Reef Tank Ph, hth spa ph increaser?

[Jeremy Lain]

Hello, my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium parameters are good in my reef tank; now I need to raise the ph.

I have a ph at 7.8 and would like it to be 8.1 to 8.3; can I use hth spa ph increaser to raise the ph? If I can how much would be needed and would this mess up my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium parameters?

And if I can use it my tank is a 20 gallon so I dont know how much to add?

 

[Hitman]

A PH of 7.8 is nothing to worry about and in a 20 gallon tank to could cause more harm then good. I’m sure everyone will agree ph is not something to chase. The only thing I would suggest would be a kalk drip and I have hesitation to even suggest that.
Do you have a protein skimmer? If so your best option would be to try a CO2 scrubber hooked into the air input of it, or running your intake tube outside to get fresh air. Both these options would safely raise your ph.

 

[Cory]

Dont use that. That will raise alkalinity not ph. Co2 gas in the air of your home lowers ph. Never add chemicals to raise ph.

You can use baking soda which would be food grade but that stuff may not be and may add heavy metals to your tank. That prosict will raise alkalinity not ph.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

Dont use that. That will raise alkalinity not ph. Co2 gas in the air of your home lowers ph. Never add chemicals to raise ph.

You can use baking soda which would be food grade but that stuff may not be and may add heavy metals to your tank. That prosict will raise alkalinity not ph.

I have raised my alkalinity to 10 and that made my ph go to 8.0 using soda ash (cooked baking soda).

But in this article on how to get coralline algae to grow it says that my ph needs to be 8.1 to 8.3.

So that is what I am trying to do.

I am considering running an airtube to my protien skimmer, or dosing kalkwasser, but I don't understand how the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels are affected by kalkwasser.

Does someone have a link on how to dose kalkwasser and what to do with calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium after dosing?

 

[Cory]

I have raised my alkalinity to 10 and that made my ph go to 8.0 using soda ash (cooked baking soda).

But in this article on how to get coralline algae to grow it says that my ph needs to be 8.1 to 8.3.

So that is what I am trying to do.

I am considering running an airtube to my protien skimmer, or dosing kalkwasser, but I don't understand how the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels are affected by kalkwasser.

Does someone have a link on how to dose kalkwasser and what to do with calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium after dosing?

Yes that product will raise ph temporarily, but it will drop again when co2 enters the water and things equilibriate.

Kalkwasser is high ph and will raise ph also temporarily. People who claim it raises their ph are not stating permanently but keeping ph up becaise they are adding it constantly. But corals are using the alkalinity part so the alkalinity doesnt get too high but the ph stays up. Its a balancing act.

The ph of the oceans isnt higher than 8.1 now due to excessive co2. It used to be higher.

If your goal is to grow corraline kalkwasser is a good choice.

 

[Cory]

Kalkwasser adds alkalinity and calcium in the ratios that corals use it. Its a balanced supplement as opposed to baking soda which doesnt add any calcium.

If you add kalk you add both calcium and alk approximately a 20 calcium to 1 alk unit..

Kalkwasser also adds magnesium but its usually not enough to prevent a drop in magnesium its almost trace amounts of it.

I use kalkwasser because it only adds calcium and alkalinity. It doesnt add sodium for example like sodium bicarbonate does.

 

[Cory]

Here you are

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[Jeremy Lain]

I have raised my alkalinity to 10 and that made my ph go to 8.0.

But in this article on how to get coralline algae to grow it says that my ph needs to be 8.1 to 8.3.

So that is what I am trying to do.

I am considering running an airtube to my protien skimmer, or dosing kalkwasser, but I don't understand how the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels are affected by kalkwasser.

Does someone have a link on how to dose kalkwasser and what to do with calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium after dosing?

I raised my alkalinity to 10 to bring the ph to 8.0 using soda ash(cooked baking soda) thats what I was saying.

Kalkwasser adds alkalinity and calcium in the ratios that corals use it. Its a balanced supplement as opposed to baking soda which doesnt add any calcium.

If you add kalk you add both calcium and alk approximately a 20 calcium to 1 alk unit..

Kalkwasser also adds magnesium but its usually not enough to prevent a drop in magnesium its almost trace amounts of it.

I use kalkwasser because it only adds calcium and alkalinity. It doesnt add sodium for example like sodium bicarbonate does.

So if I start to dose kalkwasser, I wont need to dose calcium and alkalinity anymore?

 

[Hitman]

Depending on your consumption yes kalk could cover it all.

 

[Cory]

I raised my alkalinity to 10 to bring the ph to 8.0 using soda ash(cooked baking soda) thats what I was saying.


So if I start to dose kalkwasser, I wont need to dose calcium and alkalinity anymore?

Yes exactly. It covers both. Its all i use and i rarely test calcium. If my calcium was 400ppm a month ago, it should be about the same today dosing limewater.

 

[Cory]

I just pay attention to alkalinity while dosing kalkwasser. I make adjustments if my alkalinity goes up or down. Mine is used on a doser. I have a 44 gallon plastic trash can that is dosed to my 250 gallon. Some use reactors.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Your ph is fine. Dont dose buffers and dont chase ph. Ph is not a major concern.

If you dose kalk, only dose to keep alk and ca at your target levels. Do not dose based on ph levels.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

Your ph is fine. Dont dose buffers and dont chase ph. Ph is not a major concern.

If you dose kalk, only dose to keep alk and ca at your target levels. Do not dose based on ph levels.

I am trying to grow coralline algae and I have read some articles that say that coralline algae needs a ph of 8.1- 8.3 to grow, but I have also read a article that says reef tanks can successfully survive with the parameters of 7.8 - 8.5 but that these other parameters have to be correct:

A dkh of 8.4 - 11.0, at 3 meq/L or above, but not above 3.9 meq/L.

Calcium 400 - 500

So my question is if calcification can still happen allowing coralline algae growth and other corals to grow if I add some?

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Yes

 

[Jeremy Lain]

Yes

So I should not need to add kalkwasser to raise ph or use other methods to raise it, a ph of 7.8 with the parameters calcium 420, dkh 9.6, and magnesium 1335, I can have a successful reef tank with coralline algae growth and corals?

 

[Stigigemla]

Yes if the other values are good Coralline algae will grow in a pH from 7,8 to 8,0.
If you rise your pH around 0,2 SPS will grow faster. I have not tested softies or mushrooms in high pH but I dont think there was a difference for coralline algae in my experiment tank.

 

[Jeremy Lain]

Yes if the other values are good Coralline algae will grow in a pH from 7,8 to 8,0.
If you rise your pH around 0,2 SPS will grow faster. I have not tested softies or mushrooms in high pH but I dont think there was a difference for coralline algae in my experiment tank.

Thank you for the information. When you said 0, 2 did you mean to say 8.2 for sps to grow faster?

 

[Hitman]

My ph stays between 7.8 and 7.9 and my SPS and coraline grow fast. You know coraline must be introduced into the tank that it doesn’t just appear out of nowhere right? Find a friend with it and get as big of a scraping he/she will give you or buy frags that have it on the plug that’s how I got mine years ago. When it takes hold and takes over and makes maintenance so much harder you’ll want to kill everyone for helping you grow it lol so your dually warned lol