Saltwater pH on homemade saltwater

[patrickpernell]

I have always bought store made saltwater for my aquarium. I just recently decided to make my own. I purchased salt and a large container to mix it in. I haven't added it to my aquarium yet because the pH is off and this is my first time so I didn't know if this was normal.

I have an RO/DI unit and add the water to a container then add the salt. I placed a large powerhead and heater in the container and let it sit for about 36 hours in the dark and covered. When I came to check on it, the salinity is about 1.025 and the pH is around 8.9-9.0


Is this normal? Or what should I be changing?

[on the spot]

...I just recently decided to make my own. I purchased salt and a large container to mix it in.

...the pH is off...the salinity is about 1.025 and the pH is around 8.9-9.0


You might need to post your recipe first - how much of what you used. Someone much smarter than me will see right off what went wrong.

GL, and HTH

[patrickpernell]

Really not much to the recipe....

3.28lb of salt (per instructions on package)

10 gallons of RO/DI water

[mcgyvr]

Which saltmix are you using?

I wouldn't worry about PH either..
Most will recommend to not chase PH numbers ever.. Let it be what its going to be..

As long as everything else is fine I would use as is and not think twice about the PH..
I personally have not measured PH in 10 years in any of my tanks nor saltmix..

[patrickpernell]

Coral Pro Salt Sack (55 lbs Makes 200 Gallons) - Red Sea

[patrickpernell]

Any suggestions?

[on the spot]

sorry, I misunderstood.

I thought you meant you were making your own salt mix.

something like:

23.98 g sodium chloride
5.029 g magnesium chloride
4.01 g sodium sulfate
1.14 g calcium chloride
0.699 g potassium chloride
0.172 g sodium bicarbonate
0.100 g potassium bromide
0.0254 g boric acid
0.0143 g strontium chloride
0.0029 g sodium fluoride
Water to 1 kg total weight


My bad.

[mcgyvr]

Any suggestions?

I'd suggest you throw your PH test kit away and not worry about PH ;)

red sea coral pro salt should mix up to around a ph of 8.5 and there is testing inaccuracies,etc...

[LobsterOfJustice]

Leave the lid off 12 hrs and see if it drops. Might need to equilibrate CO2 with the atmosphere


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bertoni]

I agree that it might need more aeration. Getting rid of the lid might help get more carbon dioxide into the water. There might be a measurement problem, as well, but I'd try three hours of aeration with an open lid.