Calc,Alk,PH issues

[ashr]

Hey all

So I have been having some algae issues with my tank lately and lost some corals but I've been busy and a little out of touch with my tank so I didn't notice some of levels were off. My doser has been having issues with the Calc and not adding enough and my ALk was being added way more.

Calc is around 300
Alk is about 11
PH is 8.7

what would be the best way to lower my PH at this time as it is way to high. I've stopped dosing Alk and will replace all my hoses for everything.


any thoughts?

[dreef]

I'd say get your calc up,alk will come down,hense your ph will drop.

[asylumdown]

Do it slowly. with alk that high if you start adding a bunch of calcium it's just going to precipitate out all over everything and fry your pumps. I once had a similar situation and caused extra problems for myself when I started adding calcium to get the levels up, didn't see them budge - because it was precipitating out almost instantly - and made it worse by increasing my dosing rate of calcium even more to try and compensate. I didn't realize what was happening till my protein skimmer, return pump, and power-heads all failed in the same week.

My preferred method for correcting things when they get out of whack like that now is through multiple water changes with replacement water that has the correct ratio of calcium to alkalinity, and only starting to use a doser again when things are at a stable and desirable ion ratio.

[ashr]

That is great advise, thank you both. I was going to stop adding Alk from my doser and just does Calc a bit longer, so I guess I will stop doing that all together or just add small amounts. I will be doing water changes a couple times this week in slow doses.

Would it be smart to add PH buffer to left lower the PH a bit? I dont want it to run to high for to long as I have lost a SPS colony all ready.

Should I keep dosing my Mg and just do the Calc in small doses?

Thanks again

[ashr]

Does this really work to help lower the PH?

Add carbon dioxide in the form of bottled soda water to try lowering the pH level in your tank. Add 6 mL of soda water per gallon of water in your aquarium to reduce pH by approximately 0.3 units. Be sure to use an unflavored soda water that is free of phosphates. This is an instant fix --- unlike adding additional aeration, which will take time.


Add 1 mL of distilled white vinegar per gallon of tank water; it will instantly reduce the pH by 0.3 units.

[FragIt Dan]

Your pH is essentially regulated by ambient CO2. With sufficient buffering capacity (dKh), which you have, there is nothing you can add to your tank that will cause a shift in pH that will last more than a few hours. With your Ca as low as it is, I would suggest your coral loss was as a result of insufficient Ca. IMO, your alkalinity is fine (8-12 dKh is often quoted as a desired target), but getting back to your original question of pH... I would offer three potential explanations, and IMO, they are the only three. Either your test kit is wrong (my vote is here), you have a million plants in your home that are sucking the CO2 out of the air, raising the pH of your tank, or your top off water is strongly basic (high pH). If your top off water has high pH, let it air out for a day before using it (you should be doing this anyway to allow the chlorine/chloramine to off gas), your tank will drop back down to normal pH on it's own. If your house is full of plants, you would expect large swings on pH from day to night as your plants switch between CO2 uptake and release. If your test kit is wrong then there is no problem. Really, just stop testing for pH. If your dKh is testing above 6 or 7, your pH will be fine. I think if you ask around, you will find people would say your coral loss was due to insufficient Ca. Rectify this by raising it about 20ppm/day and you will be fine. You can spread the dosing out with your doser so it will not ppt out on your pumps. I think you would be fine to even raise it by 40 ppm/day if you spread it out over several doses, but that's just me. Good luck,


Dan

[Myka]

Woah, don't mess with pH directly like that, you're just asking for (potentially really big) problems. Directly altering pH won't last long anyway, only a few hrs.

How are you testing pH? If you're using a typical pH test kit then your readings are unlikely to be particularly accurate (and definitely not accurate enough to be messing with vinegar or soda water). If you are using a digital pH meter (good!) then check the calibration as I find some meters lose calibration 2-3 times per year. I have a hard time believing your pH is at 8.7.

Also, alkalinity at 11 dKH is not overly high, some people keep their reefs this high all the time. You do need to raise calcium though, and as you raise the calcium the alkalinity will drop. If you do it slow enough you won't cause precipitation at only 11 dKH. If you raise calcium up to 420 ppm over the next 2 days this should solve your low calcium problem and your high alkalinity problem without a hitch.

Sometimes, causing precipitation is a good way to lower calcium and alkalinity. Awhile back I accidentally hit the "random" button on the timer for my doser. I didn't notice I hit that button and it was like that for 2 days before I noticed the tank "looked funny". So I tested everything and alkalinity was 18 dKH. Since the tank was at this elevated alkalinity for a short time I added a bunch of calcium to precipitate it all out of the water. This worked well, and the result was calcium 440 ppm and alkalinity 11 dKH which was much better. The fish and corals did not mind this because the tank had the high alkalinity just for a short time. This did not ruin any of my pumps. Everything had a white dusting (including the glass lol), but a waterchange afterwards, and a quick rinse of the pumps (it wasn't hardened on the pumps, it came off easy) and all was good.

[ashr]

Thank you both for those replies, they have helped me make up my mind on what to do.

I just replaced all my RO/DI filters and risen. I will be doing small water changes and also keep dosing my Calc to help bring it up. Once im home again tonight I will test it all again!

Thanks again

[ashr]

Checked my levels last night again..
Im pretty sure my doser was not adding Calc or was plugged..

Calc 220
Alk 11
SG 1.28
PH 8.4


SO yeah.. I need to make sure my doser is working for my calc..

[FragIt Dan]

That Ca level seems impossibly low, I would check that again if I were you,


Dan