PH question! Tank Cycle

[Bearkat1234]

tank has been up and running for a week today exact. PH went from 8.4 on the chart to looks like a 8.0.

is this ok? Do i need to worry about this during the cycle? Then when it is time to do first water change it will rebuff my PH?

that is what the LFS told me......

thanks

[panhandler01]

I wouldn't worry about 8.0 but don't let it get any lower. If the pH gets too low it will affect the growth of the nitrifying bacteria bed.

[Bearkat1234]

what do you do to not let it get lower? should I keep my skimmer off?

[nmotz]

Increased carbon dioxide can decrease pH. If you don't have a powerhead in the tank you might try adding one so that the tank stays well oxygenated. The skimmer will help with that too so I would leave it on. During the cycle you want to keep lights off so that nuisance algae isn't a problem, but when lights are off no photosynthesis of any kind can occur so oxygen levels suffer a little bit.

[Pife]

I would not worry about your ph.

[alexander_ktn]

I agree with Pife - number chasing with regards to pH is one of the causes people get problems with elevated alkalinity and their corals.

pH changes over the course of the day - before the lights are on in the morning it will be at its lowest and then it will climb all day. It makes much more sense to keep alkalinity stable as long as pH isn't very very low or very very high.

If you have the time read some of Randy Holmes Farley's articles about pH and alkalinity and how they relate to each other.

[Bearkat1234]

thanks