jligon
08/04/2007, 10:42 PM
There is something I must be doing wrong because I seem to have mid 400's on ca, alk around 8but the ph can be 8.0! I don't understand what I am doing wrong.
Another symptom: I will slowly add alk in the form of naco3 and the ph will slowly go up to 8.3 (all day process). I also add cacl and it remains stable in the mid 400's. When I stop adding the alk, the ph will drop from 8.3 to 8.17 in one hour and the alk will drop from 11 - 12 to 7 - 8 in the same period (where did it go?).
It is a 50 gal tank with just a few fish and 4-5 frags. I have become frustrated as I find I must baby this thing many hours every day and cannot leave for a vacation without the ph being 7.8 -7.9 when I get back. I have never been able to maintain ph above 8.2 in the 2.5 years I have been trying. Buffers are good, nitrates are low to zero, mg is in the mid-1200's. Use kalk as well but to no avail.
Another symptom; the ph does not go up during the day, but at best it may stay flat to whatever ph was there when lights came on.
I dearly love the hobby but am very frustrated because the coral frags neither grow or die, they just languish because I do not have the chemistry just right.
Are there any reef chemistry experts that can help with what is the issue and some detailed techniques?/
Jligon
Another symptom: I will slowly add alk in the form of naco3 and the ph will slowly go up to 8.3 (all day process). I also add cacl and it remains stable in the mid 400's. When I stop adding the alk, the ph will drop from 8.3 to 8.17 in one hour and the alk will drop from 11 - 12 to 7 - 8 in the same period (where did it go?).
It is a 50 gal tank with just a few fish and 4-5 frags. I have become frustrated as I find I must baby this thing many hours every day and cannot leave for a vacation without the ph being 7.8 -7.9 when I get back. I have never been able to maintain ph above 8.2 in the 2.5 years I have been trying. Buffers are good, nitrates are low to zero, mg is in the mid-1200's. Use kalk as well but to no avail.
Another symptom; the ph does not go up during the day, but at best it may stay flat to whatever ph was there when lights came on.
I dearly love the hobby but am very frustrated because the coral frags neither grow or die, they just languish because I do not have the chemistry just right.
Are there any reef chemistry experts that can help with what is the issue and some detailed techniques?/
Jligon