KH and pH question

[Come Monday]

My 12g Nano has cycled and is just over 4 weeks old now. My KH started out low, around 7 or 8 and my pH was right around 8.2. Over the course of two weeks, my pH has been on a downward spiral and is now at around 7.8 I have added some crushed coral in chamber #2 and KH is now at 11, pH should start to rise again, right? temp is 80.4, NH3 is 0, NO2 is 0, and NO3 is 15. Also, Ca was way too high at 520, but is down to 440. I have only performed one 3gal. water change so far.

 

[VandyTime]

What kind of salt are you using? And do you use a ph buffer?

 

[Come Monday]

Oceanic salt and no on the pH buffer

 

[AdrianBryce]

I think that crushed coral is going to do more harm than good. probably going to get a lot of crap in there, that will rot and throw off your params.

 

[Come Monday]

The CC was just to raise the alkalinity, instead of just dosing it.

 

[AdrianBryce]

oh, is it in a media bag or something?

 

[VandyTime]

Oceanic salt and no on the pH buffer

Oceanic's salt is at 580cal alk 8.5 so changing the water will raise the calcium.
Try some seachem marine buffer and a diff. salt. I love oceanic, its all I use, but the cal is high.

 

[Come Monday]

Thanks Vandy, I'll try your suggestion. Yes, Adrian; I put the CC in a filter bag, this way I can use it only as needed.

 

[NeveSSL]

I'm not really sure that the crushed coral will do much of anything.

That stuff doesn't break down until a much lower pH is my understanding.

Could be missing something, though.

Brandon

 

[bbris]

Yes I agree about the CC. There will be some very minor leaching into the water but it is not a quick fix solution. JMO

Bill

 

[commonstranger]

Brandon is right. The crushed coral would only be good in a calcium reactor where the ph of the water would be lowered to a certain level (6.5 to 6.9) where the crushed coral would start to dissolve slowly to raise/supplement the calcium and alk of the tank. I could be wrong but I beleive I would remove the crushed coral find a salt that had lower parameters and find a base line and adjust from there. Hope this helps.

 

[waynesworld]

You do not need a buffer if you take a coke bottle take some Mrs wedges pickling lime that you buy from wall mart or some other place put some of it and water mix it up and let it sit. after a while the powder will sit on the bottom and you can put some clear water in the tank this will raise your PH. If you want to use the salt you can you just watch the prams and add as needed. a small tank needs to be watched and you need to test and dose your water before you put it in the tank. as someone started you get the prams you want as a base and keep them there. if you have a hard time with ph then look at why not just dose if you search some of the threads you will see there are other things that effect it. CC will not harm your tank but it is not a supplement of Ca if you have sps or hard shell items. you will want to look into 2 part dosing.

 

[Come Monday]

Ok, I got some Seachem pH buffer, and now I'm totally stumped and wished I'd paid more attention in Math class. The directions say to use 1 teaspoon for every 40 gallons of water to raise pH by about 0.1 units. In my 12g tank, I only have 7.5g of water. Can any Math wizards help with the dosing calculation. My pH is once again around 7.9.

 

[andywe]

Start with a little less than a 1/4 teaspoon per day and go from there. When your tank starts to equalize (over several weeks) you won't need to add it as often.

 

[VandyTime]

yeah don't try to raise it all at once, take the slow route even though that buffer should'nt raise it over 8.3 with an overdose.