ph levels

[Paaty]

I want to get opinions from others so thank you in advance to those who answer.

My PH varies between 7.57 and 7.86 depending on the time of the day, should I be worried. should I start dosing kalk to get my ph up?

Everything has been growing well, tank is about 3 years old.

[Percula9]

How is the pH being measured? You need to do something to raise the pH. Kalkwasser is a good choice. Fresh air to the skimmer might help. What is the alk level? High levels of CO2 in the house are responsible for low pH.

[tmz]

If your measure is accurate; that ph is low enough so I would raise it if it were my tank.Excess CO2 in the water lowers ph wether it comes from the air in the house , a calcium reactor or decomposing materials. Kalkwasser(limewaer/ aka calcium hydroxide) will help since it uses CO2 and has a ph of 12.4 at full saturation. Good gas exchange via a tank top expsaosed to air with surface agitation may also help raise ph if your house air contains less than the tank.

[Paaty]

I used a ACII to mesure my ph. I don't understand why my ph would drop so much in early morning as i have a reverse photo period for my fuge. I find that a swing of .3 points is a lot.

[tmz]

.3 is not abnormal. I get about half that with opposite photo on several refugia a a frag tank. Swing in that range is less important than overall ph. While many systems run well in the 7.8 range higher ph makes calcification easier for corals and in my opinion getting it up to 8.2 at some point in the day is beneficial.

[Paaty]

I am currently running a calcium reator, how should I adjust it to raise my ph if possible. Should I reduce bubble rate?

[kgross]

Have you calibrated your pH probe recently? That does seem pretty low. If you are running to much co2 out of your calcium reactor, it can cause the pH to go down. Try running your calcium reactor ouput into your skimmer and see if that raises the pH of the tank.


Kim

[Paaty]

i will try calibrating and see it it makes a difference

[bertoni]

I agree that 7.57 is questionably. With what solutions are you calibrating the device?

[Paaty]

I just calibrated my probe and it currently reads 7.0.

[Paaty]

I used pinpoint sulution 7.0 & 10.0

[kgross]

Now your tank is reading pH of 7.0?

[Paaty]

sorry not 7.0 but 7.70 and this morning was at 7.64, which is a little better than 7.57 of yesterday.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd probably try to raise it if those values are accurate. More fresh air and/or using limewater are the best options.

Low pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

[Paaty]

I shut off my calcium reator today to see if my ph will rise a bit.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That may help, yes. :)

[Paaty]

well after a full day of my calcium reactor being off my ph is now at 7.89. A little better, but still not high enough

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Using a high pH two part or limewater (or both) instead of the reactor will likely be fine. :)

[Paaty]

I bought new test kits today and re tested all me parameters and I got a big shock, my cal and alk levels are very low, cal 350 and alk 6 dkh. I guess my my little cal reactor is not able to keep up with the demands of my maturing reef. I picked up some 2 part solution and will start dosing tonight to get my levels back up and I would think that my ph will follow.

[tmz]

You may want to consider dosing kalk(limewater) along with your calcium reactor. The limewater at full saturation has a ph of about 12.4 and will balance the low(usualy 6.8 ors ph) calcium reactor effluent and CO2.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Let us know what happens with the two part dosing. :)

Good luck.

[Paaty]

Thanks for your help Randy, I'll keep you posted.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup: