Whew, so glad the 7.1 vs. 7.7 thing got figured out.
Your tank looks fantastic, enjoy it. We all have things we want to undo, redo, or move around. But man, It looks great. You’re obviously doing many things right.
When I went through the raising PH challenge, I really enjoyed the process and found it rewarding. You probably will also. And I believe it’s very much worth it for the corals.
Having algae and running opposite light schedule will result in the algae consuming CO2 at night, thus helping to reduce the PH swing. Your tank will take a while to get used to having algae, like a restabilization . I’ve done this a few times, and at first the result I have seen is the algae dies back for a while, and then when things figure it out, it will take off. All I’m saying is, just be prepared for a small transition period. I never saw impact to the tank itself. You will also want to consider iron and iodine dosing to encourage algae growth. Since you’re nutrients are already low, you might want to look at reducing other nutrient export methods to compensate for what the algae will consume. For example, I dry skim with my protein skimmer.
You can also look at other ways to increase PH overall, airline for the skimmer ran outside, 2 part or other alk/calcium supplements that have greater impact on PH, CO2 scrubber, etc.
For example on my tank I do it all. Skimmer airline ran outside, I use kalk for alk/calcium supplement, have a huge chaeto fuge with powerful algae light ran on opposite schedule, in the winter i add CO2 scrubber on protein skimmer line, in summer windows are open 24/7. My current average PH is 8.36, but remember my windows are open 24/7 during summer. In the winter when the house is closed up, the numbers drop.
