Ph swings upto 8.6 everyday religiously, why?

Rijodan · Jun 10, 2022

So my calibration fluid came in today and as y'all expected it was way off, the original calibration fluid truly was expired and bad or these probes drift quicker than i thought. Was reading at 8.56 before calibration and down to 8.11 imediately after. tomorrow evening ill be able to see a more accurate swing chart. As it sits I typically peaked around 6-7 and it was still holding that 8.11 and as lights hae gone out we are now down to 7.89.

Tested all my parameters and noticed calcium is way up at 542 and have read 500+ can cause some alk issues so i guess that needs to be addressed along with my alk as next issue to address. At this rate i need to start a new thread that is general param info in this tank moreso than piling onto this thread

Miami Reef · Jun 10, 2022

Thanks for the update.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 10, 2022

FWIW, high pH calibration solutions, such as pH 10, tend to drop in pH as CO2 enters them from the air. I've tracked my own solutions this way and also bought and tested some older ones for an article. Some were way off.

Low pH in the higher buffer used for calibration gives the result of falsely high pH when measuring tank water.

A Comparison of pH Calibration Buffers by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Rijodan · Jun 10, 2022

So as a rule of thumb with high ph calibration, be weary of stocking up if not going to use in a quick fashion.

jmichaelh7 · Jun 10, 2022

Rijodan said:
Everyday my ph is going from 8.0 to 8.6. Same time and peak everyday. The low is always 6am an hour afyer i leave and peaks around 6 when gf gets home. Lights turn on around 8am and turn off around 9. No idea.

Let me know your recipe when you find out haha