Help! pH Too Low?

jmarsh3253

New member
Hi All - I'm a new poster and have a situation I can't figure out. I have a 75G mixed reef and a 29G sump/refugium. I use RO/DI water and a 50/50 mix of IO Reef Crystals and Seachem Reef Salt and do a 10-15G weekly water change. My water parameters are: Ammonia - 0, No2 - 0, No3 - 0, Alk 9-10dkh, Ca 440-460, Mg 1245, and SG at 1.025. The issue is I can't get my pH out of a 7.8-7.9 range. It is stable at that level, but lower than ideal based on my research. I have just gone through a bottle of Seachem's new "Balance" product from the AquaVitro line that is supposed to address this issue. My water will test up to 8.1-8.2 after dosing, but by the next day is back to 7.8. Does anyone have any ideas, or should I leave it alone since my other parameters seem OK? Thanks for your help!
 
try to open a window close to your tank, and give it some fresh air.
you might have high CO2 inside. and if so, you're not going to get your PH up. but don't worry about it, as long as it's stable, you should be fine.


J.
 
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Welcome to Reef Central


Ph can be a bit tricky. The thing is that you don't want to try and control it directly. It's more of an indicator that you have other issues, if it's out of line. Yours seems to be within the acceptable range but on the lower end of the scale. You don't have a ph emergency. The addatives for PH are more for a temporary quick fix that should in most cases be avoided. Here's a couple of articles that should give you a much better understanding of PH.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2002/chem.htm

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php
 
Make sure your test kits are reliable. Most recommend Salifert, that is the only kits I use. If you are using a ph probe, you may need to calibrate it with solutions. Also, when you mix your new sw, you need to mix it for 12-24 hours. That will allow the water to oxiginate and will raise the ph.
 
i have found that certian test kits can be a pain giving different readings from eachother but based on you other params i would say that this is the problem but to be on the safe side i would go and get a ph probe it will save you money in the long run instead of buying all these diferent test kits and you will be able to monitor at all times!
 
Thanks for your responses! I use a pH "pen" and calibrate it with 7 and 10 solutions, so I believe I'm getting a reliable reading. I did use the link provided above by Chatyak and did an aeration test...took a tank water sample, tested it then took it outside and aerated it with an airpump and my pH went from 7.8 to 8.2 in under an hour. I tried the same test with another sample but this time kept it in the same room as my tank. The pH stayed at 7.8. Sounds like I have an excess of Co2 in my house. I hooked up some vinyl tubing to my skimmer air intake and put the other end out a window for fresh air...we'll see.
 
do you have a sump? you can also remove excess Co2 from tank by running lighting on fuge longer....

my tank is in the middle of my house under my stairs. room that used to be a closet. i messed with my lighting cycle and noticed a ph down into the 7.6 range. now i am back to running 24/7 with light on cheato...

also kalk would convert co2 to co3....to remove it that way as well...
 
I do have a 29G that I converted into 3 chambers...overflow/protein skimmer, refugium with Chaeto and rock rubble, and the return pump. I have been running the refugium on alternate schedule to the main lights. I will try 24/7 as well. By the way, just since last night when I ran the skimmer air input to outside air, my pH is up to 7.9-8.0
 
run the lights for 24/7 a couple days and retest
depending on how much cheato you have you will see
a reduction in co2 and increase in PH

you can play with it, maybe get it it's own timer and run for 16 hours, etc.

my next purchase is a controller to run and monitor mine. too much in the tank to not invest in a controller
 
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