Help! KH off the charts, PH too low

nicovgonzalez92

New member
Hi, I have a nano, open-top, 10 gallon reef aquarium, up and running for about 3 months now. The past few weeks I've been having a hard time keeping my ph above 8.0. I know it's going to drop over night, but no matter how many doses of reef buffer I use it always drops down to 8.0 within a matter of hours. I'm having to dose daily just to keep the ph above 8. I also noticed my KH has been off the charts, plus my salinity is generally low. Because of the large amount of use with the chemical and all of the RODI water I've had to use for dosing, I'm assuming the reef buffer is the culprit. Its gotten to the point where all of the glass is covered in a thin layer of white residue that is very difficult to scrape off.


As for the brands of the test kit and buffer... I'm using API test kits, and Saechem Reef Buffer. Using a Whisper filter and an Octopus in-tank skimmer. I recently bought a Fluval Sea Nano Marine and Reef LED Light and began keeping a couple of corals, including a green star polyp, and a Kenya tree. I have 12 ish pounds live rock, 2 clown fish, a six line wrasse, a couple of snails and a fire shrimp.


I hope this is enough info. Not sure what to do so I greatly appreciate the help!
 
first off....ph is a function of co2 in the room so getting more fresh air in the room is what you want to do, along with some aeration of the tank water to get the co2 out.

second....don't use buffers to try to correct ph, they are only going to raise your alkalinity.

third.....as long as your ph is 7.8 or higher your fine...
 
I agree that the issue is carbon dioxide. The pH buffers all work by consuming carbon dioxide. They also add alkalinity in the process. The problem is that within a few hours, at most, the skimmer and water circulation will bring more carbon dioxide back into the water column until the tank is at equilibrium with the indoor air quality. A pH of 7.8 is fine and is very common for tanks in houses with the windows shut. What pH level is the tank reading?
 
I agree with everything outssider said. Only use buffers to control alkalinity. If you overdose those, it will cause you a headache with cleaning calcified pumps, etc. 7.8 pH is fine.
 
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