PH issues

[david3727]

Ok I've been fighting this for ever since setting this aquarium up 2 years ago. My pH will not go above 7.9, I started a kalkwasser through they ato and all it did is shoot my alkalinity up to 10. I'm slowly lowering it back down. It's at 9 now.
Cal 450
Mag 1400
Alk 9
Sal 1.026
Temp 78
A seem to loose any sps I try to put in, I have a 110 oceanic with 250 w blue radium's, one reef brite blue led.
I have no trouble growing Xenia or the lower end corals. I've done major water changes and the pH stays the same . I'm testing the pH with two meters. One Milwaukee and a new pinpoint I just got yesterday. They both are reading the same.
I'm going to try a co2 scrubber because opening a window is not a option and it's 91 outside.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hi Welcome to Reef2reef!!!!
Maybe start with a simple airstone for the ph. Im lucky my tank is near the window to i put the pump outside and ran the 1/4 tube through. but even if the pump is inside you should notice a difference. Are you running a fuge? is it on a offset sched? 7,9 is not too bad really as long as its not dropping much beyond that.

for the sps you have to post up the nutrient parameters (nNo Po) and maybe an fts. thats a LOT of light. esp if you have a super low nutrients. are they bleaching or browning? Any reactors gfo etc?

 

[jsker]

Own or rent?

 

[Salty1962]

Some systems don't adhere to the norm. If your tank is doing well I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[david3727]

No refuge, own the home but house is only five years old, I'll try the airstone

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

No refuge, own the home but house is only five years old, I'll try the airstone

@jsker Recommending the power tool option?

Some folks drill a small hole in the wall to run an airline to the skimmer.

Some systems don't adhere to the norm. If your tank is doing well I wouldn't worry about it.

+1
dont chase numbers.

 

[david3727]

Not going to drill a hole through a new brick home. Going to try the co2 scrubber if it doesn't work then I'll look at different coral option's. Hole to the outside freezes drifting snow in the winter, bug crawls in it. Just not a option

 

[jsker]

@jsker Recommending the power tool option?

Some folks drill a small hole in the wall to run an airline to the skimmer.


+1
dont chase numbers.

Yes, @saltyfilmfolks thank you that was my thought

I was having an issue last summer with Ph sitting at 7.8, 7.9, for the reason that here in Florida the houses are closed up most of the year. Drilled a hole in the wall through the concrete block wall and ran my first air lines to my skimmer. I have not had an issue with Ph since. With my present skimmer I again ran the 3/8 air line through the same hole, sealed the hole, put a 90 degree on the air line outside so that it dose not suck water in during storms. I also checked the air line temperature with a food grade thermal thermometer and the line is at the temperature of the house after a foot.

Yes you next best option is a Co2 scrubber and @Lasse cover that in his build thread and dose a good job with DIY scrubber

 

[Lasse]

Do you run a calcium reactor in your system?

I´ll post a description of my DIY CO2 scrubber in my build thread

Sincerely Lasse

 

[david3727]

No calcium reactor.

 

[Drakonis]

All modern homes have fresh air exchange on them anyway. a newer home should already have a rather sizable air exhange in the furnace area somthing like 4 to 6 inch pipe that allows outside air in so worrying about a bug is a bit silly. just find your fresh air exchange pipe and draw skimmer air from there if you dont want to make a new hole.

 

[david3727]

I have a heat pump so no outside pipe. That's usually on a gas furnace

 

[morpheas]

For the scrubber I use this one. Has worked extremely well for me. @Lasse seems to have a similar one. Also, you can buy an air filter from BRS if you don't want the DIY option.

As you know pH is a fluctuating number during a day period. Have you been able to monitor it over a full day's period? If not, is the 7.9 you're mentioning the max or min or average? Lastly, the problem you're encountering with the sps might not be completely (or at all) related to the pH. As mentioned, give us as many values as you have for the other parameters to see if anybody can help pinpoint the problem...

 

[Drakonis]

Heat pump or gas furnace shouldnt matter, homes by modern building code have to have air exchange

 

[david3727]

Nitrates and phosphate I have to get back with you on that, phosphate was hardly traceable when tested a week ago at LFS. We didn't do a nitrates test. I have a brand new pinpoint and a older Milwaukee pH monitor. Both are reading the same exept the third number.
Highest is 8.0 and the lowest at 3 am that's when I get up for work they both say 7.8
I've been doing kalk through ato and it raised the alk and never changed the pH at all. I did 30 percent water change yesterday and it didn't change the pH. Salt was the new aquaforest

 

[morpheas]

OK here is what I would do with the limited knowledge I have from your system. One is I would do the CO2 scrubbing. This might actually bring the value up by 0.1 or more (in my case it has been almost 0.2, my numbers greatly improved over time). And two, I would look into a reverse lighting cycle refugium. In my case, I don't have any macro algae (I don't really need it for nutrient export, I don't really care for it at this stage of my reefing life), I followed a different path I saw which was I added some xenia in the center compartment of my tank (in a craft basket for containment) with an OK light and reverse the light cycle from the tank. This will also help with the nightly dips.

This might help with the pH issues, until you know more about nutrient levels (and maybe someone else can chime in on trace elements or any other thing that might be affecting them) you will not be sure if it will help with the sps problems in general. On the other hand these are cheap easy solutions to do in the immediate future and see if they improve anything, they definitely won't harm...

PS: You didn't say specifically what problem you had with the sps like @saltyfilmfolks asked (browning, bleaching etc) since that might provide a hint to the experts

 

[david3727]

Heat pump or gas furnace shouldnt matter, homes by modern building code have to have air exchange

Well I live there and I'm telling you the only outside pipes are on the roof for the bathroom vents. There is no pipe you speak of for the HVAC system.

 

[Lasse]

Today - outside air has a CO2 content of 400 ppm - it correspond to a pH around 8.15 in sea water. Well isolated houses here in Sweden can have CO2 levels around 600 - 800 ppm (-> pH around 8 . If the aquarium is some years old - you will have same bacteria producing CO2 in the aquarium - it means that if you do not have any ventilation in your sump cabinet - you can get CO2 levels round 1200 ppm or higher to the intake air to the skimmer. Start to take the air to the skimmer outside the cabinet and see if you get any result (or ventilate it) (If you have a cabinet for the sump)

In my system – if I do not have the scrubber working – a visit of my daughter and her two children impact my pH with nearly 0.1 unit if we do not have the doors to our terrace open (seldom happens when it’s below 10 degrees C outside or if its raining)

There is a description of my scrubber in my thread now

Sincerely Lasse

 

[david3727]

The only air exchange is in the house as a cold air duct

 

[david3727]

Yes I'm going to try that the sump is in a cabinet with only the back open. Just a question and Im going to try it, I have a unfinished basement nobody is ever down there. Is running a skimmer air line to the basement a option?