Low ph and I'm not sure why

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 4, 2015

glb said:
What is links water?

Sorry, autocorrect error. Limewater.

If you add it slowly enough, it can work in a nano, but the safest option is usually fresher air.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 4, 2015

If u were to use limewater in a small tank, I'd use a very slow dosing pump.

How much does your nano evaporate each day?

CO2 scrubbing media are used on the air inlet of a skimmer.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If u were to use limewater in a small tank, I'd use a very slow dosing pump.

How much does your nano evaporate each day?

CO2 scrubbing media are used on the air inlet of a skimmer.

Won't limewater raise my alk too? It's fine where it is but I wouldn't want it any higher.

I probably add a cup or two of water daily, not too much.

Does co2 scrubber media run dry? I'm assuming so because it's pumping air and not water into the skimmer. If so, I could probably make one myself. I have a friend who's a rocket scientist (seriously) and they have them in all the spacecraft. [emoji573]

glb · Apr 4, 2015

I'd just need a jar with the media and two air lines for in and out right?

glb · Apr 4, 2015

And a pump

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 4, 2015

glb said:
Won't limewater raise my alk too? It's fine where it is but I wouldn't want it any higher.

I probably add a cup or two of water daily, not too much.

Does co2 scrubber media run dry? I'm assuming so because it's pumping air and not water into the skimmer. If so, I could probably make one myself. I have a friend who's a rocket scientist (seriously) and they have them in all the spacecraft. [emoji573]

CO2 scrubbers are expensive and the media can get depleted rapidly. They also are limited because the tank top aeration may overpower the skimmer, keeping the CO2 high if you do not reduce the CO2 in the home air.

Limewater adds both calcium and alkalinity in a balanced fashion, so it is used for all needed supplementation, and as the pH rises, so does demand, usually offsetting the added calcium and alkalinity. If alk gets too high, you will want to reduce the amount used.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
CO2 scrubbers are expensive and the media can get depleted rapidly. They also are limited because the tank top aeration may overpower the skimmer, keeping the CO2 high if you do not reduce the CO2 in the home air.

Limewater adds both calcium and alkalinity in a balanced fashion, so it is used for all needed supplementation, and as the pH rises, so does demand, usually offsetting the added calcium and alkalinity. If alk gets too high, you will want to reduce the amount used.

Thanks so much! I'll give limewater a try first. I'll look up dosages and I know to start slow. If that doesn't work or drives up the numbers too high, I'll try making a co2 scrubber and maybe cover the tank top to offset the house co2. I really appreciate the help of an expert. [emoji4]

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Ok I read several of your articles about kalk and how to add it. For a 12g nano, it seems that using 100% limewater for top offs might be too strong. Would it make more sense to add a little with an eye dropper and watch the Ph carefully before figuring out how much I need? It sounds like this stuff is very strong so I want to take it super slow. I'd like to try a low cost setup before getting into dosing pumps etc.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Or would it make more sense to mix up a more diluted batch of limewater to use for topoff.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 4, 2015

I'm not sure why you think full strength is too strong, since the amount is scaling down with the tank size, but there's nothing wrong with using diluted limewater, as dilute as you want. It would be the safer way to get started, in any case.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'm not sure why you think full strength is too strong, since the amount is scaling down with the tank size, but there's nothing wrong with using diluted limewater, as dilute as you want. It would be the safer way to get started, in any case.

Thanks. I'm thinking of adding a few drops with an eye dropper and watching the ph until it starts to rise. If I were to manually dose a few times a day would that make it fluctuate too much? If so I'll set up a slow drip.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

As a side note, would house plants close to the tank help?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 4, 2015

No, house plants do not take up enough CO2 to help, unless the room looks like a greenhouse.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 4, 2015

glb said:
Thanks. I'm thinking of adding a few drops with an eye dropper and watching the ph until it starts to rise. If I were to manually dose a few times a day would that make it fluctuate too much? If so I'll set up a slow drip.

Adding 1.25% if the water volume with saturated limewater will boost pH instantly by about 0.7 pH units, then it will drop back as the tank pulls in more CO2 from the air.

The eye dropper approach is fine, but don't expect big effects from a few drops. Speaking of drops, a cheap dripper can work OK as long as it can be slowed enough for your case.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
No, house plants do not take up enough CO2 to help, unless the room looks like a greenhouse.

Lol!!

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Ok I mixed up some kalk and am adding it 5ml at a time. Ph is 7.5 after 4 doses with no change. I'll keep adding until I see a change. I also got tubing to make a slow drip but I want to count everything until I know the effect.

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Adding 1.25% if the water volume with saturated limewater will boost pH instantly by about 0.7 pH units, then it will drop back as the tank pulls in more CO2 from the air.

The eye dropper approach is fine, but don't expect big effects from a few drops. Speaking of drops, a cheap dripper can work OK as long as it can be slowed enough for your case.

So any ph increase will happen immediately?

glb · Apr 4, 2015

Success! After slowly adding 2 cups of Alk over the last hour, my ph is between 8.1-8.3 depending on which test I use. The ph monitor reads low and the Red Sea reagent test is reading high. I really need to get a pinpoint monitor to be sure. I'll test it later to see when it starts falling.