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.