PH, is there a consensus?

[boogiesnap]

Hey y’all, I’m wondering…
Is there definitive evidence that one of the following 2 scenarios is better for coral/fish health?

1)dosing kalk 24 hours a day resulting in the expected diurnal swing but higher numbers throughout

2)dosing kalk only when lights are out. Less diurnal swing but overall lower numbers

I’ve got a small tank so using kalk for alk and calc heavy lifting. Supplemented with a bit of all for reef for trace and mag.

But figure might as well make the most of bonus PH bump.

 

[Stevorino]

I don’t think so?

I looked this up a couple of months ago and it seemed like a mix of results.

I personally settled in dosing ~70% at night and 30% during the day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey y’all, I’m wondering…
Is there definitive evidence that one of the following 2 scenarios is better for coral/fish health?

1)dosing kalk 24 hours a day resulting in the expected diurnal swing but higher numbers throughout

2)dosing kalk only when lights are out. Less diurnal swing but overall lower numbers

I’ve got a small tank so using kalk for alk and calc heavy lifting. Supplemented with a bit of all for reef for trace and mag.

But figure might as well make the most of bonus PH bump.

There are many different organisms in a reef aquarium that likely have different pH optima.

Some types of macroalgae prefer (or at least grow faster) at lower pH, and some do not, both for well understood reasons. At lower ph, soem algae get C from CO2 and there is less at higher pH and they grow more slowly. Others get C from bicarbonate and maybe carbonate, and it doesn't change much as pH rises, so they do not mind higher pH.

Some hard corals grow (skeletal growth) faster at higher pH, for well understood reasons. Clams may fall in this category too.

I do not think there is much evidence about growth vs pH for other organisms we keep, but I doubt they prefer higher pH since they lack the rational for higher pH boosting the ease of calcification. . These include anemones and soft corals, and most anything that doesn't calcify.

I doubt fish care that much in the range we encounter typically, 7.7 to 8.6, but they might.

Health of organisms is a much different and much harder question to answer.

 

[boogiesnap]

There are many different organisms in a reef aquarium that likely have different pH optima.

Some types of macroalgae prefer (or at least grow faster) at lower pH, and some do not, both for well understood reasons. At lower ph, soem algae get C from CO2 and there is less at higher pH and they grow more slowly. Others get C from bicarbonate and maybe carbonate, and it doesn't change much as pH rises, so they do not mind higher pH.

Some hard corals grow (skeletal growth) faster at higher pH, for well understood reasons. Clams may fall in this category too.

I do not think there is much evidence about growth vs pH for other organisms we keep, but I doubt they prefer higher pH since they lack the rational for higher pH boosting the ease of calcification. . These include anemones and soft corals, and most anything that doesn't calcify.

I doubt fish care that much in the range we encounter typically, 7.7 to 8.6, but they might.

Health of organisms is a much different and much harder question to answer.

Thank you, understood and agreed.

Given the exponential change with just .1 up or down in PH measurement I’m wondering what is better, wider swings with a higher PH over each 24 hours or more balanced PH but lower overall.

I.E

Dosing kalk 24 hours PH is 8.15-8.4, dosing just at night stays around 8…

Stability or like meckley says address you’re suppressed PH(understood his system has a million other things I can’t replicate…so big grain of salt, or sugar maybe, cuz it’s not scepticism per say…lol)

 

[boogiesnap]

There are many different organisms in a reef aquarium that likely have different pH optima.

Some types of macroalgae prefer (or at least grow faster) at lower pH, and some do not, both for well understood reasons. At lower ph, soem algae get C from CO2 and there is less at higher pH and they grow more slowly. Others get C from bicarbonate and maybe carbonate, and it doesn't change much as pH rises, so they do not mind higher pH.

Some hard corals grow (skeletal growth) faster at higher pH, for well understood reasons. Clams may fall in this category too.

I do not think there is much evidence about growth vs pH for other organisms we keep, but I doubt they prefer higher pH since they lack the rational for higher pH boosting the ease of calcification. . These include anemones and soft corals, and most anything that doesn't calcify.

I doubt fish care that much in the range we encounter typically, 7.7 to 8.6, but they might.

Health of organisms is a much different and much harder question to

 

[boogiesnap]

I don’t think so?

I looked this up a couple of months ago and it seemed like a mix of results.

I personally settled in dosing ~70% at night and 30% during the day

Thank you, I didn’t find much definitively with this specific question either, I may try your solution .

 

[Acros]

I have an orange digitata that does not like alk swings. I tried dosing ESV 2 part only at night to deal with night time low ph, and the digitata polyps showed signs of bleaching. Interestingly, the same was observed when dosing kalkwasser only at night.

Below picture shows the polyps looking white/bleached.

 

[exnisstech]

I have 3 tanks running. One I drip kalk 24/7 totaling 1200 ml a day. Total volume is about 220ish gallons. Two other tanks get no kalk total volume 40g and 75g. When I measured pH all 3 tanks are 8.3 so I'm getting nothing from dosing kalk that I can see as far as pH is concerned but I'm doing it for cal and alk so I can use less 2part so it doesn't really matter.