low pH ? - chilax they say, don't worry they say..
 

well I am,

at night my ph will drop to as low as 7.68, it'll max out only to about 8.06 in the day..

I have a skimmer, MP10, MP40, and a GYRE 150 kicking up waves,,
I have an air line plumbed into the MP10 to create fine bubles for 1 minute every 30 minutes.

I have 2 window fans exhausting out and 1 window open. So 24/7 the volume of air in my suite is probably cycled out 10 times or more a day.. (guess)...

going to try the CO2 scrubber solution. as demonstrated here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSC1J0PRIs0


I have most of the hardware.
Just sourcing out the media now.

Hopefully will have it up and running in a few weeks.
In the meantime has anyone tried this before..

Interesting, I don't like my PH to fall below 8.0. usually runs 8.2 in the day. I do use a Aquavitro product called Balance occasionally when I see day readings below 8.0. This product is unique as it converts bicarbonate into carbonate. So it isn't just a PH buffer, which I don't use. Maybe see how it works for you?

seems interesting this balance you speak of :)
 

going to try other venues before I go chemical..

my current plan with the Co2 scrubber will be just like filter/skimmer maintenance...

I already have enough things to dose :(

pretty new
 

been researching this balance stuff,,
seems pretty new,, where did you source it out ?
and does it actually raise ph without mucking with alk ??

Yeah that's a really big swing. It's not that either number is bad but the swing isn't ideal. Are you actually seeing any issues stemming from this?

Before you bother with a co2 scrubber, do the co2 test described here when the pH is 7.68 and see if it really is co2 that is causing the problem.

3 electric ph probes...
 

purchased another ph probe today..

apex 8
seneye 8.34
etekcity 8.11


WTF ?

Do you run a refugium?

Definitely a WTF! Assuming they are all calibrated correctly, you may be chasing a phantom number. J & L sells balance. Jeff recommended it to me as it works differently from a PH buffer.

Someone else posted Seneye results recently and his reading was higher than Apex too.

Did you try putting all 3 directly into a calibration fluid with a known pH after calibration? For example they should all read a pH of 10 in a pack of pH 10 calibration fluid.

nope
 

no refugium,,

redsea c-250,,,
was thinking of putting some wort of submersible led strip in the rear sump...

aquavitro balance jl
 

do they still carry ??? can't find it on their website.

yes they do..
 

put in 6ml.,,, (1 cap for every 20 g ???)

mother of god,,, ph went from 7.96 to 8.07...
too much !!!!

if you're using it ,, take it slow !..

Are you ph swings effecting things? I never test my ph as I dose alk that keeps it pretty constant but if there is one thing I've found during this hobby, if it aint broke don't try and fix it. Even my recent carbon dosing experiment was a bad experience. If your coral are dying or something due to PH issues that's one thing but if you're just trying to hit a number for numbers sake I'd not bother.

Just my 2 cents.

I don't recall the last time I checked pH or worried about it.... my critters are fine. The less instrumentation in my tank, the better I like it. If something is horribly off, I can usually tell by a visual of how the living things in my tank are behaving. The only thing I check regularly is salinity, when I do water changes. I used to check Alk & it was always chronically low (according to the test kit), but I don't do that any more either & fish look good, coral is growing...

I completely agree with the last 2 posts. Is anything actually wrong with your tank or are you chasing numbers?

nothing specific
 

I have had a few sps rtn on me,,, probably due to too much ALK at one time...

when I wake up in the morning and the pH is 7.6,,, I start to worry...

Ya with RTN it's hard to say. I've had it happen after a crazy alk swing (doser broke) and I've also had it just hit out of the blue.

reasons
 

and besides when you spend well over 1k on equipment you'd expect all of them to report the pH somewhat similar..

you really need to stop trying to justify a $1000 to get a common PH reading before you go crazy. your $1000 was spent on a lot of stuff not solely a PH probe made over seas for probably 12 cents, the rest of your apex is mainly what you have paid for (disgustingly overpriced IMO) but none the less I still bought one.

you're going to go crazy chasing a mythical 'perfect' number which even if you manage to hit with buffers and any other crap you wont be able to maintain anyways.

the RTN sucks but I doubt a slightly low ( hard to say is it even low? which testing method is actually correct? are any of them correct? all the end of the day they are all cheap methods) would be the sole cause and only effect a few, I assume everyone who has kept SPS for any length of time has had an STN/RTN experience.

CO2 scrubbing
 

Success,, Previous to the installation of the CO2 scrubber,, the pH would have low swings down to 7.6 and peak out at around 8.1....

Now with the scrubber it'll drop to 7.82 at night and quickly climb to 8.2 in the day..

I have stopped adding Seachem Balance to see how the scrubber does on it own, I'm guessing it'll perform the same,, just may peak a little later..

I had a huge pH issue years ago, I solved it by getting rid of my pH probe. No issues since. Unless there is a visible problem with the tank, I wouldn't worry about it. Last time I measured pH was 2004.

I get the impression Mr. Kengeroo is on a mission, he is taking pH measurements to 2 decimal points.... to each his own I reckon. I'm somewhat glad I haven't spent 1k on hobby measuring/monitoring equipment. I spend my hard earned $$$ on costly powerheads instead. More bang for my buck & less hassle chasing numbers. Admittedly, I don't culture any real high end sps, but again, less to worry about that way.

$
 

I have a small tank ,,, already spent lots on powerheads and lighting... :)

besides I'm chinese and an IT GUY,,
gadgets... so good...

don't trust anything that doesn't have firmware...

Long term C02 scrubber report...
 

Not doing as good as a job as I thought it would..

did leave the radions on last night on blue at 40%

ph this morning was 7.94 vs it's usual 7.72' ish


Sump light it is then...

These ph probes are never accurate