PH increase should I be concerned?

[Heabel7]

Im on vacation and with nobody in my house my PH continues to increase. Normally runs 7.8-8.2. Now it looks like I will hit 8.5+ today. Should I be worried? See graph below. Plus my usual uptake is 1 dkh per day. I am also concerned that with the increase in ph my alk consumption could have sky rocketed. I planned ahead a bit and raised it from my normal of 8.0ish to 8.7 before I left thinking I would get some increase due to higher PH. But I was not expecting it to go this high. Thoughts? I return in 3 days and my tank sitter is not strong with the force. Reef force that is.

FYI in the graph below you can see the first 2 days are my normal PH and then see it steadily increase while we are away. On day 4 I have a low ph day because my temps got to 84 and I shut half the lights off to help with the heat. AC went out for a day. The next day it all skyrocketed and peaked at 8.45. Assuming it will get higher today.

 

[mdb_talon]

My concern would be that your alkalinity is also increasing. Unless something has changed to impact the co2 in the tank then your concern with alk should not be it is dropping but rather that it is increasing,

 

[Heabel7]

My concern would be that your alkalinity is also increasing. Unless something has changed to impact the co2 in the tank then your concern with alk should not be it is dropping but rather that it is increasing,

Alk demand increasing thus causing it to decrease because I am not adding enough to compensate. We on same page?

 

[mdb_talon]

Alk demand increasing thus causing it to decrease because I am not adding enough to compensate. We on same page?

Well in terms of a higher PH can cause faster growth and increase alk demand i agree.

I was more lookin at your PH chart though and your concern that PH is increasing. The only way PH is increasing is if something has changed in regards to co2 concentration in the tank or your alk is actually increasing.

Unless you have made some specific changes(opened windows, using co2 scrubbers, change light schedules, etc) then i would not expect your co2 to be changing thay rapidly in a few days.....which leads me to be concerned that the cause of your increasing PH is actually that your alk is increasing quite a bit.

 

[Sumo Reef]

Alk swings, PH swings, AC went out, and also temp swings.

That's a lot of swings.

 

[melonheadorion]

with the gradual increase, i would suspect calibration of the monitor. i would verify with a ph test. the only other thing i could think of is alk is being dosed, and increasing the ph in part of that, but i personally dont think so.

you are on vacation though, which means that there is no extra co2 being generated by home inhabitants. the less co2 could be the reason\

 

[Mical]

I wouldn't sweat it. We leave for weeks at at a time and PH level upwards of 8.5+ isn't an issue.

 

[moz71]

Just my experience my Ph rises when house is empty. Tank in a main living area. And when I have party it drops like a rock. If not this hopefully not overdosing alk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I too would not worry about the higher pH.

 

[Heabel7]

Sounds good on PH. Hopefully my alk is holding strong.