Low PH

[TandN]

Ok well at night my PH is at 7.6 daytime 8.1. Now I have the sump in a open area also w/ a clip on 6" fan blowing into it. Also theres 4 windows open around it and the ORP is 400. Theres are 4 tunze 6100's for flow in my 120g. Also I do not use a cal reactor or kalk. I use randy's 2 part and it's made from the recipe for the low PH. I have 0 nutrients 0.00 PO4 on my hanna.
0 amm/trite/trates. I could see if it was the winter and the boiler was on and the windows were shut but nope open window right next to the tank open stand fan on it.

 

[Roger928]

Good reading here.

http://wetwebmedia.com/marphalk.htm

 

[TandN]

Ok I read it, it is a good read BUT I have my 2 part supplements adding through a dosre my parmeters are solid at

cal 450
alk 10.5
mag 1400

I have a dialyseas on my tank it does 2.5g WC a day and every 2 months I do a 20g WC my self. Theres very very little detius build up due to the high flow I also blow out the tank monthly. I dont see any other reasons behind this. I do not overfeed at all either.

 

[Percula9]

Why don't you try kent super buffer DKH. This should help you reset the PH to a higher value. I think you need a more balanced buffer. It certainly won't make it worse.

 

[bigginapk]

the kent super buffer stuff works great it has helped mine a great deal !!

 

[five.five-six]

you may try switching to kalk drip at night.. it could be something dying and decaying... this will cause an acidic condition. maby a sponge in the back or somthing. an extra 30% water change probably would not hurt

 

[Aquarist007]

using buffers will drive up the alkalinity level which is at optimum now.
to bring up the pH without affecting the alkalinity level use lime water(Kalk)

 

[Aquarist007]

do you have a refugium--a refugium full of macroalgae with a light on in reverse(at night) will help with that nocturnal pH swing.

 

[bertoni]

How is pH being measured? 7.6 is very low. Does the tank have a skimmer? How much flow does the system have?

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10571451#post10571451 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
How is pH being measured? 7.6 is very low. Does the tank have a skimmer? How much flow does the system have?

to add
you mention that the 120 gal is in progress----does this mean it still cycling? If the live rock is still curing it can lower the pH.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

Agreed with Bertoni, how is pH being measured?

 

[texc4]

Perhaps organic acids ?

 

[TandN]

the tanks a year old. I have 4 tunze 6100's in the tank. Im measuring using my lighthouse controller just calibrated also a pinpoint monitor just calibrated. yeah I have a Bubbleking 250. nothing is rotting away. I just did a WC maybe a week ago also. If something was decaying I would have some type of nutrients. The live rock is from my old tank which is 5 years old.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

I'd drip kalk at night if feasible. I'd also consider installing a reverse lit refugium. For right now, aerate (air pump) with outside air as much as feasible. There is a signficant buildup of CO2 in the tank water. Only eliminating the CO2 (either by aerating it off or consuming it through photosynthesis or with kalk) will you see the pH come into place. Water changes, buffers, etc. will be useless. The very high CO2 is the problem.

cj

 

[bertoni]

The lack of measureable nutrients in the water doesn't mean decay isn't occuring. It only means that the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate filtration is keeping up with whatever is being released.

That said, I suspect it's a CO2 problem, but pH meters are also prone to electrical interference. Have you tried measuring a cup of water well away from the tank? Also, be careful about power line interference. That's been a reported problem, too.

 

[TandN]

I will try the cup of water now

 

[MCsaxmaster]

Try aerating for an hour or two with outdoor air in a cup of tank water and see if there is a rise in pH.

There is decomposition happening in the tank, no doubt about that, but any acids produced will reduce alkalinity and by so doing decrease pH. If alkalinity isn't low, it isn't likely a matter of acids in the water besides carbonic.

cj

 

[Aquarist007]

I realize it is *** backwards but have you tried testing the pH with a colour indicator test?

 

[TandN]

Ok well I received my Lamottes Alk test kit yesterday, so I decided to test my alk w/ my salifert kit which is one month old and it read 9.2 then tested with my Lamottes and it read 7.6 so I raised my alk to 9.9 going with my Lamottes test and now my PH is 8.24