Ph is 8.5!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 15, 2017

greenhorn reefer said:
Another concern is; how do I add alk and calc now without raising ph?

Sodium bicarbonate lowers pH when added, and calcium chloride has no impact.

A DIY two part like my bicarbonate recipe, or a commercial one like B-ionic Bicarbonate are a good choice if you do not want to raise pH at all.

Andrewalex11 · Aug 15, 2017

@Randy Holmes-Farley do you think doing the old soda bottle and baking soda to make a DIY CO2 diffuser into the tank would assist in lowering pH?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 15, 2017

Andrewalex11 said:
@Randy Holmes-Farley do you think doing the old soda bottle and baking soda to make a DIY CO2 diffuser into the tank would assist in lowering pH?

If the pH is 8.5, simple aeration with room air will lower it if that's a goal.

But yes, any way of adding CO2 can lower it.

Keepswiming · Aug 15, 2017

Just like the consensus here, I wish my pH was that high. I struggle with the opposite!

If you want to lower your pH, just have all your friends come sleep over

!
It works for me... I can see a huge pH change when my family goes on vacation. More reasons to Go on vacations I guess!

greenhorn reefer · Aug 15, 2017

Dom said:
New question related to the post: What problem are you having which leads you to believe the pH needs to come down?

No problem. My reason for pause is... I dose Red Sea ABC for mag, calc, and alk. I know that when I dose my ph usually raises. My numbers are gradually going down but ph isn't going down with them. I am/was afraid to add anything fearing I would enter dangerously high levels of ph (but now I don't even know what to think dangerous levels are). However, my API tested at 8 today while the Seneye was saying 8.55. The conflicting results were enough to make me feel comfortable with dosing. However, I also took the smallest steps possible to begin lowering my ph. I added a powerhead to the sump for surface agitation as well as having the family hang out in dining room a while after dinner. I will wait and watch now.

justingraham · Aug 15, 2017

Man if I were u I would enjoy that ph and kick everyone out of the house to see how high U can get it
u know how much people pay to get ur ph?

greenhorn reefer · Aug 15, 2017

justingraham said:
Man if I were u I would enjoy that ph and kick everyone out of the house to see how high U can get it
u know how much people pay to get ur ph?

What's the benefit? Isn't natural sea water 8-8.3? Doesn't high ph stress fish, and stunt coral growth? Everyone insists that its fine and I'm not stubborn enough to think everyone is wrong but at the same time, no one is saying why it is good.

Keepswiming · Aug 15, 2017

greenhorn reefer said:
What's the benefit? Isn't natural sea water 8-8.3? Doesn't high ph stress fish, and stunt coral growth? Everyone insists that its fine and I'm not stubborn enough to think everyone is wrong but at the same time, no one is saying why it is good.

Higher pH means a higher calcification rate. My tank was below 7.7 and my corals grew like a baby grows a beard.

greenhorn reefer · Aug 15, 2017

Keepswiming said:
Higher pH means a higher calcification rate. My tank was below 7.7 and my corals grew like a baby grows a beard.

Mind if I use that?! Killing me.

justingraham · Aug 15, 2017

When I ran scrubber media and got my ph to be at 8.5 as the low and 8.67 as my high my alk consumption doubled what it is now and day to day I could actually see growth of my corals.

I ran the media as a test and well it worked but it was an expensive test plus with the higher alk consumption there was always daily testing and adjusting of the alk

greenhorn reefer · Aug 15, 2017

justingraham said:
When I ran scrubber media and got my ph to be at 8.5 as the low and 8.67 as my high my alk consumption doubled what it is now and day to day I could actually see growth of my corals.

I ran the media as a test and well it worked but it was an expensive test plus with the higher alk consumption there was always daily testing and adjusting of the alk

Do you have fish?

sheepdog76 · Aug 15, 2017

The seneye is great at a quick glance and it can be calibrated if you find the numbers are off. As for API I don't find it to be trash either however it is not an exact science meaning sometime the color can sometimes be hard to pinpoint so I find it to be good to make sure your in the zone not on the mark. As for your 8.5 , natural sea water is between 7.9-8.5 so you are fine. Rather then focusing on lowering it I would make sure it is stable which is more important. Keep in mind as I'm sure you have seen on the seneye you will go down naturally at night. Should only swing a few points. I would say small water changes making sure your source is the right ph is a good thing to do.

justingraham · Aug 15, 2017

greenhorn reefer said:
Do you have fish?

Yep all fine

enveetie · Aug 16, 2017

greenhorn reefer said:
I thought that was the perfect range?

i've seen better sps growth rates with higher ph in other ppl's tanks. i've never been able to get mine up that high because i didn't want to invest in more equipment like co2 scrubbers. just kinda wish i knew what it was like to have ph in that range for an extended period.

Kris.C · Aug 16, 2017

I run the same RSM ABC. Alk supplement raises my PH but after the initial dosing but it's fairly consistent 8.5 peaking 8.6 during max photo period. Other than the crack-head like sps coral growth my fish have extra O2 to terrorize their reflection in the glass. No down side really, just keep an eye out for the calcification on the heater or Powerheads in the long run.

Saltyanimals · Aug 16, 2017

Remember that pH will fluctuate throughout the day/night cycle as someone showed in their Apex graph. There have been many articles that says swings are natural, unavoidable (can minimize with opposite lighting cycle for fuge) but ultimately won't hard anything. I chased this for awhile myself trying to keep it as close as possible to 8.3 consistently and gave up. lol. I swing btwn 8.0-8.3 and no issues. Ultimately..every tank is different so if everything is looking good.. don't chase the numbers. Not able a specific number, but about stability over time.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 16, 2017

greenhorn reefer said:
What's the benefit? Isn't natural sea water 8-8.3? Doesn't high ph stress fish, and stunt coral growth? Everyone insists that its fine and I'm not stubborn enough to think everyone is wrong but at the same time, no one is saying why it is good.

Some (many? all?) calcifying corals seem sensitive to the amount of carbonate in the water. More carbonate can mean faster skeletal growth.

More carbonate can come from higher alkalinity at fixed pH, or higher pH at fixed alkalinity.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.4319/lo.2006.51.3.1284/full
The effect of carbonate chemistry on calcification and photosynthesis in the hermatypic coral Acropora eurystoma

"CT was changed keeping the pH constant, and CT was changed keeping the pCO2 constant. In all of these experiments, calcification (both light and dark) was positively correlated with CO3-2 concentration, suggesting that the corals are not sensitive to pH or CT but to the CO3-2 concentration."