General advice - high pH/KH

C

cblack

New member
It has been about a week since my last 10% WC, I have been light on dosing (dosing 5mL each part of Ocean's Blend about two weeks ago) until I figure out the best routine and have been relying mostly on weekly 10% WCs.
My readings about 3-4 hours after lights on are:
Salinity: 1.024 sg
pH: 8.6 (this seems high from what I have read)
KH: 13 / 4.68 meq/L (also high)
Ca: 340
I have a 20g display and a 10g fuge/sump with macro algae both on the same lighting period, I understand I should run a reverse photo period. But is there anything else I should do/consider given my situation and readings? The additives I have available are Ocean's Blend 2-part, Boyd VitaChem and SeaChem reef builder.
 
my guess is your pH really isnt that high, assuming the only thing you dose is oceans blend 2part and that was 2 weeks ago.

The seachem reefbuilder will have a signifacent short term impact on pH, but if your not using that, its a moot point.

What are you using to test your pH?
 
I only added 2-part Ocean's Blend two weeks ago at a low dose. I am trying to figure out what I should do to improve my water quality. I have several tests (Salifert Ca, tetratest nitrates/nitrites/NH3/pH/KH), see numbers in my first post. pH test is from the tetratest kit. I suspect that perhaps the 5mL line may be off so I will be measuing volume with a syringe for future testing. I still plan on doing a WC tonight as planned as everything seems to be doing fairly well with the weekly WCs other than GSPs not extending that much and Xenia not being as "pulsy" as I'd like. I plan to keep doing WCs with 1.024 water unless I discover that I should be running higher salinity.
 
Note: I've dosed once with 4mL Ocean's Blend two weeks ago. That's it.
I did my WC and redid the pH test on the tank and it still seemed high. I also tested the replacement water that I mixed at 1.024g (with a PH aging for a day, heated, etc) and it also seemed to register a high pH. I tend to believe the Ca, KH and nitrate tests are good, but the pH one is hard to read (color chart matching style, jumps from 8.3 to 8.6). I am still interested in recommendations and do think my pH may be high.
 
Good link on high pH bertoni, thank you. What is a good way to increase aeration? I have a PH that is close enough to the surface to cause significant rippling. Should I also add a bubbling air stone and air pump of some sort? I could do that in the sump/fuge but I don't have too much flow through there.
 
If im not mistakes this oceanblend is for Alk and calcium. And if you dont know the readings and the amount they drop between water changes how do you know how much to add.Mix the new batch by the tank and use powerhead to circulate it.Heat not needed it should reach room temp by the next day.

Then how much water do you chage?

Then your PH will change throughout the day do to daily critter acivity and then level at night so for most correct reading test in the morning around the same time.
 
Yes, Ocean's Blend is a two part additive for Ca and Alk along with trace elements. I do a ~4g WC with new water (mixed in 5g bucket w/ PH and heater) once a week. Is this a bad thing? Any advice for the future to figure out how much and when I should be dosing, if at all, given my readings? I plan to run more tests tomorrow now that I've done the WC tonight.
As for time to take pH readings, would that be before tank lights come on?
 
I usually have the salt water for water changes mixed/heated for about one full day in a 5g bucket. I often point the PH up to make waves while mixing.
 
I did the WC and everything looks fine. I don't expect to get much lower pH readings w/ my test kit since even the freshly-mixed water seemed on the high side. I see mentions of "aeration" of water. What are some ways this is usually done? Should I do this with top-off RO water as well? I keep a powerhead and heater in a 5g bucket for all additions (top-off as well as WCs) for at least a few hours before adding the water (usually a full day).
 
There's not need to aerate topoff water, but aerating freshly-mixed saltwater for a few hours can help equilibrate the gas content with the ambient air. Some salts mix to a high pH, for example.
 
How should this aeration be done? Airstone and air pump or is just having a PH rippling the surface enough? As an extra bit of info, I am using Instant Ocean salt.
 
bertoni, you mention you use a small pump for aeration. Is this a small pump as in a PH rippling the surface as I am doing or something else?
 
Thanks bertoni, glad to know I was doing something correct with my SW prep :)
So, I've done a bunch of reading and high Alk and pH with low Ca is a somewhat common imbalance and I should just monitor for Alk to go down over time (or I could do pure vinegar as mentioned in an RK article, but I am hoping Alk will come down on its own). Hopefully I am narrowing in on good WQ parameters (nitrites at ~20ppm, all other N2-cycle stuff undetectable). I am also on the lookout for a decent pH probe as I don't really feel comfortable with my pH test kit. Any tips from anyone for moving towards better WQ from my current situation? As I posted earlier, my Ca may be a bit low while Alk and pH are high.
 
Vinegar won't lower alkalinity for long. It's an organic acid, and as bacteria consume the organic portion, the alkalinity gets released. Alkalinity should drop on its own.

I would raise the calcium to 400 ppm or so with some calcium chloride, like Kent Turbo Calcium.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
High Zinc in ICP Test & Switching to ATI Essentials – Need Advice
Replies
17
Views
3K
Reefing102
Reefing102
J
Calcium very elevated
Replies
9
Views
2K
kharmaguru
kharmaguru
G
Back after 20 years - cycling advice
Replies
4
Views
145
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
A
Please help reef tank
Replies
2
Views
690
SantaMonica
S
A
Please help reef tank
Replies
9
Views
856
wvned
wvned
Back
Top