To Dose Or Not To Dose...And When To Start

[Marco S]

So I have had my tank up and running for almost two months now. I did a quick cycle with FritzZyme TurboStart 900 and added fish the second week and have been slowly adding them since. I have 6 Medium, (5 - 7 ") size fish and 6 smaller fish, (3 - 4") in total so far. I have only been checking salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH so far since I have no coral yet and everything is good besides the PH that keeps fluctuating between 8.0 and 7.69 according to my Apex PH Probe.

I have the Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL, (750 Liters or 200 Gallons total water) with a Reef Octopus Regal 200-Int protein skimmer and a Pentair Aquatics 40 W UV Sterilizer. I use filter media and socks and have two large MarinePure Bricks with a bunch of MarinePure Spheres. in the Sump.

My question is, how can I get my PH up? It has never been over 8.1 and usually dips to about 7.7 at night. If I open all the windows and doors it does go over 8.0, but I live in AZ and there is no way I can do that in the summer. Should I start dosing? If Yes, what should I dose? I plan on starting to get some coral into my QT so I have over 76 days before I really need to worry, but I figured I would ask now.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Edit: I should have added that I am using a 6 stage RODI Unit and have 0 TDS water going into the tank and use Instant Ocean salt at 1.025.

 

[mta_morrow]

No need to dose until something starts consuming it.

Get yourself a good test kit, like a Hanna, for alk.

Find out what your salt mixes up at and where your tank is at.

Then, after you add corals, like couple weeks after, start measuring at the same time every day. That’s how u find out your consumption.

Then begin dosing accordingly to maintain your desired level.

7-8 is typically a good starting point

FWIW, I run 7.8-8.1.

Don’t worry about your ph unless you are a mad scientist.

 

[Travis Stewart]

So I have had my tank up and running for almost two months now. I did a quick cycle with FritzZyme TurboStart 900 and added fish the second week and have been slowly adding them since. I have 6 Medium, (5 - 7 ") size fish and 6 smaller fish, (3 - 4") in total so far. I have only been checking salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH so far since I have no coral yet and everything is good besides the PH that keeps fluctuating between 8.0 and 7.69 according to my Apex PH Probe.

I have the Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL, (750 Liters or 200 Gallons total water) with a Reef Octopus Regal 200-Int protein skimmer and a Pentair Aquatics 40 W UV Sterilizer. I use filter media and socks and have two large MarinePure Bricks with a bunch of MarinePure Spheres. in the Sump.

My question is, how can I get my PH up? It has never been over 8.1 and usually dips to about 7.7 at night. If I open all the windows and doors it does go over 8.0, but I live in AZ and there is no way I can do that in the summer. Should I start dosing? If Yes, what should I dose? I plan on starting to get some coral into my QT so I have over 76 days before I really need to worry, but I figured I would ask now.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

IMO, and I promise there will be many I wouldn’t dose until you get coral. I would start monitoring calcium and alkalinity as soon as you start adding coral. Water changes should keep your levels in check until you start getting good/rapid growth or you add more coral. Wouldn’t worry about your pH as much as I would alkalinity. The fluctuation is normal and you’re safe at the current levels they are going to and from.

 

[mta_morrow]

IMO, and I promise there will be many I wouldn’t dose until you get coral. I would start monitoring calcium and alkalinity as soon as you start adding coral. Water changes should keep your levels in check until you start getting good/rapid growth or you add more coral. Wouldn’t worry about your pH as much as I would alkalinity. The fluctuation is normal and you’re safe at the current levels they are going to and from.

Exactly ^^^^^^

 

[Travis Stewart]

No need to dose until something starts consuming it.

Get yourself a good test kit, like a Hanna, for alk.

Find out what your salt mixes up at and where your tank is at.

Then, after you add corals, like couple weeks after, start measuring at the same time every day. That’s how u find out your consumption.

Then begin dosing accordingly to maintain your desired level.

7-8 is typically a good starting point

FWIW, I run 7.8-8.1.

Don’t worry about your ph unless you are a mad scientist.

We must have been typing at the same time but I agree with your post as it’s almost identical to mine

 

[Justin Cook]

Regarding the PH, I think that in the acceptable range. My tank tracks just like yours, 8.1 max and dipping down to 7.7/7.8 overnight. I've never had much luck getting it to stay up over 8.0 without dosing buffer and I finally quit that. IF you have low alk, it can effect PH to a degree but some tank just run a little on the lower end. The key is consistency. Consistency and, of course, not too low. If our tanks topped out at 7.4, then we'd really ave an issue.

 

[lbacha]

Even with no corals I would start checking alk once you start to see coralline growth (get a Hanna checker it is a must), it will consume quite a bit on its own and getting your alk testing and dosing regimen down before you add corals is never a bad idea as you really don’t want it fluctuating a ton once you add corals.

If you are concerned about PH you may want to look into kalk dosing as it will give you a nice boost in ph.

I dose kalk with a kalk stirrer and use 2 part to supplement the kalk dosing (I started with 2 part so I just kept it and dialed it back when I added the kalk stirrer)

Before kalk I struggled to get my ph over 8 even with a CO2 scrubber. Since I have added kalk I stay between 8.2-8.3.

Len

 

[Marco S]

Great, thanks for the advice everyone!

I was planning to start testing Alk now and Calc and Mag when I start adding coral, but was waiting to see what the price of the Trident would be. At $600 though I think I will get the Hannah checkers for now, (at least until I see some reviews of the Trident).

Thanks again!