Low ph and I'm not sure why

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 6, 2015

If it doesn't get much below pH 7.8, that's good enough.

glb · Apr 6, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If it doesn't get much below pH 7.8, that's good enough.

That's pretty much what I thought. Yay!

glb · Apr 7, 2015

Ph steady at 7.9 from when I left for work until I got home. Dosed it 1/3c to 8.0. I'm going to dose it up to 8.3 over the next 4-5 hours for the night. That should put it at 7.9 in the morning and with a morning dose keep it at 8.0 for the day. I may not need a dosing pump after all. Tank inhabitants look great. Favia looks good and lobo might actually rebound. Fish, snails, crabs and shrimp are much more active. They think this higher ph is groovy.

glb · Apr 7, 2015

I put an acrylic cover on my tank last night until I can make a screen one. When I got home today, the ph hadn't changed. Can covering a tank affect ph? I left the sump area open for some air exchange. This isn't a permanent solution because it warmed up the tank more than I liked, but I'm just curious.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 7, 2015

Covering a tank will reduce CO2 exchange, which might make the pH rise, fall, or remain unchanged, depending on the various sources and sinks for CO2 during the day and night.

glb · Apr 7, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Covering a tank will reduce CO2 exchange, which might make the pH rise, fall, or remain unchanged, depending on the various sources and sinks for CO2 during the day and night.

Thanks. In general do you think it's better to use a screen over a tank instead of something solid?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 8, 2015

Yes, it is better to not block air flow to the tank top to allow, for example, better oxygen equilibration.

glb · Apr 8, 2015

Ok ph actually went up .1 during the day without dosing, which is great. The problem is I just checked Alk and ca. Alk was 222ppm (12.4kh) and ca was 495. Now what? I'm starting to feel like a mad scientist.

zesty · Apr 8, 2015

glb said:
Ok ph actually went up .1 during the day without dosing, which is great. The problem is I just checked Alk and ca. Alk was 222ppm (12.4kh) and ca was 495. Now what? I'm starting to feel like a mad scientist.

Good!

but to your elevated alk, you could do a water change and that will bring down the alk some. I'm not sure if there's anything else that would work better?

glb · Apr 8, 2015

zesty said:
Good!

but to your elevated alk, you could do a water change and that will bring down the alk some. I'm not sure if there's anything else that would work better?

That's what I was thinking too. The kalk really is working but I have to dose several cups/day, more than I even need for topoff. I took some water out to lower the water level. Ca is ok so I really want to make this work. My tank inhabitants (clownfish, shrimp, hermit crabs, nerite snails and a favia) are all happy and healthy. The favia is puffy again and everything else is much more active.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 8, 2015

I wouldn't add anything else till the alk drops on its own.

glb · Apr 8, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I wouldn't add anything else till the alk drops on its own.

Thanks. I'll see how the tank does without the kalk. Maybe it will hold its own.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 8, 2015

Good luck!

glb · Apr 8, 2015

Ph down to 7.9 without dosing so Alk can drop. If it drops .4 like it's done every night, I'll be down to 7.5 in the morning. Yikes. We'll see what happens.

glb · Apr 8, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Good luck!

Thanks! Would it make sense to use a salt mix with less Alk so it wouldn't go up so high with the kalk? I use IO Reef Crystals now.

glb · Apr 9, 2015

Ph only dropped .2 last night to 7.7 without kalk dosing. I'll check Alk this afternoon. Great news!

glb · Apr 9, 2015

Ph 8.0! It went up .3 during the day. The Alk is down to 11.8. What would be a good Alk number to settle on? Right now SG is 1.023. I'm going to gradually raise it to 1.025.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 9, 2015

I'd aim for 7-11 dKH.

glb · Apr 9, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'd aim for 7-11 dKH.

Thanks. I'm really happy. The tank is still at 8.0 with no dosing today. Alk is down to 11.8kh. I'll start dosing when it gets to 11 but less, as the tank doesn't seem to need it as much.