Raising PH and dKH

[ilott]

Hello,

I use Red Sea Reef Pro Salt which guarantees and dkh of 12 if I use 35ppt and more than 500grams. So all in all my water changes are about 1 kilo of salt (2.2lbs for the my American friends), but my ph is around 8 and so is my dkh, I do not have an accurate test kit just API,

Can you assist on how I can increase them?

Thanks

 

[josephxsxn]

The water you mix up to do the water change with is 8DKH? Or your display tank is 8 DKH?

 

[ilott]

The water you mix up to do the water change with is 8DKH? Or your display tank is 8 DKH?

Dispaly tank is 8, only 3 tiny euphyllia corals aswell, not like it’s packed with sps that could be using it up. I used about 10kilos of the salt for the inital set up and i’ve never seen my dkh over 8

 

[ZoWhat]

Both numbers you really shouldn't chase

pH can be increased naturally by aeration. Some ppl have oversized skimmers. Some ppl bring fresh air into the Skimmer via a 1/4" airline from the outside air

ALK is smthg you need to just let naturally settle out with your salt. You go chasing dKH numbers with dosing 2part.... if you dont know your EXACT daily consumption of carbonate, you will put your tank into dKH swings, stressing and killing corals. Stay on a WC routine and let dKH settle out. Don't worry about your dKH until you start hitting 12 or higher.

Sometimes the BEST thing to do for your tank/corals is to do nothing and just monitor out of range things.

.

 

[14 foot reef]

I would start with a better DKH test kit first. Then no matter what you mix your water at as far as PH goes, your ambient air will adjust your PH down almost instantly if your CO2 is elevated in your home. Example.
If you mixed 12 DKH water in a 5 gallon bucket and the PH was 8.35, then you dropped and air stone in the bucket and your ph drops to 8, then you know its your ambient air lowering your PH. Lets get a true DKH reading from a better kit first and we will work from there to help your PH.

 

[Garf]

Dispaly tank is 8, only 3 tiny euphyllia corals aswell, not like it’s packed with sps that could be using it up. I used about 10kilos of the salt for the inital set up and i’ve never seen my dkh over 8

Have you calibrated your refractometer. You could be mixing it a bit thin.

 

[nereefpat]

pH and KH of 8 are both perfect. I wouldn't mess with either.

 

[ilott]

Both numbers you really shouldn't chase

pH can be increased naturally by aeration. Some ppl have oversized skimmers. Some ppl bring fresh air into the Skimmer via a 1/4" airline from the outside air

ALK is smthg you need to just let naturally settle out with your salt. You go chasing dKH numbers with dosing 2part.... if you dont know your EXACT daily consumption of carbonate, you will put your tank into dKH swings, stressing and killing corals. Stay on a WC routine and let dKH settle out. Don't worry about your dKH until you start hitting 12 or higher.

Sometimes the BEST thing to do for your tank/corals is to do nothing and just monitor out of range things.

.

It’s a fairly new tank so i’ll give it about another 6 months of monitoring. Thanks!

 

[ilott]

pH and KH of 8 are both perfect. I wouldn't mess with either.

Thank you, i’ve always thought it need to be about 8.4 and 12

 

[ilott]

Have you calibrated your refractometer. You could be mixing it a bit thin.

I recalibrate it everytime, i use the ro water that I mic with salt to set it to 0 then work out litre/gram usually 25 x 35 and then check before I add to the tank

 

[josephxsxn]

Thank you, i’ve always thought it need to be about 8.4 and 12

I think that it's easy as a new reefer to get caught up in all of the different values for the nutrients in the tank that we talk about. The most important thing you can do is keep your nutrients stable, big swings will upset things. Nitrates and phosphates are also nutrients, and while generally we may be trying to drive them down to promote water quality to lower value can also cause problems.

As far as alkalinity goes for what it's worth the ocean is more like 7 to 8. it has been shown in some cases that increased alkalinity and calcium can increase growth rates. The same can be said for higher pHs that a pH of 8.4 will help growth significantly better than a pH of 7.9, but a pH of 7.9 will support your corals and they will still grow.

I have a 40-gallon cube that for over 2 years I never independently supplemented it or even tested it. Only fanatic water changes and did not ever miss them weekly. This year I finally tested my alkalinity in that tank and it was 6.4 but everything was doing just fine.

 

[nereefpat]

Thank you, i’ve always thought it need to be about 8.4 and 12

Nah. Seawater alk is in the 7-8 range. Some people keep their reefs higher.

 

[ZoWhat]

I recalibrate it everytime, i use the ro water that I mic with salt to set it to 0 then work out litre/gram usually 25 x 35 and then check before I add to the tank

Wrong way to calibrate. That would be like calibrating your speedometer by setting it a "0" while parked. Lol

Buy refractometer calibration fluid. best stuff in the block:

 

[BobbyCline]

8 + 8 makes plenty of good reef tanks

 

[Uncle99]

Dispaly tank is 8, only 3 tiny euphyllia corals aswell, not like it’s packed with sps that could be using it up. I used about 10kilos of the salt for the inital set up and i’ve never seen my dkh over 8

Bad test kit.
Hanna measures Alk very fast and very consistent.
Not sure I followed correctly, but you mix RSP at 11.5, but when you put in the DT, the DT stays 8?
If you were doing a 10% water change with RSP likely the change would not show up on the API test kit as maybe it goes from 8.0 to 8.2 as a result of that small change.

Only if I change 100% of the water would I see 11.5dkh

 

[Garf]

Wrong way to calibrate. That would be like calibrating your speedometer by setting it a "0" while parked. Lol

Buy refractometer calibration fluid. best stuff in the block:

Or make your own using table salt. Refractometers can be miles off when calibrated with RO.