About to throw in the white towel
 

Well i am battling this ph problem that i have with my tank for couple months now and about to give up. Here is when it start

Since i used the bio pellets my ph has been between 7.7 to 7.9 which was 8.1 to 8.3 before. I used RO/DI water with TDS = 0 for my water change and ATO.

My current calcium level has been stable at 420-430 and my alk is 11-12. my mg is also around 1350. I currently do two part dosing so all those has been stable. My testing tools are 3 ph probe, two different test kits Salifert and EOS. My nitrate is around 5ppm, not sure about phosphate because i don't have any algae problem

I know as long my alk is high i should not worry about my ph is being low. But i have been tried to raise my ph with 3 methods

1) PH Buffer from seachem, I put in the amount to raise it to 8.1 at night (as my ph probe read 1 hour late) and in the morning, my ph went back to 7.7 :-(

Doing this also raise my alk a little bit like to 13

2) Lime water (using kalk): Put some in and raise it to 8.2 and then in the morning, wake up and it is still 7.7. Doing this won't raise my alk or lower my calcium much

3) Put in some air stone, still nothings. I tried to open windows during these hot days but still nothings


What else i can do to raise my ph? This is very frustrating. I also have a refugium with chaeto, mangroves. Although chaeto has been shrinked because of bio-pellets


Any inputs is greatly appreciated!

PH
 

I never mess with PH. Ever. Although Edmonton's water is hard... in 4 years my PH has never dropped below 8.0.


I have always known that playing with PH can be a dangerous thing and can get worse when you do.


Are you having some sort of issue that is directly related to your PH?

At 7.9 why worry?

well my tank is fine but at ph =7.7 in the morning which ticks me off. Also my duncan has been closed for 3 days now, maybe my angel is picking at it but not sure why.

Honestly I wouldnt worry about it. I know that the majority of the people here never even test for it. If your tank is not showing any problems then leave it be. You need to be concerned with the amount of variation more than the actual number itself. If your going to use the Kalk then only use it at night it will keep your from dropping too low and then in the daytime your lighting will take over.

Night
 

PH will always drop at night. Thats a normal cycle. Open windows and lighting.... thats the way I always approach it.

well low ph and high alk is not a problem for coral but i think maybe a problem for my fish. I don't have any fish die lately but i am not sure if they are happy or not with low ph level. They swim and eat but how can you tell if they are happy or not

Have you tried growing some cheato in your sump etc with a reverse lighting schedule?

yes i have cheato and mangroves with reverse light cycle in my refugium, although the cheato has been shrinking due to bio-pellets

I used to have problems with low ph because of my calcium reactor.....After I threw away my ph test kit and removed the ph probe from my sump I haven't had a single problem.

The fish are growing, eating and swimming and I've had them for over 4 yrs..............

+1 If your tank doesn't look noticeably different and there are no problems I wouldn't worry about it. My tank ran with a low pH (7.7-7.9) for years with no issues. My big tank now runs a bit higher but still isn't within the recommended pH range, its usually around 7.9-8.1 or so.

Unless fish talk pretty much the way you can tell they are happy is what you said already, they eat and swim.

I will just leave it is then. thanks all

I'm with everyone else. If your tank isn't going south then I wouldn't worry about your Ph. It will just aggravate you! Oh wait, it already has! :lol:

Seriously though, for as long as I have been in this hobby I have never ever tried to adust PH. My PH swings from 7.6 at night to 8.04 is what it is sitting at right now. It may go higher I don't know I never really pay attention to it.

But in case you do end up throwing in the towel can you throw it my way? I could use more towels! :D

If you have this problem since you started using the biopellets, then why not take a break from it and see if the PH come back to normal level?

Personally, it's on a rare occasion that I will mess with pH directly in a reef tank by adding pH altering chemicals. Steady pH is more important than proper pH, although 7.7 is getting a bit concerning. There are many things that will lower pH, but the most common are:

~ CO2 build up
~ Organic breakdown

Both issues can usually be solved by a good quality skimmer (off gasses CO2 from the tank increases oxygen), fresh air in the house (lowers CO2 in the house increases oxygen), proper water flow, and good maintenance routines.

Not true. Alkalinity buffers the pH, it doesn't directly alter it. That means higher alkalinity will make pH more resistant to change either up or down. There are some alkalinity buffers that will directly alter the pH (like SeaChem Marine Buffer 8.3).

Agreed.

If you don't have an algae problem, why are you using Bio Pellets anyway? It is for the 5 ppm nitrate? That seems hardly enough to interfere with Bio Pellets imo. I'm not sold on these Bio Pellets yet though - I've seen more trouble than good with them so far. Maybe Bio Pellets also lower pH? Maybe it is a coincidence?

Vigorous aeration by your skimmer helps pH. Using a refugium with macro algae and lots of light on at night helps too. If you keep the alkalinity higher, then pH swings will be less too. Check your probe calibration and make sure there are no electrical current leaks in your system that may cause your probe reading to go off.

I'll add my $.02 to say that my experience with adding Kalk overnight has taught me that this will work....to a degree... I've found the Kalk in my reactor is effective for about 2 weeks, then I have to replace it with new Kalk. You should be able to measure the pH of the Kalk at something like 13+.

Been a long time since looked at my pH, like others said if tank not showing problems don't worry (and even if did have problems could be a lot more than pH).

Well, it's morning and my PH is 7.84 and never gets much past 8 or 8.1. My tank is very healthy - all fish and corals are happy. I was told long time ago, forget about PH if everything looks good. It's big swings in PH you need to worry about.

pH is never the cause of issues, but the result of issues.