reefinmike
New member
Sorry for the long thread, If you want to get straight to the kalk question, skip to the last paragraph. The first two are detailing my struggle with low PH and what I have done to try correcting it.
Earlier this year I began the journey of rekindling my love for the hobby. I've learned many lessons and have had to take several steps back to do things right. I have invested so much time and effort in making everything perfect and easy to maintain but low PH has been a constant battle. From February through april everything was doing fantastic and corals were growing nicely. I never tested the ph because I figured if the alkalinity was in check, the PH would have to be as well. In ohio it was snowing in april so we had a very short spring and not many days of open windows weather. I'm not sure what changed but suddenly all of my corals started doing poorly. I ordered a cheap API test kit and my ph tested ~7.8!(likely 7.6-7.7 after comparing results to my ph probe). After reading the Randy Holmes-Farley article on low PH I aerated a sample of water outside and saw the PH jump up to where it should be. It was apparent that I have high CO2 in my house which came as a surprise to me. My home is 60 years old with old windows and doors, 1,100sqft with one human, two dogs and a cat contributing to the CO2 level. Thinking that I finally solved the problem, I crawled through my hot attic and ran a 1" pvc fresh air intake from my eshopps S-200 skimmer to outside. Within a day the PH jumped up to 8.2 with the API test kit. The sudden change in PH caused lingering ich to show it's face so all of the fish have been in hypo the last month.
Being a tinkerer and wanting to further complicate things, I bought a PH module and probe for my apex to make the most of the app and keep a closer eye on a somewhat important parameter. First thing I found out is that the API kit tests ~.2 higher than it actually is. I re calibrated my probe, tested RO water, calibration solutions, etc and have established the probe is accurate. It seems the Ph maxes out around 8.07 during the day and drops to ~7.95 at night. Recently I have had some heat spikes and noticed a correlation in PH drop. With no fish in the tank and the massive amount of fresh air drawn in via the skimmer it is apparent that High CO2 is STILL affecting the tanks PH. I feel that the skimmer is the tank's life support system and if that fails, a crash is imminent. The top of the display is currently 80% covered with glass and moderate flow at the surface. The sump is 50% covered and has a calm surface. The stand has doors and is vented with two 52cf/m fans. I will likely eventually completely seal off the top of the tank but I cant really seal off the sump any more. I feel as if the air in my home is poison and the only thing I can do is completely seal it off from any inside air. It shouldnt be this way. Thinking that possibly my api alk test was off I ordered a hanna checker. It tests right where I wanted it to at 9.3DKH. This morning I aerated a sample of water outside and checked it with my PH probe. It jumped from 7.95 to 8.2. :hmm4:
It shouldn't be this difficult. I feel as If I have to implement a bunch of bandaid fixes to keep this problem at bay but here I am, considering implementing kalk dosing to help alleviate the issue. Currently my tank evaporates about a half gallon per day. The display is a 90 but with the 55g sump/fuge, the total system volume is ~115 gallons of water. Currently my corals use up about 20ppm of calcium and 1dkh Alk per week. I dose 30 grams of CACL and 12G baking soda each week to correct this. Having never dosed kalk, I am looking for some advice on amounts and concentration to dose. I would like to use a BRS 50ml/min dosing pump that will kick on once or twice an hour to make up for evaporation and correct PH when it is under 8.3. I plan to make up the rest of the evaporation with my current gravity fed ATO with 4 gallon reservoir and a simple float valve. for added safety, I plan to employ a breakout box with float switch(es) above the normal operating water level to cut power to the kalk dosing pump as well as a solenoid on the ATO line. Float switches in the skimmer cup, display and ATO reservoir with programmed outlets and email/visual/audible alerts will add yet another layer of safety. The idea of dosing kalk sounds a bit daunting but I feel that all these added layers of safety make it foolproof. I just need to know the amounts and concentrations I should expect to dose as well as if the PH changing power of kalk is enough to stabilize PH at 8.2-8.3 without sending my alkalinity and calcium through the roof.
Earlier this year I began the journey of rekindling my love for the hobby. I've learned many lessons and have had to take several steps back to do things right. I have invested so much time and effort in making everything perfect and easy to maintain but low PH has been a constant battle. From February through april everything was doing fantastic and corals were growing nicely. I never tested the ph because I figured if the alkalinity was in check, the PH would have to be as well. In ohio it was snowing in april so we had a very short spring and not many days of open windows weather. I'm not sure what changed but suddenly all of my corals started doing poorly. I ordered a cheap API test kit and my ph tested ~7.8!(likely 7.6-7.7 after comparing results to my ph probe). After reading the Randy Holmes-Farley article on low PH I aerated a sample of water outside and saw the PH jump up to where it should be. It was apparent that I have high CO2 in my house which came as a surprise to me. My home is 60 years old with old windows and doors, 1,100sqft with one human, two dogs and a cat contributing to the CO2 level. Thinking that I finally solved the problem, I crawled through my hot attic and ran a 1" pvc fresh air intake from my eshopps S-200 skimmer to outside. Within a day the PH jumped up to 8.2 with the API test kit. The sudden change in PH caused lingering ich to show it's face so all of the fish have been in hypo the last month.
Being a tinkerer and wanting to further complicate things, I bought a PH module and probe for my apex to make the most of the app and keep a closer eye on a somewhat important parameter. First thing I found out is that the API kit tests ~.2 higher than it actually is. I re calibrated my probe, tested RO water, calibration solutions, etc and have established the probe is accurate. It seems the Ph maxes out around 8.07 during the day and drops to ~7.95 at night. Recently I have had some heat spikes and noticed a correlation in PH drop. With no fish in the tank and the massive amount of fresh air drawn in via the skimmer it is apparent that High CO2 is STILL affecting the tanks PH. I feel that the skimmer is the tank's life support system and if that fails, a crash is imminent. The top of the display is currently 80% covered with glass and moderate flow at the surface. The sump is 50% covered and has a calm surface. The stand has doors and is vented with two 52cf/m fans. I will likely eventually completely seal off the top of the tank but I cant really seal off the sump any more. I feel as if the air in my home is poison and the only thing I can do is completely seal it off from any inside air. It shouldnt be this way. Thinking that possibly my api alk test was off I ordered a hanna checker. It tests right where I wanted it to at 9.3DKH. This morning I aerated a sample of water outside and checked it with my PH probe. It jumped from 7.95 to 8.2. :hmm4:
It shouldn't be this difficult. I feel as If I have to implement a bunch of bandaid fixes to keep this problem at bay but here I am, considering implementing kalk dosing to help alleviate the issue. Currently my tank evaporates about a half gallon per day. The display is a 90 but with the 55g sump/fuge, the total system volume is ~115 gallons of water. Currently my corals use up about 20ppm of calcium and 1dkh Alk per week. I dose 30 grams of CACL and 12G baking soda each week to correct this. Having never dosed kalk, I am looking for some advice on amounts and concentration to dose. I would like to use a BRS 50ml/min dosing pump that will kick on once or twice an hour to make up for evaporation and correct PH when it is under 8.3. I plan to make up the rest of the evaporation with my current gravity fed ATO with 4 gallon reservoir and a simple float valve. for added safety, I plan to employ a breakout box with float switch(es) above the normal operating water level to cut power to the kalk dosing pump as well as a solenoid on the ATO line. Float switches in the skimmer cup, display and ATO reservoir with programmed outlets and email/visual/audible alerts will add yet another layer of safety. The idea of dosing kalk sounds a bit daunting but I feel that all these added layers of safety make it foolproof. I just need to know the amounts and concentrations I should expect to dose as well as if the PH changing power of kalk is enough to stabilize PH at 8.2-8.3 without sending my alkalinity and calcium through the roof.
