PH trending high 8.55

jetskiwilly · Feb 25, 2023

PH is trending between 8.25-8.55 over the last 2-4 weeks. Its 8AM, PH is 8.51. When I started the tank a year ago, PH was 8-8.2.

I use Randy's 2 part, with baked soda, or soda ash.

2 months ago I has heavy feeding to try and get a leopard wrasse to eat. Im also having an hair algae explosion.

Plan of attack to get tank back in good condition is scrub algae, 20 gallon water changes every 2 weeks, fish will get starving rations, I added more clean up crew 2 weeks ago.(crabs and pods)

Is the algae growing fast due to high PH, or is high PH growing algae fast?
Should I extend the light time on refuge? (currently 4 hours, 12am-4am)
Any concerns with high PH, should I vinegar dose?

Clownfishy · Feb 25, 2023

When was the last time you calibrated the pH probe (assuming you are using it to measure your pH)? I have found my probe drifts upwards and when I calibrate the probe, I can lose 0.1 on its reading.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 25, 2023

Hi pH does not typically spur algae growth. For many, it reduces the growth rate by limiting CO2.

The pH is fine if accurate, but I think there's a good chance it is not and the pH meter could use recalibration.

jetskiwilly · Feb 25, 2023

Probably been 6 months since calibrated probe, might be time.

Found a similar post from 2021. My ideas are backwards

Soda ash raises PH
More/longer light raises PH.
And 8.5 isn't the end of the world, as Randy confirmed above.