Low PH during cycling

[Bsvenonius]

Hey guys I'm sure this has been brought up multiple times and sorry for the repeat. I just turned my freshwater into a saltwater. I have a 38 gallon FOWLR,no stock yet and my PH the past three days has been right around 7.8. I figured it should be at 8 or above. Should I be worried or give it a few weeks since it's still in the early stages. Thanks!

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

7.8 is at the low end but it is still in range. For marine aquariums worry about Alkalinity instead of chasing pH. If you really want to get pH up open a window to remove CO2 from the house, point a powerhead at the water surface to increase gas exchange. I've also read you can run tubing to the outside into skimmer pump so you are using fresh air there. Once you have algae growing it should remove CO2 from the tank as well, that is why most people light their fuge on an opposite schedule of the DT as pH will rise when the tank lights turn off, if you switch on a light in the refugium the macro algae can help counteract it.

 

[Bsvenonius]

Thanks for your reply. I opened a window this morning for about an hour before I left for work and I will do the same when I get home. Maybe I should leave my lights on for a few hours at night so the algae can grow? I'm currently leaving them off until the cycle is complete and my skimmer is past its break in period and working well.

 

[TauntingBeef]

not sure as I'm still new to this (tank almost done cycling)but my LFS gave me some aquavitro eight.four to use supposed to raise and buff ph to 8.4 seems to work the last 3 days but like I said I'm new so my lfs could have up sold me time will tell

 

[gone fishin]

I would not sweat the pH especially in a cycling tank. FWIW I checked my pH a couple of weeks ago for the first time in about 3 years. It was still about 7.8 Good luck just my 2 cents.