PH and Dosing Questions

hig789 · Jul 8, 2015

Alright finally getting a decent amount of corals in my tank and got all my testing in order so I can track it and had a few questions about dosing and low PH.

Stock list:
Various Zoa frags
Supernatural monti
Single head frog spawn
Single head hammer
Zero fish for now

Parameters:
Nitrate - 0 (salifert)
Phos - no test kit yet
Ca - 360(Red Sea)
Alk - 9.5(Randy's DIY test)
Mag - 1360 (Red Sea)
PH - 7.7 (meter cal w/ 4 and 7 solutions)
Temp - 79.3
Salinity - 1.026 (refractometer)
Weekly 2.5g water changes with IO

My tank is a 15g AIO only running floss and my 20lbs of live rock and sand for filtration. Been setup for a little over a month, I used live rock from a existing tank so no cycle or at least no detectable cycle. I run my lid on it right now but the overflow and back are open to the air.

I've pretty much tracked my ph to a CO2 buildup(unless someone has another idea) so I took my lid off and opened some windows. The back of the hood is open for ventilation but I still need to mount some exhaust fans to pull in fresh air. If I raise the ph using fresh air any idea how long it will take for the CO2 to build up again? In the next day or two I will be adding a tunze 9001 skimmer so hopefully that will help with the exchange.

Now to dosing, I bought some 2 part seachem fusion but I will be adding a ATO as soon as Melev gets my ATO tank finished and plan on dosing Ms Wages pickling lime in the top off DI water. So I need to test Alk and Ca daily to see what my usage is right? But I doubt that with what I have I will need to dose much right now but I'm not positive. Could I just dose with the two part or would using the Kalk still be the best option?

Also is that Alk high compared to the Ca? Do I need to fix it somehow?

Thanks in advance.
Matt

Tank pic for reference.

redfishbluefish · Jul 8, 2015

My only comment is that you need to calibrate your pH probe with 7 and 10, not 4 and 7.

Everything else looks good.

hig789 · Jul 8, 2015

Yeah I did it with 4 and 7 at work the other day because that's what Randy recommends for the DIY Alk test because you are taking the ph down to 4.5. I'll just get some 4, ,7 and 10 then. I double checked the meter against a API ph(I know they suck just the only thing I had) and it read 7.8

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 9, 2015

The pH probably is low, assuming the calibration fluids are accurate (which is usually more of a problem with old pH 10 fluids than 4 or 7).

Let's see what happens with the skimmer, but you can aerate a cup of tank water outiside and inside for an hour to see if the CO2 is just in the water or in your home air too.

This article describes the test:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

hig789 · Jul 9, 2015

I opened the windows again this morning for a few hours. I tested it last night before I went to bed after a few hours of fresh air and it was up to 7.8. So with the normal drop in ph at night it seems to have helped some. I'll test it again in a little while as well as get the skimmer in the tank.

The ph calibration solution was dated 6/26/15.

hig789 · Jul 9, 2015

Well that was a easy fix, just tested it and it was 8.3. Skimmer is running now too.

Are my Alk and Ca levels okay. The Alk seems a little high but it is still within the acceptable range. But the Ca seems a little low also.

Could I dose some of the Reef Fusion to bring the Ca up? SeaChems site says they should be used together though.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 9, 2015

Yes, I'd probably bring up the calcium. You can use just calcium chloride, or just half of a two part. Don't use both parts or alk will go through the roof. Alk is fine.

hig789 · Jul 9, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, I'd probably bring up the calcium. You can use just calcium chloride, or just half of a two part. Don't use both parts or alk will go through the roof. Alk is fine.

Well I dosed 2ml of the part 1 and it only raised the calcium 10ppm. So I dosed 4ml more. I'll check it out tomorrow and see where it's at. When I get it up to a good level I'll start checking it daily to see how much I'm using.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

hig789 · Jul 10, 2015

Hey Randy, the part one of reef fusion will also raise my Mg levels. I didn't realize this till I used the calculator on the Aquarimate app. Mine was already at 1360 will it hurt anything to raise it more. I didn't test it after I dosed the 6ml(total of two doses). My Ca is at 400 right now. I am going to just leave it at 400 right now. I'll test the Mg levels tonight and see where they are at.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 10, 2015

hig789 said:
Hey Randy, the part one of reef fusion will also raise my Mg levels. I didn't realize this till I used the calculator on the Aquarimate app. Mine was already at 1360 will it hurt anything to raise it more. I didn't test it after I dosed the 6ml(total of two doses). My Ca is at 400 right now. I am going to just leave it at 400 right now. I'll test the Mg levels tonight and see where they are at.

I good two part will contain magnesium at about 1/5th of the amount of calcium added, so the boost will be too small to worry about.

hig789 · Jul 10, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I good two part will contain magnesium at about 1/5th of the amount of calcium added, so the boost will be too small to worry about.

Great thanks man. I'll check it just to see what it is anyways tonight.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 10, 2015

Sounds good.

Good luck.

hig789 · Jul 13, 2015

Alright. My ph is still low. 7.8(8.0 with API kit) during the day and 7.7 at night.

My meter is old and I bought it used so no telling if it's accurate. I freshly calibrated it with new solution of 7 and 10. It would ever really settle on a number though, it would jump up and down .1.

I think it's just a co2 buildup because when I opened the windows before for a few hours it helped to bring it up. But it's in the mid 90's here now with a heat index of 106* during the day and mid 80's at night. So I can't really open the windows for a few hours to let it get fresh air.

Adding the skimmer really didn't help either.

Anything I can do? I don't have my ATO setup yet so kalk isn't a option right now.

hig789 · Jul 13, 2015

I might possibly be able to set up a temp kalk drip system like this one till I get my ATO container. If I can find some pickling lime that is. I'll have to do some more reading on the ratios and amounts to drip. Haven't had a chance to read up on those yet.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/nftt/index.php

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 13, 2015

I wouldn't agonize over it if you do not have an easy solution to reducing the CO2. Some people use a scrubber on the skimmer air inlet.

hig789 · Jul 13, 2015

I don't really. Other than that one time it got up to 8.3 when I had the windows open for hours it's always 7.7-7.8. And my zoanthids and LPS are growing like crazy. So I don't know. I picked up some Ms Wages anyways they were buy 1 lb get one free.