thanks guys....honestly i have been stressing like crazy because i was worried that my tank would be uninhabitable and that i would end up with a steamy boal of fish soup because of the pH and now knowing "seasoned" experts dont even give a flying **** about pH im less stressed lol.
thanks again you guys were a lot of help and also thanks for the links.....a bit too in depth for my taste but still very nice

lol you need to relax and put the test kits down.. I only test calcium and alkalinity. unless something seems odd (by sight) that's it. I have no idea what my ph in my tank is but it's 6.5 in my calcium reactor rofl

hahahah lol fine fine, i am now putting down the test kits. what is alkilinity? what does it do lol? and i have a calcium test but im not touching it until i actually have anything in the water and on top of that whatever is in the water it better depend on calcium loool

calcium will naturally buffer pH into the accepted range

I monitor my ph because it can give you a quick indication that something is going wrong, even though it fluctuates it still has its limits.

When I lived in Edmonton my tap water was hard and pH 7.8. Wasn't keeping salties at the time by my Malawi cichlids loved it.

Re the test kit readings. I did an experiment once with a "colour match" pH test kit where I performed the test twice and noted the same reading. I then took two newly calibrated pH probes and tested the same water. The readings from the probes were 0.5 points lower than what I saw in the test kit (i.e. 7.9 vs 8.4). This was several years back and I don't remember the brand of the test kit. However the lesson I took away from this was that test kits have their place in indicating "swings" in the parameter that your testing (pH, NO3 etc.) but the actual result should not be considered absolute.

I am therefore a +1 with everyone who stated that if it's consistant (even if you think it's high) don't mess with it.

Don't be afraid to read and educate yourself.

Chemistry and the Aquarium: What is Alkalinity?
By Randy Holmes-Farley
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/2/chemistry

7.3 out of the tap. But 8.4 in tank. I quit checking tank since I found I was getting foul reading from halide lights. Strange as it sounds. My reading differs from tank to sump

i know, i agree and thanks for the links. there is just so much crap online and so much false info that i would rather ask on here and get opinions from people who have had reef tanks themelves

I'm in north Edmonton and mine tested at 7.4