top up and ph

balistidae · #1 10-19-2006, 01:50 AM

i am wondering what people do to maintain ph. I understand the salt mix buffers the water. what about water used to top off for evaporation? does this water alter ph? thank you!

mark · #2 10-19-2006, 02:37 AM

I'm not adding any buffers (other than what's in salt mix) and my pH stays constant between water changes (slight dip after lights go out).

I do though aerate my change water (fr a home ro/di unit) for a day or two before adding salt.

Before I had the direct hookup I was also aerating the topoff water in gallon jugs before adding, now I'm straight from the ro/di unit through a float valve to sump and notice no difference in pH. Still believe though a good idea for larger volumes to aerate first.

Quagmire · #3 10-19-2006, 04:14 AM

If its small amounts of top off at any one time,it wont change your PH.Larger top offs you might want to use a PH buffer.I get 2 1/2 gal a day evaporation this time of year without my sump fan running and dont worry about PH.But if I forget and have to add 5g I'll buffer it. Thats on a 60-70g total system.In the Summer when my fans are going I use buffer due to the larger amount I have to add.

kwirky · #4 10-22-2006, 04:49 AM

I drip kalk nightly.

2 teaspoons of kalk mix dripped from a 1 gallon milk jug of RO/DI water each night. dripped at about 1 drop per second through knotted airline tubing siphoned from the milkjug. oldschool cheap bastard style

120 gallon setup. Works well, but it's a real pain to do EVERY night. contemplating an aquamedic reefdoser 3 or 4 channel peristaltic pump after x-mas. dose 3 part alkalinity/calcium/magnesium, AND top off!