Never thought to high PH!

Upstartreefer · Jun 10, 2018

Hello all,

I have keep Reef tanks for 15 years and I was always trying to get my PH up. My new 220 has been up and cycled for to months and my PH has been slowly creeping up. Yesterday it got to 3.41 and only dropped to 3.38 last night. I do have a refugium on a reverse cycle from my main aquarium lights. I have recalibrated the probe 3 times and checked it with a refractometor so I trust it.

Here's my problem/question. I have an kalk reactor that I was going to use until I got an calcium reactor. Will the kalk raise my PH way to much to use it?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 10, 2018

I presume you mean 8.41? Upt to 8.55 is fine, IMO, and if you have good aeration, it likely will not get too high, even with limewater (dosed slowly).

I'd also recalibrate the meter before deciding it was too high.

What is your alkalinity? At 7-9 dKH, aeration will lower your pH.

Upstartreefer · Jun 10, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I presume you mean 8.41? Upt to 8.55 is fine, IMO, and if you have good aeration, it likely will not get too high, even with limewater (dosed slowly).

I'd also recalibrate the meter before deciding it was too high.

What is your alkalinity? At 7-9 dKH, aeration will lower your pH.

Thanks for answering Randy it nice to hear from the master. Sorry. I did mean 8.41. I have a lot of surface agitation for aeration with my 2 gyers and my return pump putting out 1200 GPH.

I have recalibrated it 3 times and use my spare ph probe to verify.

My alkalinity is 7.8.

It will still be a while before I and corals at least 6 more months. I am taking this tank slow and steady. With a 280 gallon total water system what would be a good starting dose?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 10, 2018

At an alkalinity of 7.8 dKH, the pH of the water fully equilibrated with normal outside air is about pH 8.25, and with indoor air, it can only be the same or lower.

Upstartreefer · Jun 10, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
At an alkalinity of 7.8 dKH, the pH of the water fully equilibrated with normal outside air is about pH 8.2, and with indoor air, it can only be the same or lower.

Ok. So it can't be the real PH reading. I will get some new calibration fluid and try again. Thanks so much Randy. [emoji106]

Upstartreefer · Jun 10, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
At an alkalinity of 7.8 dKH, the pH of the water fully equilibrated with normal outside air is about pH 8.25, and with indoor air, it can only be the same or lower.

One more question. Is it normal for the ORP to drop as the PH rises?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 10, 2018

Upstartreefer said:
Ok. So it can't be the real PH reading. I will get some new calibration fluid and try again. Thanks so much Randy. [emoji106]

It could be real. Folks look at tanks and just assume that good flow means perfect aeration. Rarely is aeration perfect, or there would be no day to night pH swing. But most folks still say they have good aeration.

Upstartreefer · Jun 10, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It could be real. Folks look at tanks and just assume that good flow means perfect aeration. Rarely is aeration perfect, or there would be no day to night pH swing. But most folks still say they have good aeration.

Trust be I know nothing is perfect on my tank there is always room for improvement. [emoji1]

I dont have anymore calibration solution so I will have to order some but my PH swings aren't to dramatic. What do you think?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 10, 2018

If you want to use limewater, I'd try it and see how high the pH gets. It might be fine.

Do you know how much alk per day you need? dKH per day?

Upstartreefer · Jun 10, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If you want to use limewater, I'd try it and see how high the pH gets. It might be fine.

Do you know how much alk per day you need? dKH per day?

As of right now I dont have an alk drop per say because there's nothing consuming it yet. I have a little coralline starting to grow but everything else in the tank is fish.

I am just looking into my future plains with this reef and trying to figure things out.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 10, 2018

Upstartreefer said:
As of right now I dont have an alk drop per say because there's nothing consuming it yet. I have a little coralline starting to grow but everything else in the tank is fish.

I am just looking into my future plains with this reef and trying to figure things out.

OK.