Raise pH - how to ?
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Kimkjaer
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The skimmer is fine, skims Coffe/tea color.
I have some FTS of the tank, the swirl in the picture, is because i needed to clean the front glass fast, i guess its gravel.
Salinity = 1025
PO4 = 0,08
CA/MG Unknown - my test set was expired
Sump w. skimmer
I have some FTS of the tank, the swirl in the picture, is because i needed to clean the front glass fast, i guess its gravel.
Salinity = 1025
PO4 = 0,08
CA/MG Unknown - my test set was expired
Sump w. skimmer
Last edited:
McMullen
Valuable Member
We have a wide differential diagnosis at the moment. To find the problem we need to one by one test. Opening windows is easy. It may have a small difference. Pumps and surface tension also easy and may help.
Breadman03
Valuable Member
IME=in my experience
IMO=in my opinion
Opening windows for a bit would be a diagnostic tool. Your sump appears to be well enclosed. Can you leave the cabinet open for a couple hours to see if better circulation within the cabinet gets your pH up?
IMO=in my opinion
Opening windows for a bit would be a diagnostic tool. Your sump appears to be well enclosed. Can you leave the cabinet open for a couple hours to see if better circulation within the cabinet gets your pH up?
Chris Adams
Valuable Member
So you have a list
1) Open Windows (what is the weather in Denmark anyways?) Adding cabinet based on Breadman comment.. good thought
2) flow and water agitation adjustment
3) Use the 7.0 and 10.0 calibration fluid packs to re-calibrate the probe. Rinse probe in ro/di and quick wipe down before putting in 7 calibration and set the calibration then ro/di rinse give it a quick wipe and do the 10.0. Once 10.0 is calibrated you could rinse again in ro/di and stick back in the 7.0 and that should give you 7.0 give.
4) Read that article and pick out what makes sense to you. Also perform the Aeration test
1) Open Windows (what is the weather in Denmark anyways?) Adding cabinet based on Breadman comment.. good thought
2) flow and water agitation adjustment
3) Use the 7.0 and 10.0 calibration fluid packs to re-calibrate the probe. Rinse probe in ro/di and quick wipe down before putting in 7 calibration and set the calibration then ro/di rinse give it a quick wipe and do the 10.0. Once 10.0 is calibrated you could rinse again in ro/di and stick back in the 7.0 and that should give you 7.0 give.
4) Read that article and pick out what makes sense to you. Also perform the Aeration test
OP
OP
Kimkjaer
Community Member
We have hitted the best weather in 2016, this week which is 15 degrees celsius or 59 degrees fahrenheit.. (Barbecue season has started
)I will do all this when i get home..
What is a Aeration Test, can i see that in the article ??
Thanks so much
Chris Adams
Valuable Member
We have hitted the best weather in 2016, this week which is 15 degrees celsius or 59 degrees fahrenheit.. (Barbecue season has started
I will do all this when i get home..
What is a Aeration Test, can i see that in the article ??
Thanks so much
Very nice!
Yes that is in the article. I am no scientist or chemist but Randy always does a great job taking the average Joe, or Jane into consideration. He also will go quite in depth such a brain!
NeptuneGarden
Active Member
you'd be surprised the levels that Co2 can reach in a well sealed house. pH is nothing but KH and Co2. Gas exchange doesn't help if you're just exchanging Co2 saturated air.
Is your skimmer tucked under a closed cabinet without lots of fresh air flowing through it ? Just recycling the same air if so....
Kimkjaer,
you can find Co2 scrubber compound local. It's nothing special. It's "soda lime". BRS sells a high quality version and packages it for us. It's widely used in all kinds of fields. Do some searching for a local supplier and make a simple reactor to suck air through. This is your best solution.
If there is that much CO2 in the house (i.e. CO2 saturated air), wouldn't the op be suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning? Google shows a mere 2% of CO2 will make people feeling sick.
NeptuneGarden
Active Member
It's not enough to be toxic to animal life, but enough to effect the pH. The pH in his tank actually falls right in the "green" range of that chart which is color coded for freshwater planted tank Co2 levels on what concentrations are ok for the fish, but will still let you inject Co2 to help the plants grow. It does not take make much Co2. 2ppm at 8pH and only 30ppm to drop it down to 6.9 pH.
After looking at his pics, I think one problem maybe just poor ventilation of his sump cabinet. The skimmer is gassing off all the Co2 being resperated (is that word?) by the corals and fish into the sump stand. If it is not ventilated enough that Co2 starts building up and being recycled back into the skimmer.
Would be interesting to get a Co2 level detector and measure the difference between outside, inside and inside the closed sump cabinet after extended operation.
Chris Adams
Valuable Member
So who is in for him opening cabinet door no other changes for an hour or 2?
Really interested in the results this would have.
Really interested in the results this would have.
Sabellafella
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Its not possible, theres no way your ph is below neutral water. Its either you have no salt in your tank, or your probe wasnt calibrated correctly
Sabellafella
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Your tanks stunning btw, it has to be the probe, the corals + aragonite wouldve melted in a week with a ph below 7. Is it possible to get a second test on ph, just to makr sure?
Randy Holmes-Farley
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FWIW, I do not believe that there is any reasonable chance that the pH is below 7 during the day in a nice looking reef tank. It just doesn't happen except in disasters (or experiments, like when I put dry ice in my sump 
).
And yes, the CO2 level in the air (if equilibrated) would be massive and a huge problem itself.
First, verify that the probe is properly calibrated by remeasuring the calibration solutions.
Check the tank. If it still reads low, remove a cup of tank water from the tank and measure the pH in the cup away from lights, etc. (however you measured the calibration solutions) to avoid various types of interferences.
Also, calibration solutions can go bad, but this would be far worse than bad. Like using a pH 4 when you thought it was pH 10. That would actually give a pH around 6 for a reef tank, assuming your device let you make that mistake.
).And yes, the CO2 level in the air (if equilibrated) would be massive and a huge problem itself.
First, verify that the probe is properly calibrated by remeasuring the calibration solutions.
Check the tank. If it still reads low, remove a cup of tank water from the tank and measure the pH in the cup away from lights, etc. (however you measured the calibration solutions) to avoid various types of interferences.
Also, calibration solutions can go bad, but this would be far worse than bad. Like using a pH 4 when you thought it was pH 10. That would actually give a pH around 6 for a reef tank, assuming your device let you make that mistake.
