Will a ph of 7.4 kill coral or damage them?

[Dinodanger]

?

 

[NS Mike D]

not ideal but in the short term, should not be a problem. Low pH is usually associate with high CO2 in the surrounding air (ie open your windows and let the fresh air in).

CO2 acts like a calcium reactor and dissolves coral skeleton. 7.4 is a long long way from say acidic and many tanks will operate fine at 7.4.

Healthy macro algae in your sump with good lighting should help consume that CO2 (and thus raise pH) is it's the surrounding air. (If you notice pH rise after airing the house, you will know that s your culprit)

 

[Reef man 89]

also what is your alk at? Very low alk can cause low ph

 

[Dinodanger]

also what is your alk at? Very low alk can cause low ph

Alks high at 13.3

 

[Gary Inwood]

good flow across the surface of the water will help with your ph problem too.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

How are you getting pH readings? These probes are garbage and i'm convinced there are events that throw them off.

When I had guests in my house my pH dropped from 7.9 to 7.4 and stayed there for about 11 hours. Zero issues with the tank (loaded with SPS).

 

[RandyC]

How are you getting pH readings? These probes are garbage and i'm convinced there are events that throw them off.

When I had guests in my house my pH dropped from 7.9 to 7.4 and stayed there for about 11 hours. Zero issues with the tank (loaded with SPS).

That would be expected. If you have more people than normal (especially more adults - younger kids produce around half the co2) with no open windows, the co2 levels will rise in the house. As a result the co2 levels in your tank will rise as well causing pH to drop. A 0.5 drop wouldn’t be anything unheard of in this situation. I’ve seen it myself in my tank.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

That would be expected. If you have more people than normal (especially more adults - younger kids produce around half the co2) with no open windows, the co2 levels will rise in the house. As a result the co2 levels in your tank will rise as well causing pH to drop. A 0.5 drop wouldn’t be anything unheard of in this situation. I’ve seen it myself in my tank.

Completely understand; whenever my house is full on the weekends the pH is lower. What I was trying to say is that these probes are to be used as a baseline but the actual reading can be suspect. I doubt my tank was at 7.4 for 11 hours and there wasn't a single issue. I think OP should look at verifying with multiple tests (esp since alk is 13).

 

[Dinodanger]

Completely understand; whenever my house is full on the weekends the pH is lower. What I was trying to say is that these probes are to be used as a baseline but the actual reading can be suspect. I doubt my tank was at 7.4 for 11 hours and there wasn't a single issue. I think OP should look at verifying with multiple tests (esp since alk is 13).

Using the ati chemical tests not probes and ph dropped with two ppl being in the the room all day which is small so reconnected the c02 scrubber to a air stone to see if that will raise it surface agitation is good and windows open only problem is skimmer doesn’t work correctly with scrubber attached