Low Ph - How concerned should I be?

[R33fDaddy]

Windows was open all day. Tank went over the 80 degrees for the first time ever. PH did go up quite a bit, it's 7.95 now and it's 11pm.

This isn't a permanent solution just reconfirming it's a CO2 issue.

I also hooked up a Neptune Dose Today.

 

[reefbandit]

I didn’t read the whole 8 page thread. Did you try cleaning the ph probe and use a different calibration fluid. I used a milwaukie brand calibration fluid and my reading came into line with test kits. I was experiencing the same low ph reading down to 7.5 at night and was getting worried even though coral was doing well. After recalibrating My ph is now reading 8.1 at night and peaks at 8.2 during the day.

 

[R33fDaddy]

I didn’t read the whole 8 page thread. Did you try cleaning the ph probe and use a different calibration fluid. I used a milwaukie brand calibration fluid and my reading came into line with test kits. I was experiencing the same low ph reading down to 7.5 at night and was getting worried even though coral was doing well. After recalibrating My ph is now reading 8.1 at night and peaks at 8.2 during the day.

The Neptune Calibration fluid is matching exactly with probe. Is it anything to be gained by also testing with the Milwaukee fluid?

 

[R33fDaddy]

I didn’t read the whole 8 page thread. Did you try cleaning the ph probe and use a different calibration fluid. I used a milwaukie brand calibration fluid and my reading came into line with test kits. I was experiencing the same low ph reading down to 7.5 at night and was getting worried even though coral was doing well. After recalibrating My ph is now reading 8.1 at night and peaks at 8.2 during the day.

The Neptune Calibration fluid is matching exactly with probe. Is it anything to be gained by also testing with the Milwaukee fluid

 

[R33fDaddy]

Guess I'll order the Milwaukee fluid and see what reads. Other than that, I'm running out of ideas.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Guess I'll order the Milwaukee fluid and see what reads. Other than that, I'm running out of ideas.

Have you tried taking a cup or a small bucket of water outside literally keeping it outside with an air stone in it for 5-8 hours and then check in the pH on that

 

[R33fDaddy]

Have you tried taking a cup or a small bucket of water outside literally keeping it outside with an air stone in it for 5-8 hours and then check in the pH on that

Doesn't temperature affect PH? It's super hot outside during the Summer.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Doesn't temperature affect PH? It's super hot outside during the Summer.

Keep it in the shade and I’m sure it won’t go over 85 maybe 90 it will get to ambient and then bring it back inside to test it

 

[reefbandit]

The Neptune Calibration fluid is matching exactly with probe. Is it anything to be gained by also testing with the Milwaukee fluid?

Check out the link below to a test of PH calibration fluids conducted by Randy Holmes-Farley. It suggests that some commerically available ph calibration fluids are not accurate and could be related to you getting a low reading on your probe. It would be my uneducated guess that one of the unnamed brands that reads low would be neptunes PH calibration fluid.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-02/rhf/index.php#4

 

[R33fDaddy]

New Experiment:

I removed the CO2 Scrubber and I'm running an airline directly to the window so air is brought from outside into the intake of the skimmer. Hopefully this gets me above 8.0, I'll report back with the results.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Hasn't been 24 hours yet and I'm up to 7.83 which is the highest I've been at without dosing anything nor using the CO2 Scrubber.

Only slight concern is the temperature of the tank. I'll keep monitoring and check back in.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Looks like in my case the highest PH I can achieve is 7.9. I had to buy a window fan that exchanges air in order to do this. This will definitely limit the type of corals I can keep which is a bummer.


This fan has made a big difference for me. If you're PH is around 8.0 this thing could make a big impact for you. If you your PH is terrible (which mine was) this could boost it out of the "terrible" zone.

https://amzn.to/3Arlltg

 

[reefbandit]

what skimmer are you running? Interestingly enough I gained about .2 boosting my ph from 8 to 8.2 by switching my Red Sea skimmer pump to a sicce dc version. You can see it produces a lot more air bubbles in the body. May also be worth looking into.

 

[52728299]

I'm wondering, my tank is under an a/c vent does this help at all?

 

[Acros]

Looks like in my case the highest PH I can achieve is 7.9. I had to buy a window fan that exchanges air in order to do this. This will definitely limit the type of corals I can keep which is a bummer.


This fan has made a big difference for me. If you're PH is around 8.0 this thing could make a big impact for you. If you your PH is terrible (which mine was) this could boost it out of the "terrible" zone.

https://amzn.to/3Arlltg

Wouldn’t this have the same effect of opening a window? As in, wouldn’t the fan increase your tank temp on really hot summer days?

 

[killer2001]

My Apex Neptune pH probe reads in the 7.9's and I bought another pen-style pH probe that reads in the 8.2's. Both calibrated multiple times. My pH is pretty stable so I stopped caring (about 0.09 difference day/night cycle), now I just average it in my head as 8.0-8.1 and go about my merry way.

 

[danR777]

My Apex Neptune pH probe reads in the 7.9's and I bought another pen-style pH probe that reads in the 8.2's. Both calibrated multiple times. My pH is pretty stable so I stopped caring (about 0.09 difference day/night cycle), now I just average it in my head as 8.0-8.1 and go about my merry way.

I have been running my office reef in that same range as OP (actually maybe. a little lower (7.55 low-7.81 highest ever). tested with apex and some other one I got from amazon, they are always consistently matches... I have a co2 monitor in the room & its usually around less than 450 ppm...

It's been like this for about a year now and I have growth on all sorts of LPS/Soft, and a few easy SPS's.... (I';m sure harder ones would be goners??)

I just activated a CO2 Scrubber about on monday I am now getting about 8.04 and a low of about 7.89 ish (except last night when I did an aggressive AWC)

 

[sergifed91]

i got the same issue. but i'm not counting the new probe reading yet. since I haven't calibrated it. im wating on new display module after in the middle of doing the 10 ph calibration fluid the display module crapped out on me. so i just rinsed it off and threw it in my sump. bu no means is this accurate. and for my ph2 that is my old ph probe that I also recalibrated a week ago and noticed some weird stuff with it just jumping around more often than usual so i replaced it with a new probe that at this time not calibrated. im not even sure if the old probe is even reading correctly since its way over 4 years old. top is the new probe and bottom picture is the old probe. im i conceling the new probe out yet no. is it wrong possibly or is my old probe reading wrong? i don't know im going out this weekend to get a ph test kit to see what reading I get from a different test kit.