Low ph in 3 week old tank.

[Reef_prop88]

Is it true that the ph of a tank that just recently cycled will show a low ph alot of times due to not having any kind of photosynthesis going on in the tank? My tank is currently 3 weeks old showin 7.4-7.6 ph and has completed a fishless cycle. At this point there is no algae in the tank or anything yet. Should I wait for some algae to grow to see if it raises the ph or jump right to buying a scrubber? I live in an area where I cant really open my windows to air the room out or run a skimmer line to the outside.

 

[kingjames_dc5]

Good surface agitation will help with low pH

 

[brandon429]

pH is among the top three params I recommend not testing for in the first ~6 months of the tank. Im on year 17 never running it once

most folks are bound and determined to make use of the testers they bought, its best to wait a long time before tinkering with it.

pH nitrate and po4 detailing is changing the hobby into an invasion prone mess

the chances your actual readings are correct as stated is about 10% likely if we take reading comparison threads in the chem forum between testers as any sort of indicator. You can do so much more with direct feeding of corals, knowing what light intensity and spectrum to run, and heavy busy work like water changes and manually guiding out cyano vs any sort of chemical detailing in new reefs especially if they are nanos vs large tanks. nanos that get water changes can easily use higher % water exchanged to offset the excellent feeding to really kick in early coral growth. new systems that practice hands off mode/ chemistry detailing are in the absolutely highest likely to get dinos soon category. while pH measure and response isn't implicated much in dinos issues, that mindset sure is. at no time will pH matter in my very old nano its focus has been heavy feeding and water changes since 06

phosphate detailing inevitably follows pH detailing for most, and that's a dinos accelerating habit approach. in the very least, make no adjustments to params that aren't measured on calibrated digital readouts where a very very high % of comparison threads shows consistency, such as seneye monitoring for nh3. now that's consistent, tank to tank

 

[Reef_prop88]

Good surface agitation will help with low pH

A of right now I have a Reef Octopus 100 hob skimmer, fluval 307 canister filter and a Reef Octopus pulse 2 power head set on low all on a 29 gallon lol. The surface agitation seems pretty solid at this point.

 

[brandon429]

thats perfect setup I wouldnt worry about it unless the house is gas heated, dense load of occupants and dogs and windows commonly closed and your corals can't keep a skeleton. given all those conditions I'd buy a calibrated probe and go to tweak town lol

without those conditions you'll be fine on directed feed, ten gallon water changes based on feed rate and degree of intercept required to guide out uglies in a new tank (never permit takeover of your investment, work to a higher degree up front back off to cruise control in year 2 ish)

 

[Reef_prop88]

pH is among the top three params I recommend not testing for in the first ~6 months of the tank. Im on year 17 never running it once

most folks are bound and determined to make use of the testers they bought, its best to wait a long time before tinkering with it.

pH nitrate and po4 detailing is changing the hobby into an invasion prone mess

the chances your actual readings are correct as stated is about 10% likely if we take reading comparison threads in the chem forum between testers as any sort of indicator. You can do so much more with direct feeding of corals, knowing what light intensity and spectrum to run, and heavy busy work like water changes and manually guiding out cyano vs any sort of chemical detailing in new reefs especially if they are nanos vs large tanks. nanos that get water changes can easily use higher % water exchanged to offset the excellent feeding to really kick in early coral growth. new systems that practice hands off mode/ chemistry detailing are in the absolutely highest likely to get dinos soon category. while pH measure and response isn't implicated much in dinos issues, that mindset sure is. at no time will pH matter in my very old nano its focus has been heavy feeding and water changes since 06

This lines up with the conversation I just had a min ago with a very reputable local reef store. He told me that the chances are very slim that the api test kit I am using is correct and that everything should be fine as long as I keep up with regular water changes, especially on a new tank. I will be testing ph on my setup in the future after the tank matures though. I want to optimize my setup.

 

[Reef_prop88]

thats perfect setup I wouldnt worry about it unless the house is gas heated, dense load of occupants and dogs and windows commonly closed and your corals can't keep a skeleton. given all those conditions I'd buy a calibrated probe and go to tweak town lol

without those conditions you'll be fine on directed feed, ten gallon water changes based on feed rate and degree of intercept required to guide out uglies in a new tank (never permit takeover of your investment, work to a higher degree up front back off to cruise control in year 2 ish)

The house is heated with forced air and is very tight which was a little bit of my concern. I'm not gonna lie, I'm prolly gonna get the probe n tweak out on this lol! Do you have a recommendation on the best ph test kit?

 

[brandon429]

I'm mainly a bad chemist on all test kits so have adapted to use feedback in my chats and build logs for other's nanos here and at nano-reef.com for procedural bests. I guarantee we never discuss pH on any build, any tank transfer, any cycling challenge, any invasion challenge whatsoever. that and nitrite do not come up in discussion lol only because I think our big water exchange habit provides some buffering for the setups who may trend badly given our non attention.

No Im not sure on best probe but do a search on it here before buying and make sure six people aren't commenting about it reading poorly. if the chemists on site/ Randy Dan Taricha like it then its probably a go

 

[arking_mark]

If you pH is less than 7.8, your pH meter is probably wrong

Post in thread 'Aquarium pH Distilled' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquarium-ph-distilled.853474/post-9330359

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is it true that the ph of a tank that just recently cycled will show a low ph alot of times due to not having any kind of photosynthesis going on in the tank? My tank is currently 3 weeks old showin 7.4-7.6 ph and has completed a fishless cycle. At this point there is no algae in the tank or anything yet. Should I wait for some algae to grow to see if it raises the ph or jump right to buying a scrubber? I live in an area where I cant really open my windows to air the room out or run a skimmer line to the outside.

pH is determined mathematically by alkainity and CO2.

WHat is the alkalinity?

How are you measuring pH?

 

[Reef_prop88]

pH is determined mathematically by alkainity and CO2.

WHat is the alkalinity?

How are you measuring pH?

I just ordered my alkalinity test and a hanna ph tester today. I was using the api ph test which I have been told is very inaccurate.

Thanks for getting in on this thread btw. I have had multiple people tell me not to worry about the ph but I know it should be a concern if I want healthy lps/sps corals.

 

[CourtNjoeZreef]

pH is determined mathematically by alkainity and CO2.

WHat is the alkalinity?

How are you measuring pH?

I'm fighting pH being low and I believe it is from CO2 in the air. (I have a CO2 scrubber otw for my skimmer) I just started getting some algae the last two days and Wonder if the high CO2 can cause the algae to pop. I'm in NJ so winter is doors shut heat on for 4+ months.

 

[Reef_prop88]

I'm fighting pH being low and I believe it is from CO2 in the air. (I have a CO2 scrubber otw for my skimmer) I just started getting some algae the last two days and Wonder if the high CO2 can cause the algae to pop. I'm in NJ so winter is doors shut heat on for 4+ months.

I’ve had my CO2 scrubber now for 1 week and my ph went from 7.9 (after I fixed my low alk) to 8.3-8.4. You’ll love that thing when it shows up. It does eat up media like crazy though.

 

[CourtNjoeZreef]

I’ve had my CO2 scrubber now for 1 week and my ph went from 7.9 (after I fixed my low alk) to 8.3-8.4. You’ll love that thing when it shows up. It does eat up media like crazy though.

ill feed it media for the benefit!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm fighting pH being low and I believe it is from CO2 in the air. (I have a CO2 scrubber otw for my skimmer) I just started getting some algae the last two days and Wonder if the high CO2 can cause the algae to pop. I'm in NJ so winter is doors shut heat on for 4+ months.

Algae does not have a strong correlation to pH in marine systems because many algae get their CO2 from plentiful bicarbonate. That said, it may contribute some with some species.

 

[Jonify]

I’ve had my CO2 scrubber now for 1 week and my ph went from 7.9 (after I fixed my low alk) to 8.3-8.4. You’ll love that thing when it shows up. It does eat up media like crazy though.

When I was going through this, I noticed the same benefit from the CO2 scrubber. From 7.9 to 8.3. I was going through a lot of media as well, but when I started cracking a window and leaving it cracked 24X7, not only did my media consumption go WAY down, but my pH went up to 8.4. It stays at 8.3-8.4 every day now. I change the CO2 media once every couple of months. I could probably lose the scrubber, but it's winter and at some point, I'm going to need to close the window lol.

 

[Reef_prop88]

When I was going through this, I noticed the same benefit from the CO2 scrubber. From 7.9 to 8.3. I was going through a lot of media as well, but when I started cracking a window and leaving it cracked 24X7, not only did my media consumption go WAY down, but my pH went up to 8.4. It stays at 8.3-8.4 every day now. I change the CO2 media once every couple of months. I could probably lose the scrubber, but it's winter and at some point, I'm going to need to close the window lol.

During the spring and fall I will definitely be doing this but I live in upstate NY. Leaving a window open this time a year is definitely a no go lol. They are calling for 0-10 degrees with -15 windchill lol.

 

[polyppal]

pH is among the top three params I recommend not testing for in the first ~6 months of the tank.

agreed, no need to give PH any thought yet in such a new system

 

[Jonify]

During the spring and fall I will definitely be doing this but I live in upstate NY. Leaving a window open this time a year is definitely a no go lol. They are calling for 0-10 degrees with -15 windchill lol.

Even just a crack is enough.

 

[Reef_prop88]

agreed, no need to give PH any thought yet in such a new system

Well I have it pegged right at about 8.3 now and the tank is about 1 1/2 months old. I think it's worth paying attention to if you can get it to stabilize.