Not satisfied with it at 8.0

[da1jewfish]

thats my pH, 8.0. I would rather it be at 8.2. All corals are good and fish are all doing well. If its not broke don't fix it... Is 8.0 ok, or will there be long-term effects from this?

[lilchris]

Actually 8.0 is a good range. Alot of people try their best to reach this range and cannot achieve this.
I will suggest to try to get some fresh air in the room that your tank is at.

[da1jewfish]

hmmm. what do you mean by fresh air? there is an ac unit right in front of the tank.

[cook]

Fresh from outside. Open a window every now and then. If that does not do it than your alk or mag is low.

[mile sq. reefer]

8.0 is fine. The PH fluctuates from day to night. Test for each period of the day to see where its at. Also if you top off with kalk it will help keep PH stable and even raise it a bit depending on how concentrated you make the top off. If you do add kalk it is best to drip it over night as the PH drops so it does not stress the tank.

My tank is anywhere from 8.0-8.2.

[mg426]

What are you measuring your PH with ???

[da1jewfish]

interesting I've never heard of the fresh air deal. That will (could) raise the pH?

Brand new test kit- Red Sea

[Trnman32]

to learn more about raising the ph check out the chemistry forum

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10841681#post10841681 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by da1jewfish
interesting I've never heard of the fresh air deal. That will (could) raise the pH?

Brand new test kit- Red Sea

CO2 can build up in your house with all the windows closed. CO2 lowers the pH of your tank. It's not really the fresh air that raises it, its the evacuation of CO2.

[mg426]

Red sea are some of the worst Test kits that are available . IMO
You would be better served with a monitor.

[m2434]

I've heard of tanks dropping into the 6's at night with no obvious effect. off by .2...

[Roy G. Biv]

I have to dose co2 into my tank. pH 8.6 if I let it go by itself. I have no co2 in my house, my wife keeps about 50 plants in here.

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10842391#post10842391 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by m2434
I've heard of tanks dropping into the 6's at night with no obvious effect. off by .2...

I seriously doubt that. Your sand, rock, and corals would be dissolving. Lowest I'm thinking is about 7.8.

[lilchris]

Actually, I Lobster of Justice is right. CO2 is what lowers ph. Opening a window allows the CO2 to escape. Also, I think the AC will raise CO2 in the room.

[m2434]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10842681#post10842681 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
I seriously doubt that. Your sand, rock, and corals would be dissolving. Lowest I'm thinking is about 7.8.

A pH of 6.8 or 6.9 would be stressful surely, fatal? pH down to 7.8 is acceptable according to this article.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

And lower starting values will cause bigger swings, so a slightly low pH could potentially drop into the 6's. Remember the ph is only droping breifly at night (it would take a while to drop) and coming back up in the day. It certainly would not be worse than a freshwater dip... But I wouldn't really want to test it on my fish either!

[sabbath]

You should test ph before your lights come on and just before they start going off. (If you have more than one light timer)

That way you can see what yours is going up and down to.

IE. Click my red house to see how mine changes through out the day.

[m2434]

sabbath thats AWSOME! I want something like that. What software/monitor are you using?

[m2434]

I see Lighthouse Controller is that also the monitor/software?

[Samper]

Instead of opening a window which I do do from time to time I have ran an air line from my skimmer to the outside so that fresh air is continuously being injected into the skimmer chamber. It works great but you have to be careful if you spray any sort of chemicals or pesticides outside your home. If you do run the line inside when you do this for a day or so. It's also a good idea to attach a carbon filter to the airline just in case.

[da1jewfish]

I'll definetly give that a shot tomorrow. I do have a 20l tank full of algae, that should help out right? at least in the daylight hours of photsynthesis.
I'll have to test pH morning and night to see the fluctuations.

[da1jewfish]

I'll definetly give that a shot tomorrow. I do have a 20l tank full of macro algae, that should help out right? at least in the daylight hours of photsynthesis.
I'll have to test pH morning and night to see the fluctuations.

thanks all

[sabbath]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10843620#post10843620 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by m2434
I see Lighthouse Controller is that also the monitor/software?

You are seeing the Lighthouse software that comes with it. You can use your own If you want. I usually view it with a yahoo widget that comes up on the desk top.

[cook]

Run your photoperiod at night on the algae when the display is off.