Question for those of you running calcium reactors

[Delphinus]

The question came up in the chatroom a few nights ago posed by VWGuy, what is your tank pH if you're running a calcium reactor?

It seems the reactor will pull down the tank pH a little, is this of concern at all. How low is too low?

I was reminded of this question when I cruised on over to SMiller's (over at RC) site http://www.angelfire.com/home/fishpage/home.html. He lists his parameters as Ca 480, dKH 14, and pH 7.8-7.9. The Ca and dKH values are ideal, but I thought we didn't want our reefs to dip below a pH of 8? (It's not like his pictures show anything suffering, so I guess it's OK to have pH around the high 7's instead of the low 8's??)

(So ... sorry VWGuy I didn't mean to steal your question but now you have me wondering!)

[zulu_principle]

On my tanks, the pH at night drops a little lower with the calcium reactor, 7.9, but I still get 8.1 or 8.2 before lights out.

Never had a problem.


Wendell

[Aquattro]

Tony, concensus is that dropping to 7.8 is not a problem. Randy has this mentioned in a few of his articles. Mine drops to 7.8 with my new reactor.

[Doug]

I also dont think its that important, Tony. Besides my reactor, I also drip kalk, so my ph runs close to 8.3/day and 8.1/night.

[Canadian Man]

Well Ph is probably important to just as many people as it may not be to others but mine is steadly at 8.2 with my reactor. I suppose part of this would be my reverse lit refugium.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I run a dual stage calcium reactor and it has a pH of around 8.3. It is fairly steady and I run my macroalgae tank/refugium at 24/7.

I would double check that the pH measurement is true since there have been some cases that the pH probe or test kit was faulty.

Low pH is not necessarily bad, but it can lead to cyano or algae blooms if the conditions are right (such as high dissolved organics).

- Victor.

[vwguy26]

Hey i wanted to ask that j/k doesnt matter who posts as long as we all learn something so my tank ph is at 8.26 usually at lights out and 7.98 when i get up in the morning .i havn't had any probems with this but was a bit curious .i'm using a pinpoint ph monitor to get these readings

[Delphinus]

It seems the reactor will pull down the tank pH a little, is this of concern at all. How low is too low?

Ok, well, I guess my tank answered my question for me!

(drum roll please) ........... Dinoflagellates!


Holy cow, is this stuff a nuisance. I've been wondering all week, what the ..... is this brown stringy slimey snot saturated with air bubbles all over everything? And after I've siphoned it all out, it comes back within 4-5 hours?

The annoying thing is ... My test kit tells me pH is 8.5, which I wouldn't beleive even if I DIDN'T have a calcium reactor, so ..... time for a different test kit (or can someone with a meter spare an hour, come over to my house, and take a reading for me today? I can compensate with a frag, or a beer, or other beverage for your time&trouble) I know that a) running a reactor will likely pull the pH down a little, and b) dinoflagellates are gross, and c) dinoflagellates seem to prosper in conditions of depressed pH.

On the plus side, the growth of my SPS within the last week alone ... WOW.

I guess for now I just need to keep dialing in the reactor to find that "happy equilibrium."

[pocilipora]

Attention should be given to the tanks Alk rather than the PH in my opinion when using a reactor. I stoped using my monitor years ago and only do Alk tests about twice a month to maintain my dKH at around 11.5 according to the Salifert test kit.
"Victor" are you saying that your efluent from your reactor is the same ph as your main tank water?

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Opps...the tank water is 8.3, but the effluent is 7.8ish.

- Victor.