To early to start dosing KH?

[Keko21]

My tank recently finished cycling a few weeks ago. Currently I only have two shrimp in there and my fish are in QT for the next 30 days. My pH and alk seem to have trouble staying up- stupid question is it too early in my tanks lifecycle to start dosing KH or is this something I should Just wait out?
Also getting some Chaeto this week so hopefully that will pull some CO2 out and give me a boost, but also not a heck of a lot of nutrients in the water yet...
If I can avoid a Co2 scrubber that would be preferable... my skimmer was just turned on yesterday to start breaking it in- also trying to oxygenate the water that way to see if I can get a pH boost.

pH: 7.6-7.9 depending on the day
KH (Red Sea): 5.5 - trusting this test more than api given the low pH....
KH (API): 9
Salinity: 1.025
temp: 76*F
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-10
Ammonia: 0
Phos: 0 (probably- api test kit sucks on this color but def between 0-.25)
Calcium: 480

 

[Tamberav]

My tank recently finished cycling a few weeks ago. Currently I only have two shrimp in there and my fish are in QT for the next 30 days. My pH and alk seem to have trouble staying up- stupid question is it too early in my tanks lifecycle to start dosing KH or is this something I should Just wait out?
Also getting some Chaeto this week so hopefully that will pull some CO2 out and give me a boost, but also not a heck of a lot of nutrients in the water yet...
If I can avoid a Co2 scrubber that would be preferable... my skimmer was just turned on yesterday to start breaking it in- also trying to oxygenate the water that way to see if I can get a pH boost.

pH: 7.6-7.9 depending on the day
KH (Red Sea): 5.5 - trusting this test more than api given the low pH....
KH (API): 9
Salinity: 1.025
temp: 76*F
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-10
Ammonia: 0
Phos: 0 (probably- api test kit sucks on this color but def between 0-.25)
Calcium: 480

If alk is 9 then no need to dose... you don't have anything consuming it yet.

pH tends to run low and do wacky things in young tanks due to biological process still stabilizing. I would never dose pH buffer. Having a skimmer, running an airstone outside, opening windows and such can all effect pH as it is often affected by the CO2 in your home.

If you are going to run cheato then you can run it on a reverse cycle so it is lit at night.

However, if your phos is low then running cheato would be detrimental. I would get a real phosphate kit. The API one is pretty useless as the range is too large.

EDIT: Sorry I see you also said alk is 5.5... in that case you could bring it up a bit. Maybe test your new saltwater and see what it says to make sure the test kit is working.

I would not invest in a scrubber on a tank that just finished cycling. Your pH is not going to be harmful and once you have corals consuming alk and you need to dose, then it will come up with 2 part.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd try to figure out if the alk is closer to 9 or 5,.5 dKH.

Try measuring some new salt water with both kits.

 

[Roli's Reef Ranch]

I'd double-check that Kh result and do a water change instead. Stick with the skimmer for now. I'm guessing there are no corals in there yet, let alone stony corals? If not, you don't need to be worrying about dosing yet. Take your time, don't spend a bunch of money on gear you don't need. I've always had mixed results with chaeto on new systems. At first, it grows well, then crashes when the nutrients bottom out, then you'll get dinos and/or cyano. Now I struggle to keep nutrients up and don't need chaeto. If you have a bunch of fish and feed them, and a few corals for nutrient uptake, that's a good time to use chaeto. I'm of the opinion that the best way to start a tank, once you have established stability is to use live rock, then jam pack it with corals, putting in the most sensitive last. This requires chemistry monitoring. Adding Kh too early (especially soda ash) can lead to calcification of pumps etc. I've been down that road once or twice. Sometimes saturated Kalkwasser is a better option at first, or even sodium bicarb (baking soda), but I'd stick to water changes initially, especially on a nano/pico. This picture is from a 1.5-year-old tank started from frags. I dose kalk plus 3 part and had calcification issues early on with my return pumps constantly for the reasons I just mentioned, before the calcium uptake increased.

 

[Keko21]

Thanks for the advice all! Ill definitely do a retest with some fresh salt water (currently in my QT which also has low ph in the same range) my guess is the alk is actually on the low end, like i said i trust red sea over API. Just want to make sure the pH is ok for fish first and foremost as they are coming tomorrow - no corals yet so alk can be addressed in time.

 

[Keko21]

After some research, Im thinking at this point maybe just add some crushed coral to the sump to get ph up...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

After some research, Im thinking at this point maybe just add some crushed coral to the sump to get ph up...

I don’t think that will have much effect. It probably won’t dissolve at all, depending on the actual alk and pH.

 

[14 foot reef]

After some research, Im thinking at this point maybe just add some crushed coral to the sump to get ph up...

A better approach would be solving your low PH problem. Most of the time, low PH is caused by high CO2 in the surrounding air in the home. Address that, and then ph should come up.

 

[Keko21]

A better approach would be solving your low PH problem. Most of the time, low PH is caused by high CO2 in the surrounding air in the home. Address that, and then ph should come up.

people often say run a line from the skimmer air intake to outside. I have a door right next to the tank to outside (no openable windows in the room). How long do I need to pump that air in? I cant imagine people just leave the window door open all the time or that line out permanently right?

 

[14 foot reef]

people often say run a line from the skimmer air intake to outside. I have a door right next to the tank to outside (no openable windows in the room). How long do I need to pump that air in? I cant imagine people just leave the window door open all the time or that line out permanently right?

There are only a couple of ways to exhaust air correctly out of a house without wasted electricity and wear and tear on the home. Cracking doors and windows is one option, the other is an HVAC Air exchange unit. Most people can not justify $3000- $5000 for that option.
The other option takes a lot of monitoring and dosing, its not exhausting CO2 but artificially running up the PH with massive Kalkwasser addition on reverse light cycle.

I have successfully beaten the High CO2 Low PH in my reef tank by Kalk addition at night ( A lot of it )
This is still masking the real problem, but it 100% works.

Look into the ACI Kalk method by Chris Meckley. Its a little out there, but I have tweaked his process and have been very succesful.
My PH used to be 7.7 - 7.95.................It now runs 8.28-8.35 by dosing kalk reverse of the lighting cycle.

 

[Keko21]

Ok some progress today- I tested my QT KH (which is fresh salt water) and KH was 8.5 ph 7.9.
Tested my DT and today and KH was 6.5 and pH at 8- looks like the skimmer is helping some. Cancelled the order on the crushed coral and bit the bullet for a small Co2 scrubber (ice cap) as I think that is the real (albeit undesirable) answer.