Raise my pH?

[gemini9]

I went to the LFS today with the intent to purchase a clown. Took a sample of my water to be tested and the lady told me I should not buy any fish because my pH was too low. I find it odd for a salesperson to tell somebody NOT to buy a fish... but she did. In testing my water parameters, this is what she came up with, which is similar to what I get at home

Parameters
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 or 30
Temp - 78F
Salinity 1.021 (I know it's a little low. I did a wc and ran out of salt
I have a 30 gallon tank

She also tested my water hardness which was ok. The ammonia is a little high but that may be because I just switched my crushed coral out for live sand. My nitrates are getting better, as they used to be hovering around 80 - 160.

Equipment
30 gallon tank
Marineland 350 HOB filter (removed biowheels)
Reef Octopus bh100 skimmer
Marineland Maxijet 400 powerhead
Basic flourescent tube light that came with the aquarium

Tank has
20 lbs Aragalive Pink Fiji sand from BRS
30 lbs LR (ordered dry from brs back in April)
Use store bought RODI

Livestock
1 Yellowtailed Blue Damsel
4 hermits
I also just ordered a cuc from Reefcleaners.org consisting of snails, 1 emerald crab, 1 scarlet hermit, 2 assorted hermits and a ball of chaeto to help with nitrates. I also went for the macro algae sample for a penny bargain.

Now let's get back to the pH. The lady told me "you shouldn't buy a clown until you get your parameters, especially your pH, where they are supposed to be." She also said not to bother with the snails either, that anything I put in my tank will die.... but my damsel and hermits are fine...hwell:

My ph is 7.8 and she said I need to get it up to 8.4 before I do anything else. Was telling me something about baking soda, but also said it can be dangerous. So basically, I want to know what you all think and how I can get my pH up.

I do not have corals and don't plan on having them for a few years. This is a FOWLR tank

 

[pickupman66]

Your fish will be perfectly fine at 7.8. I have seen many successful reef tanks at this and there are no issues. The only issue that may happen is the corals will not grow quite as fast.

The main thing you want to watch with your pH is that it does not bounce around erratically or large fast changes.

 

[gemini9]

Well why in the world would that lady NOT sell me a fish? It does seem a little low though and although the fish will be ok, it should still come up a bit right? I mean, it wouldn't hurt.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well why in the world would that lady NOT sell me a fish? It does seem a little low though and although the fish will be ok, it should still come up a bit right? I mean, it wouldn't hurt.

If you did it correctly, it wouldn't hurt, but adding buffers is likely to do more harm than good. Excessive alkalinity (from dosing buffers) is worse than pH 7.8.

I wouldn't do ANYTHING about it at this point, except measure alkalinity.

Here's a section on pH from one of my articles:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...-coral-reef-aquarium-randy-holmes-farley.html

pH


pH is a measure of the concentration of protons (H+ ions) and hydroxide (OH-) ions in the water. Aquarists spend a considerable amount of time and effort worrying about, and attempting to solve, apparent problems with the pH of their aquaria. Some of this effort is justified, as true pH problems can lead to poor animal health. In many cases, however, the only problem is with the pH measurement or its interpretation. Moreover, the maintenance of appropriate alkalinity in seawater goes a long way to ensuring that the pH is acceptable, with just a couple of exceptions that will be discussed below.


Several factors make monitoring a marine aquarium's pH level useful. One is that aquatic organisms thrive only in a particular pH range, which varies from organism to organism. It is therefore difficult to justify a claim that a particular pH range is "optimal" in an aquarium housing many species. Even natural seawater's pH (8.0 to 8.3) may be suboptimal for some of its creatures, but it was recognized more than eighty years ago that pH levels different from natural seawater (down to 7.3, for example) are stressful to fish. Additional information now exists about optimal pH ranges for many organisms, but the data are inadequate to allow aquarists to optimize pH for most organisms which interest them.


Additionally, pH's effect on organisms can be direct, or indirect. The toxicity of metals such as copper and nickel to some aquarium organisms, such as mysids and amphipods, is known to vary with pH. Consequently the acceptable pH range of one aquarium may differ from another aquarium, even if they contain the same organisms, but have different concentrations of metals.


Changes in pH nevertheless do substantially impact some fundamental processes taking place in many marine organisms. One of these fundamental processes is calcification, or deposition of calcium carbonate skeletons, which is known to depend on pH, usually dropping as pH falls. At a low enough pH (somewhere below pH 7.7) coral skeletons can begin to slowly dissolve. Using this type of information, along with the integrated experience of many hobbyists, we can develop some guidelines about what is an acceptable pH range for reef aquaria, and what values push the limits.


The acceptable pH range for reef aquaria is an opinion rather than a clear fact, and will certainly vary with the opinion's provider. This range may also be quite different from the "optimal" range. Justifying what is optimal, however, is much more problematic than is justifying that which is simply acceptable, so we will focus on the latter. As a goal, I'd suggest that the pH of natural seawater, about 8.2, is appropriate, but coral reef aquaria can clearly succeed in a wider range of pH values. In my opinion, the pH range from 7.8 to 8.5 is an acceptable range for reef aquaria.


In truth, many aquarists never measure pH, and many that do so do not do anything with the results they obtain. This lack of action is usually okay, as most aquaria do not naturally fall outside of the acceptable ranges. Times when it is most important to at least check pH once in a while are:


1. When using very high pH additives, such as limewater (kalkwasser). In this case, one should ensure that the pH does not get above about 8.55. At higher values, the precipitation of calcium carbonate on pumps and such can become excessive. Every 0.3 pH unit rise in pH is equivalent to about a doubling of the calcium or alkalinity value in terms of the likelihood of precipitation of calcium carbonate (because bicarbonate turns into carbonate as the pH rises, driving precipitation). Aquaria may often get to a pH that is high enough to double the precipitation rate due to elevated pH, but one does not often see aquaria with calcium or alkalinity that is double the normal value, making high pH a big driver of precipitation.


2. When the air around the aquarium has elevated carbon dioxide levels, such as in a newer, tighter home. Low pH due to elevated carbon dioxide in the air is VERY common. While it may be useful to ensure the pH stays above 8.0, there are many fine aquaria with the bottom end of the pH range at pH 7.8. Below that value, I'd want to take more aggressive action, such as more fresh air in the home, top off with limewater (kalkwasser), a fresh air line from outside to a skimmer inlet, or a CO2 scrubber on a skimmer inlet.

 

[mwbeach]

I would check your PH right out of the aquarium. PH can changed significantly by the time it is tested at the store. Mine is usually 8.1-8.2 at home. When I take it to the LFS it is usually 7.8-7.9.

 

[gemini9]

Good read Randy. I'll not worry about it so much. The room the aquarium is in actually was just completely renovated a few months ago so in truth, it is pretty air tight. May be part of the problem. I get the same readings at home as they did at LFS.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks.

If and when you begin to need to supplement alkalinity, if you elect a high pH additive, that will help boost the pH a bit.

 

[Congaken]

Good read Randy. I'll not worry about it so much. The room the aquarium is in actually was just completely renovated a few months ago so in truth, it is pretty air tight. May be part of the problem. I get the same readings at home as they did at LFS.

I've been at that range for a year and a half...no problem with corals or fish...