Should I be concerned?

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

Since shutting all the windows in the house my ph has dropped significantly was running over 8 before locking up the house. Should I be concerned with how low it drops at night? Don’t dose anything was thinking about adding a skimmer to the tank and running line outside. But everything in the tank looks great my sps are not really growing though... should I be concerned?

dbowman5 · Jul 20, 2020

are you comfortable with the ALK?

j.falk · Jul 20, 2020

I wouldn't chase pH. As long as your livestock looks fine...leave it alone.

piranhaman00 · Jul 20, 2020

Most people will say no, dont chase pH. I saw the same thing this summer. I now keep the window by the tank cracked and the pH is back in the 8.3 range, but Im also paying to cool outside air. Its only for 3-4 months so I live with it.

Calcification relies on pH, I like to keep mine up.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

dbowman5 said:
are you comfortable with the ALK?

Yes I run my Alk between 7.5-8.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

Okay I wasn’t sure since I hear people all the time say don’t chase ph and I never have but it was getting really low.

piranhaman00 · Jul 20, 2020

WIReefer said:
Okay I wasn’t sure since I hear people all the time say don’t chase ph and I never have but it was getting really low.

Try running skimmer line outside if you are able. I agree. Below 7.7 is pretty low imo. But then again, there are people who run reefs at lower pH successfully.

shred5 · Jul 20, 2020

There are some other easy ways to keep ph up at night.

Reverse daylight on a fuge or cheato reactor can help keep it dropping at night.
Another good way is dossing some Kalwasser at night to help keep up alk and calcium.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

I Ik just bought some brs kalk and will be dosing it shortly.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

shred5 said:
There are some other easy ways to keep ph up at night.

Reverse daylight on a fuge or cheato reactor can help keep it dropping at night.
Another good way is dossing some Kalwasser at night to help keep up alk and calcium.

I used to dose kalk daily with my avast marine kalkstirrer maybe I’ll have to hook it up again.

eag · Jul 20, 2020

I would be concerned if the pH was dropping below ~7.7-7.8 regularly. Looks like yours gets below 7.6.

I wondered this same thing a month or so ago, read this thread for more info on why you don't want pH to swing so low. TL;DR: don't chase a magic pH number, but take action if it is regularly dipping below 7.8.

Why is my pH chronically low, and what (if anything) should I do about it?

My pH has been low for a very long time - hovering around 7.7. I've read that 7.8 is the lower bound of "fine" so I've been wanting to raise it for some time. I've also had low alk for a long time... In the range of 5.7-6.5 or so. I read Randy's article on low pH which named low alk as a...

www.reef2reef.com

Reesj · Jul 20, 2020

If you don't have a skimmer, Get a small one and run it at night time. You don't necessarily need to run the line outside. You can always make sure it does not collect skimmate by placing it higher..
PS: Other methode you can try is to put a powerful air bubler in the sump. Good airation can increase the PH also.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

eag said:
I would be concerned if the pH was dropping below ~7.7-7.8 regularly. Looks like yours gets below 7.6.

I wondered this same thing a month or so ago, read this thread for more info on why you don't want pH to swing so low. TL;DR: don't chase a magic pH number, but take action if it is regularly dipping below 7.8.

Why is my pH chronically low, and what (if anything) should I do about it?

My pH has been low for a very long time - hovering around 7.7. I've read that 7.8 is the lower bound of "fine" so I've been wanting to raise it for some time. I've also had low alk for a long time... In the range of 5.7-6.5 or so. I read Randy's article on low pH which named low alk as a...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you just read through it, first step I am going to make is making sure my probe is calibrated will be doing that now.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

eag said:
I would be concerned if the pH was dropping below ~7.7-7.8 regularly. Looks like yours gets below 7.6.

I wondered this same thing a month or so ago, read this thread for more info on why you don't want pH to swing so low. TL;DR: don't chase a magic pH number, but take action if it is regularly dipping below 7.8.

Why is my pH chronically low, and what (if anything) should I do about it?

My pH has been low for a very long time - hovering around 7.7. I've read that 7.8 is the lower bound of "fine" so I've been wanting to raise it for some time. I've also had low alk for a long time... In the range of 5.7-6.5 or so. I read Randy's article on low pH which named low alk as a...

www.reef2reef.com

Just recalibrated my ph probe and salinity probe and this is what I’m getting now we shall see what time does now.

WIReefer · Jul 20, 2020

So far so good maybe I just needed to calibrate it again... didn’t think it needed it since apex is only three months old. Will be checking with fluid every month now.

eag · Jul 20, 2020

WIReefer said:
So far so good maybe I just needed to calibrate it again... didn’t think it needed it since apex is only three months old. Will be checking with fluid every month now.

Good to hear. If you have a test kit, you could verify the reading.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 21, 2020

WIReefer said:
Okay I wasn’t sure since I hear people all the time say don’t chase ph and I never have but it was getting really low.

It is a mantra, sadly, that sometimes gets applied inappropriately.

i personally would not like to see pH below 7.8. It becomes harder for calcifying organisms to deposit skeletons the lower pH goes, at at pH 7.7 and below, skeletons can slowly dissolve.