I dislike "chase" wording, as although that kind of slang/terminology has meaning to some, but it's hard to interpret the entire meaning and nuances for me. That said, I set-and-forget, and I naturally get very good pH values. What I did was I prioritised pH over most other things (when reasonable) in the engineering of my system, using concepts and learnings from BRSTV friends.
Today on BRStv, we are back with more BRStv Investigates! In this series, we explore popular reefing theories, products, methods, and what the manuals are missing, with a focus on putting them to the test! Ryan is back with pH testing and how it can affect coral growth. There are many different...
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Initially pH will deplete due to generation of CO2 from bacteria. During this period, pH will experience large instabilities.
Opening windows will help significantly—-in my system, it raises the entire range by up to +0.3. However, this effect requires for me, around 3-5 days. I can see this progression on APEX pH visualisation. It also needs to be enough airflow that your CO2 is dissipated outside—depending on architecture, that
could be 2 or several windows to generate cross-currents for good effect. That said, this may increase costs like heating, but saves on costs like CO2 scrubber media.
This is my tank—I've owned (and own now) several tanks, but
this tank is engineered to be high pH:
Not only will kalk raise pH, but so will soda ash. In my system, I dose kalk first. There is a CaRx portion, but the main part that helps with pH will be BRS 2-part, via DōS + Trident. My windows are generally open in the winter time, because with so much computer and tech stuffs, the place gets quite warm otherwise. Next, the pH is based in part on the alk (and that will impute certain calcium and magnesium values).
When you grow more corals, the replacement of depleted alk using kalk and soda ash affords more opportunity to raise pH further. These are my values:
The final piece is how I export nitrate and phosphate.
I am a big fan of many methods, including KZ ZeoVit, ATS, Chaeto Reactor—all require understanding of how they're supposed to work, and their risks and tradeoffs. Because creating bacteria activities as in KZ will create CO2 and depress pH,
I elected to use a chaeto reactor in this tank, this time around. However, note that my
disadvantage will be that when waste is converted into nitrate, alk is assimilated (hence, alk will deplete even without corals, by mere creation of nitrate).
KZ and carbon dosing methods will unbind this alk but will lower pH, whereas chaeto will forfeit this alk (but when photosynthesis occurs from chaeto, I'll get CO2 consumed, which increases pH). To me, fighting CO2 is harder than fighting alk consumption (which all agree is quite simple).
I lack space, so this was one of the only choices that would work:
Eliminate phosphate and nitrate from your reef tank using the PhytoTank Macroalgae Reactor! Growing chaeto macroalgae in a PhytoTank is a natural and effective way to remove phosphate and nitrate. Set up the PhytoTank Chaeto reactor by installing a small pump in your sump (do not exceed 250...
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I think this is a good design though. I would
refrain from wrapping stick-LED strips around media reactors for a DIY chaeto reactor, because the plastic of the media reactor is not designed to sustain heat. In the event of an odd failure, you
risk catastrophic failure if the plastic melted:
You could also place a ball of chaeto directly in sump. I've also used ATS systems in the past; they are quite good, and in my view, both are comparable. It's quite (unfortunately) impossible to not grow turf algae, and ATS takes advantage of this. Both will raise pH.
Algae Turf Scrubbers from Clear Water Scrubbers
clearwaterscrubbers.com
Their products are quite good; I'm sure other brands are fine as well.
An important thing that KZ and other methods warn is to refrain from attempting using multiple approaches: the sum will be worse than the parts.
Finally, people typically recommend things like drawing air from outside via tubing into skimmer. This may require modification of your house. Another common recommendation is using CO2 scrubbing using absorption media. Generally it works well, but the media requires replacement, and the cost isn't nothing. Here is a price conscious way to implement:
Get MORE life from your CO2 Scrubber media? Today Ryan and Randy will show you how to DIY your CO2 Scrubber into recirculation mode! Missed Ryan and Randy Live? #AskBRStv Live Streams are available in Podcast form! Check them out on iTunes and Google Play below! BRStv on Itunes -...
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Because I don't spend that much time on reef maintenance, I chose methods that make things easier. CO2 scrubbing isn't too much, but letting chaeto grow requires nearly no maintenance except pruning and cleaning the reactor once in a while. By comparison, CO2 scrubbing requires buying the media, and typically on a weekly basis, replacing media within a CO2 scrubber reactor.
