Quick PH Spike

[chatyak]

I was adding alkalinity via a measuring cup and I poured too much. I remember reading that when manually dosing dKH, we should not increase the ph by any more than .02 too quickly. Well here's what happened with mine.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/chatyak/ph-help.jpg



Is this going to affect my corals badly?

[ek9vboi]

It should be fine. From the looks of it, the chart starts to go back down.

[bertoni]

8.6 seems to be safe enough, so if the levels are accurate, it's unlikely that the pH will be an issue. How many dKH units were added?

I think that pH changes far larger than 0.02 units are safe. That rule seems a bit off.

[chatyak]

8.6 seems to be safe enough, so if the levels are accurate, it's unlikely that the pH will be an issue. How many dKH units were added?

I think that pH changes far larger than 0.02 units are safe. That rule seems a bit off.

I am trying to raise my DKH to match my saltwater makeup. My tanks dKH is 6.3 and my fresh salt water is 11.3.

Adding about 110ml per day for 4 days using Recipe 1 from BRS.


My SPS were losing tissue from the base. I believe the low dKH is the cause... or that I add new makeup water of 11 dKH when the tank was/is at 6 dkH?

Not sure... sigh.

Either way... I will get the tank to similar/same levels as fresh SW mixup then use my dosing pumps each day.... will start with .1ml per gallon.

[bertoni]

6 dKH is low enough that some people report problems with SPS. You could use this calculator to help with picking a dose:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

It's a bit safer to make large changes in the alkalinity level using baking soda, in my opinion, since it won't affect the pH much.

[bongarone]

You should be dripping your carbonate solution into your tank, not pouring it in.

You'll probably be fine this time. Next time, drip.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, a lot of people do once a day dosing of carbonate solutions without problems. :)

[chatyak]

I have two dosing pumps ready to use, however they are not setup yet so I was doing what I can. I agree that the drip is the best...

Bertoni - What kind of baking soda? I know there a few kinds and one that is not suggested.... always forget which.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Any food grade baking soda is fine. Arm and Hammer, for example. :)

[bertoni]

I agree that any food-grade product should be okay. Just as long as it's not baking powder. :)