ph levels at 8.8?

[digitalsteve]

hey guys, my ph seems to have leveled out at 8.7-8.8, and every time i add new weater it still goes back up till it plateaus out at this mark, is there anything i can do to drop it or get it to stablize at a lower ph? the tank has been up for about 7 weeks now and all my other params are where they should be, ammonia-0 , nitrates-0 , nitries-0, and sg 1.025

[ree-fready]

How old is your test kit and what is your alk. at? I would test the makeup water as well.

[Chin_Lee]

test your kit to something definite something like ph7 buffer. what are you using to test?

[digitalsteve]

a digital ph meter is waht i am using to test

[Ken]

Hi, check your calibration on the probe. If you can't calibrate, probably time to get a new probe. Pinpoint meters suggest probe replacement for pH at 18 months. Regards Ken

[Rikko]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...e2002/chem.htm

There's a link to making a calibration solution using household borax but the link is dead.

[Rikko]

Good 'ol archive.org:
http://web.archive.org/web/200210150...io/default.asp

[Jack]

Calibration fluids are cheap from LFS and if accuracy is your what you're after I would definatley have to reccomend not DIY'ing pH solutions.

Most hydrophonics stores also carry these solutions.

Also, has the probe ever dried out?

[Rikko]

My motivation for writing it was quite simple. A number of aquarists were reporting some very strange pH values from freshly calibrated pH monitors. They tended to be much higher than expected. There was a common thread in these stories: All of them had used a certain brand of pH 10 calibration solution. So, I went to my local pet store, bought some of this product and found that it was low by nearly one pH unit when checked with a research-quality pH meter and electrode, calibrated with fresh research-quality pH standards! In response, I proposed that people at least check their calibrations with another easily obtainable pH standard, a simple solution of borax dissolved in water.

[digitalsteve]

i have checked the ph meter against 2 test kits and found that it is accurate. i am totally at a loss for what to do .