scrubber and some media, I will do a water change and add the scrubber when it comes in.

 

[jgirardnrg]

thanks everyone, I will not continue to do the eight.four.

I ordered the CO2 scrubber and some media, I will do a water change and add the scrubber when it comes in.

Keep us posted on your progress.