PH Keeps dropping

[ScottyD36]

I have a 40 gallon C Vue Tank. It been up and running for over a year now. My PH has just started to drop rapidly everyday no matter what I do. Last night I did a water change. My PH was around 8 after it. 12 hours later my apex alarm is going off showing PH of 7.6 I dosed my marine buffer for PH and it brought it back up past 8 to like 8.2. My question is what could be dropping my PH so quickly all the sudden when I have no had this problem before. my Alk is 12.7, Ca 421 and Mg 1258 and tank temp sits at 76.8 degrees. The only thing I have recently changes was that I added a small refugium in on of the chambers with chaeto and a light. I dont think that could be the culprit. Any advice or idea to help me fix the problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Stigigemla]

Thats a problem I have seen a few times with electronic pH meters.
Often when the pH electrode ages it starts to show low values. I have 2 customers that crashed their tanks because they added chemicals in trying to get a good value on the meter.
Sometimes they can show wrong value if You place them close to a power cord. In some cases a ground probe can solve the problem.
So please check Your pH with a chemical test as soon as You see strange values and calibrate Your pH meter.

 

[ScottyD36]

Thats a problem I have seen a few times with electronic pH meters.
Often when the pH electrode ages it starts to show low values. I have 2 customers that crashed their tanks because they added chemicals in trying to get a good value on the meter.
Sometimes they can show wrong value if You place them close to a power cord. In some cases a ground probe can solve the problem.
So please check Your pH with a chemical test as soon as You see strange values and calibrate Your pH meter.

Yea. I have a Hannah PH tester that I am going to use to double check everything. Also my PH probe is only a month old. One of those annoying situations.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Try recalibrating your ph probe or electronic meter. Also, I dont see your location, but if its now getting to be cold where you live and your house is now all closed up tight... that might be a factor. You can always try running an outside airline to your skimmer. Let us know if you figure out the cause and/or the solution. Good luck!

 

[SPR1968]

I wouldn’t mess around trying to increase or decrease pH at all unless there’s a very good reason, especially adding chemicals as you can cause all sorts of issues

I would recalibrate and get verified chemical tests before even considering adding something.

I have a certain popular controller with a pH probe and trust it as a guide only, I wouldn’t trust it for anything were I would be making critical adjustments.

Several things can affect pH readings, if I go away from home for a week, the tank pH gets better, because I’m not breathing around it! So I’m officially bad for the health of my tank! Lol