What would cause your PH to be Low?

[backpack]

Better skimmer intake positioning, Kalk, and macro algae will help most of the time.

 

[that Reef Guy]

 

[b_rad_G]

With 4 tanks all having low pH I'm blaming the test. Either that or you have a faulty gas appliance that needs to be removed (water heater vent) causing a build up of co2.

 

[saltyhog]

Once a week we have a meeting at our house with 20 or so people in the den where the tank is . The pH will drop almost 0.1 during the meeting.

Chasing pH is a bad idea, especially using buffer to do it. Eventually you will end up with a super high dKh and the same pH you started with. Improve air exchange and improve the quality of the indoor air (or run a tube to your skimmer from outside). 7.8 to 8.1 isn't out of line much with natural sea water as I recall.

 

[pacmann117]

CO2 is always the cause in a closed system. Aeration and things like that work great. Fuges also help. Check out CO2 scrubbers if you want some awesome DIY tech. Your skimmer pulls in air over rebreather substrate that binds CO2