Is PH Seasonal?

[Marco S]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but does PH change according to the weather? I am in AZ and it stays pretty hot most of the time, but gets pretty cold in the winter. In the summer I was struggling to get to 8, but stayed mostly in the 7.4 to 7.9 area. The last month though it has been in the 7.7 to 8.05 area consistently. I have not changed anything so I was wondering if it was the cold weather or maybe my tank is just getting stable. It is only 1 year old BTW.

All comments are much appreciated and HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!! ;Happy

 

[ihavecrabs]

Well it is considered diurnal (daily swing) but yes, you’ll also see seasonal changes if you shut all the windows and run your furnace in the winter versus windows open on the spring for example.

It’ll also change depending on the number of people in your home (creating CO2).

For your example being in AZ, it might be opposite of my example above if you keep your house closed up for AC and then leave windows open more in the winter months.

 

[RocketEngineer]

You shouldn't be chasing pH in a reef tank. There are other things to be checking that will give you a much better indication of the health of your system such as calcium, alkalinity, and salinity.

 

[Marco S]

You shouldn't be chasing pH in a reef tank. There are other things to be checking that will give you a much better indication of the health of your system such as calcium, alkalinity, and salinity.

I am not chasing it...just wondering why it changed without doing anything to change it.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Oh good. Yeah, a lot of environmental factors impact it which is why its not a great measure of things.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Ph will be seasonal for the same reason the flu is seasonal, anytime inhabitants spend more time inside more co2 builds up.(for the flu its more viruses inside)

 

[Marco S]

Well it is considered diurnal (daily swing) but yes, you’ll also see seasonal changes if you shut all the windows and run your furnace in the winter versus windows open on the spring for example.

It’ll also change depending on the number of people in your home (creating CO2).

For your example being in AZ, it might be opposite of my example above if you keep your house closed up for AC and then leave windows open more in the winter months.

I do tend to keep windows and doors closed up in the hotter months while the AC is running and not so much in the winter since gas is much cheaper. That may just be the reason.

 

[Marco S]

Ph will be seasonal for the same reason the flu is seasonal, anytime inhabitants spend more time inside more co2 builds up.(for the flu its more viruses inside)

That also makes sense since we tend to stay indoors more when it's 100+ degrees outside then when it get's into the 40's, (about as low as it gets here). ;Happy

 

[chris k.]

I live in florida, right now we have been leaving the windows open and my ph gets up to 8.4. But in the summertime when family visits the windows are closed and a bunch of people in the house the ph can drop to 7.8

 

[homer1475]

You shouldn't be chasing pH in a reef tank. There are other things to be checking that will give you a much better indication of the health of your system such as calcium, alkalinity, and salinity.

And I would tend to disagree. It has been shown and proven that corals grow faster at higher PH's.

While one should never "chase" a number in a reef tank, PH is one that can be easily manipulated by simply opening a window near the tank, or running an outside airline to your skimmer. One could also add a co2 scubber for fairly cheap(media not so much).

So PH is definitely something one should chase in a reef tank, and try to get it above 8.0(most tanks in an enclosed space with no openings to the outside typically run anywhere between 7.6 and 7.9) and have it consistently stay there.

 

[reefwiser]

As you keep the doors and windows closed in the winter the ph will change. This is also a case when you have people over for the holiday’s the amount of Co2 an large group of people exhaust will change the Ph of a tank