low ph, how do i bring it up?

[sabazerehi]

I have a 30g reef tank and my ph just tested at 7.4, it is morning and i know ph is usually lower in the morning, however, whenever i tested in the morning before i always tested at 7.8. how do i bring it back up? i have a ph buffer but i'm guessing i probably shouldn't use that, will a water change help?

 

[mikecc]

what kind of buffer? I just drip kalk, myself

 

[iceman0032935]

i use seachem marine buffer it raises it right to 8.3

 

[sabazerehi]

it's a kent marine bottle that says ph buffer on it, how do u drip kalk?

 

[xenon]

alk sumpliment will increase ph and so does kalk.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

pH 7.4 is unlikely to be accurate, but might be if the CO2 level is very high and the alkalinity very low.

I also do not recommend Seachem Marine Buffer for a reef aquarium as it has substantial borate in it and is sold for FO tanks. It is not recommended (by me) for tanks where there is continual ongoing demand for bicarbonate and carbonate, but not borate.

Buffers in general are not a good way to raise pH, despite misleading manufacturer claims.

More fresh air and/or limewater are the best options.

This article has more:

Low pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm

 

[sabazerehi]

where can i get limewater to drip into my tank, and how much do i drip?

 

[Aquarist007]

most pH problems are due to carbon dioxide problem in and around the tank.
Open a window over night
Crank up the air in the skimmer or vent the skimmer air line to the outside
Make sure the flow rate in the main tank is between 20-40 times the tank volume in gph
Make sure the surface of the tank is churning

these should help

 

[IslandCrow]

Using a PH buffer is usually not a good idea. At the very least, you'll want to carefully monitor your alkalinity. If you have a reef tank, some PH buffers have chemicals that are not very conducive to a healthy reef. Kalkwasser drip is a good way to bring up PH, but as low as yours is, you have some other issues. First, how are you testing your PH? Are you using a test kit or probe, and which brand? You may very well be getting a bad reading, so you may want to get it tested by someone else first. Now, a few other questions:

1) Is your tank covered? Glass covers limit gas exchange and allow CO2 to build up, which will lower PH.
2) Do you have a lot of people in the house and are the doors and windows usually closed? PH often times drops in the winter, because there's a buildup of CO2 inside the house since the doors and windows are usually closed.
3) What do you have for water circulation? Without sufficient water circulation including disturbing the surface of the water, gas exchange is limited and CO2 builds up.

Dripping kalk is fairly easy to do, but before you do, it would be best to get to the root of your problem.

 

[Aquarist007]

try not to use buffers--they contain boron which increases and throws off the ratio in the alkalinity of your tank. Quite often the low pH is realated to carbon dioxide and after a few days the pH falls and you now have a high alkalinity problem

 

[sabazerehi]

oh and i know what's probably causing the low ph, i've been adding vitamin c for my zoas, if that helps anything

 

[IslandCrow]

Hmm, I don't see how vitamin C would cause low PH, but I'm no chemist. I'm also not sure what it will do for your zoas. That's a new one for me. I don't think they're getting large doses of vitamin C in the wild. Anyway, check out this article. Hopefully it will help:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

 

[sabazerehi]

sorry i forgot to say that earlier, i have a lid on the tank but that doesn't completely cover it, i got my water tested at petco first and then i bought test strips to test it myself since i was starting to add vit c and the test strips gave me the same results so i thought they were trustworthy, the brand is jungle. and the tank is right by two doors that lead to the back yard in my room and they open numerous times throughout the day hopefully letting in some fresh air

 

[sabazerehi]

i read that article thanks, and there's a vitamin c thread if you wish to check it out in the zoanthids forum where fellow reefers discuss the major improvements they've seen in their tank after using vitamin c, however, some of the drawbacks is that it will lower ph that i'm fairly sure of

 

[IslandCrow]

Oh, and here's the article on limewater if you end up deciding to go that route.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm

I tend to agree with Randy, though (which is usually a good idea in general - note the author of the articles), that your PH probably isn't quite as low as you think. I'm not familiar with Jungle brand. Personally, I've used Pinpoint and Aquacontroller PH probes as well as Seachem and Salifert test kits. They all seem to be accurate.

 

[sabazerehi]

yea i've heard good things about salifert, and it's comforting to know my ph isn't as low as i think but i definetely would like to get it around 8.2, thanks for the article. out of curiosity, where do you guys get your limewater? i'd rather not have to order it and wait for it to arrive

 

[Sk8r]

Get a jar of Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime and stir 2 level measuring teaspoons per gallon into your topoff water. Lid it to prevent too much skin from forming. It comes in at about ph 12, so tiny frequent doses are better than one big slug a day. It will keep your alk and calcium at whatever they were when you started this process, IF the magnesium reading is 3x the calcium reading. So if you 'set' these levels by hand-dosing, then you're ok until you run out of kalkwater. And your ph should stay somewhat higher. 7.9 is a safe ph, up to 8.3.

 

[sabazerehi]

thanks so much again! i think i'm going to have to drip it though because i just topped off my water unless i remove some i guess. and do i just test my water like every hour or something to keep track of it and stop it when i reach my desired ph?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Unbuffered Vitamin C will drop pH, and boosting it back up with a buffer is a poor idea. Limewater is the way to counter that problem if you really want to use unbuffered vitamin C. Buffered vitamin C can also work: it is not a mixture of a buffer and vitamin C.

 

[sabazerehi]

i'm using vitamin c crystals, that's the best i could find unfortunately and i'm definetely going to pick up some limewater tonight and start dripping