PH Low but ALK is high

[Budman93]

Hello everyone. Setting up a new 40g aquarium and have been getting my levels in check and cycling. I noticed my PH was lowish (About 7.8) so thinking nothing of it I went to the LFS and bought some PH raising bottle from Seachem. Upon getting home and adding I read online that this is likely not the best way to solve my Problems with PH and Alk. After dosing the PH up i tested 8.3 ph (good) and 13.4(!!!) ALK. I am a little less worried about that though because I noticed after the fact that the reagent had expired in 2021 so I have more coming in tomorrow to check. Hopefully though I can get ALK 8-12 before introducing livestock.

What is the best way to maintain these? As it is warming up here I can start opening windows to help with PH but in the winter months I absolutely cannot do that. Thank you in advance!

 

[Troylee]

Do you have any lights on? You can top off with kalk to raise it also.. co2 scrubber on the skimmer intake etc.. plenty of ways to raise it.

 

[Budman93]

Do you have any lights on? You can top off with kalk to raise it also.. co2 scrubber on the skimmer intake etc.. plenty of ways to raise it.

I've been running my lights on an autoschedule for 8hrs the last week. Maybe not best practice while cycling but that's what i've been doing. I am planning to start Skimmerless though so adding a CO2 scrubber isnt an option right now. Might reconsider when I have a lot of livestock but in the meantime I feel like it would be overkill. Adding Kalk would work to stabilize PH correct? What about ALK?

I could very well have just had a faulty alk reading and it could be fine but I want to keep this in a healthy range.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Higher alk will not hurt fish and a lot of corals people usually start out with. Neither is alk that important in a newly established aquarium. I would just let it fall over time. The best thing I ever did was to throw away my pH test kits and sell my pH meters. I simply worry about alkalinity and let pH rise and fall with CO2 levels.

 

[Troylee]

I've been running my lights on an autoschedule for 8hrs the last week. Maybe not best practice while cycling but that's what i've been doing. I am planning to start Skimmerless though so adding a CO2 scrubber isnt an option right now. Might reconsider when I have a lot of livestock but in the meantime I feel like it would be overkill. Adding Kalk would work to stabilize PH correct? What about ALK?

I could very well have just had a faulty alk reading and it could be fine but I want to keep this in a healthy range.

Flow will help also. Breaking the surface area in your display will allow more o2 into the water.

 

[Budman93]

Higher alk will not hurt fish and a lot of corals people usually start out with. Neither is alk that important in a newly established aquarium. I would just let it fall over time. The best thing I ever did was to throw away my pH test kits and sell my pH meters. I simply worry about alkalinity and let pH rise and fall with CO2 levels.

Good to know. Last time I ran a reef tank I was unsuccessful keeping LPS so i really want to be on top of my levels this time. Would an aerator be beneficial for oxygen absorption or is it really just total CO2 in whatever room your tank is in because I cant really control that.

 

[Troylee]

Good to know. Last time I ran a reef tank I was unsuccessful keeping LPS so i really want to be on top of my levels this time. Would an aerator be beneficial for oxygen absorption or is it really just total CO2 in whatever room your tank is in because I cant really control that.

Air stone would help but a skimmer would be better! Get much more bubbles and clean the tank for ya..

 

[bushdoc]

I have 29 gal tank where I keep misbehaving fish, inverts, mantis shrimp, no corals though. I do not check pH or dKH, perhaps just every 3-4 months or so and all inhabitants are doing swell. Overtesting in tank without inhabitants is a bit redundant. If you plan to keep corals then obviously you should tune your params, but in FOWLR sg/salinity and temp is most important. In newly established/cycling tank alkalinity and pH are fluctuating until some balance is achieved.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I discuss CO2 issues in great detail here:

pH and the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

by Randy Holmes-Farley For many aquarists, pH is not something that they have much experience with aside from their aquarium. For many, pH is almost a black box measurement: something to be considered, but whose physical meaning makes little sense to them. This article will Read more here...

www.reefedition.com

 

[Budman93]

Thank you for responses guys appreciate the knowledge.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Good to know. Last time I ran a reef tank I was unsuccessful keeping LPS so i really want to be on top of my levels this time. Would an aerator be beneficial for oxygen absorption or is it really just total CO2 in whatever room your tank is in because I cant really control that.

@Randy Holmes-Farley is the man. Read his article above. Aeration drives off carbon dioxide only IF it exists in excess of atmospheric levels and raises the oxygen level IF the level is not already at saturation. Usually, it doesn't help much.
Once you have alkalinity consumption from corals or Coralline Algae, adding kalkwasser at night is a good way to boost pH, but for now it will drive up alkalinity just like the other stuff you used.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley is the man. Read his article above. Aeration drives off carbon dioxide only IF it exists in excess of atmospheric levels and raises the oxygen level IF the level is not already at saturation. Usually, it doesn't help much.
Once you have alkalinity consumption from corals or Coralline Algae, adding kalkwasser at night is a good way to boost pH, but for now it will drive up alkalinity just like the other stuff you used.

Agreed. elevated indoor CO2 is often the issue, and when it is, more aeration with that indoor air can lower pH.