can't seem to raise pH off 7.8 Advice?

[sgallant04]

My 34g cube is doing ok. I'm starting off real slow I have garf rocks on top the sand bed and a small 1/15 hp chiller.
I'm growing some algae right now w/ one turbo snail in it. I just picked up a pinpoint marine ph monitor I sunk in the sump. my ph is holding steady at about 7.9 to 8.1
lol no matter how many 3 gallon (10%) water changes I do I can't seem to raise the ph to 8.3 / 8.4 I'm going to try to do at least 50% water change to see if I can raise the ph a bit. I know when I make my normal water change that after I pre-mix and age/heat/areate the new water the PH is right on. once i add into the display back to 7.8 I've done some reading over at seachem and the only answer I can come up with is that the system is not ionically balanced and to restore ionic balance perform a water change or adjust the magnesium and calcium levels to approximately 3:1 Mg:Ca (calcium does not need to exceed 400 mg/L). I have the test kit for Ca but not Mg and i'm not sure I understand how those factor in with managing PH.

I'm still new in the hobby and I don't like to medicate use miracle cures to much. to pre-mix the larger amount of sea water I need to acquire a big 20+ gallon clean trash bin a spare heater to bring the water up to temp and larger power head to age it

Any advice or supplies I could borrow from somebody local here in abq would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!
-Shawn g

 

[killingseed]

sounds almost normal to me, what type of water are you using and what brand of salt. personaly i dose kalk to help maintain my ph at around 8.4. i am not saying kalk is your answer, i does it to help maintain my cal and alk for my sps. they do make a ph buffer i blieve. but like i said its sound normal and i not sure i would do anything about it. what type of corals are you trying to keep?

 

[Dangerous Ace]

Here are a couple of things you can try:
Take some of the 7.8 water out and aerate it overnight then test the PH. Sometimes that can tell you if there isn't enough oxygen exchange happening. If that's the case, move up the powerheads and get a lot of water movement at the top. That's the problem I had with my 1st tank and as soon as I got the surface churning the PH started to rise. Usually with a sump you don't have to worry about oxygen exchange and a good protein skimmer can help with aeration too. I don't know too much about your system so it's a little hard to say about that.

Check your alkalinity. There is a direct correlation between Alk and PH. I like the Seachem buffers if you need to get things balanced. I wouldn't worry to much about the magnesium in a new tank. Unless you are using a terrible brand of salt or dosing with Kalkwasser long term you probably aren't going to have that problem. Magnesium usually depletes by acting like Calcium. If you aren't getting any crazy coraline growth i wouldn't worry about it. You didn't say how new the system is or if you are still cycling. I've seen some really bad PH bottoms from water quality too. It might just need some time to stabilize.

I use a 20 something gallon trashcan and a good size pump to mix my water in if you want to borrow it. But it might be easier to try the other stuff 1st. Let us know how it goes.

 

[xXReefXx]

my tank is super stable if you want i could give you my water from my display tank for water changes!!

 

[xXReefXx]

am sure your tank is new since you mention bout algae growth. since am keeping mostly sps my water will probably speed-up or even exceed the cycle process which will bring beneficial bacteria for your tank!!

 

[reign]

Listen to Dace. he has got it right on the money..also it depends on what time of day your are getting these readings..Earlier in the day your Ph will tend to be lower from all the co2 released during the night midday your systems ph will be higher.. that is not that lown of ph and not too much to worry about..I like seachems marine buffer and builder.. otherwise use some good ole Kalkwasser(ca hydroxide)..if you want to even go the cheaper route use pickling lime(same thing as kalk just at grocery store )

 

[Myrddraal]

Mrs. Wage's is what I'm using.

 

[reign]

yup stuff is like $4 at the store..

 

[Myrddraal]

I picked up 6 pounds of it at the end of canning season last year for $3 total!

 

[BigScott]

i woudent worry to much.. i got a fellow reefer here an he has lps an sps an thats the range where he keeps his 240.. for what its worth..

 

[benjabba]

I have been struggling with this myself. I ended running an airline outside the house and hooking it up to my skimmer. That seemed to really help. Too much C02 seemed to be the problem. Where is your tank setup? Can you open a window and let fresh air in? If you can get oxygen in it will help to raise your Ph. Also, like mentioned before added kalk or pickling lime will really help.