Nano Reef Tank pH

DonJuanAntwon · Jul 31, 2022

I’m still learning and was wondering about pH levels. I Was doing my weekly water change and everything in my 10 gallon nano reef tank is going well. All my fish, corals, and inverts are healthy. All my levels are normal (ammonia 0 / nitrite 0 / nitrate 10/ Phosphate 0.1 / Ca 440 / dKh 9 (161 ppm KH) except my pH is showing 8.8. Is is something to be worried about or try to adjust down closer to 8.2? Or since the tank is functioning fine let it ride? Thanks

Nano sapiens · Jul 31, 2022

DonJuanAntwon said:
I’m still learning and was wondering about pH levels. I Was doing my weekly water change and everything in my 10 gallon nano reef tank is going well. All my fish, corals, and inverts are healthy. All my levels are normal (ammonia 0 / nitrite 0 / nitrate 10/ Phosphate 0.1 / Ca 440 / dKh 9 (161 ppm KH) except my pH is showing 8.8. Is is something to be worried about or try to adjust down closer to 8.2? Or since the tank is functioning fine let it ride? Thanks

pH 8.8 dKh? I would suspect testing error.

DonJuanAntwon · Jul 31, 2022

Nano sapiens said:
pH 8.8 dKh? I would suspect testing error.

I’m using reef API testing kit which had dKh 9 and ph with the saltwater API kit was 8.8.

edit: good call, I retested and shook the hell out of the pH bottle before I used it and it’s ~8.2

DonJuanAntwon · Jul 31, 2022

With that being said anyone recommend a better reef testing kit than API?

Nano sapiens · Jul 31, 2022

I haven't used a pH kit in quite a while (it's not a parameter that I worry about, especially since I use Kalkwasser), but Salifert's kit was pretty good and relatively inexpensive.

ReefEco · Aug 1, 2022

You might consider getting a pH pen digital tester - good investment, and is easy enough that it means you will test more often. pH is one of those parameters that it is good to know "at a glance", which is why many people monitor it constantly with a pH probe. But, if you don't have a controller, then a pH pen is a good alternative.