My battle with PH

[Dval]

Hi guys,

I need a bit of help understanding some aspects of my PH level. I've been trying to pre mix my water used in changes in a couple 5 gal buckets. My trouble is that I can never seem to get the PH to a desireable level before I have to put it into my tank. I'd say my 75 gal reef tank is a steady 8.2. I'd like the water going in to be 8.4 to help slowly bring that up. All my ideas are getting trounced though...

So here is my standard procedure.
Fill 5 gal bucket from tub faucet.
Aireate for 1 day
Mix in 1/2 tsp of Kalk
wait 1 day
mix in salt mix to 1.025

end result is a PH of 8.2 ARRGG!

if I test ph straigh out of the tap its about 8.0.

if i test before adding salt mix and after adding kalk its through the roof

if i reverse the process and add salt first then kalk it still ends up at 8.2.

Oh, and the KH of the salt mix... i stopped at 12 degrees so its very high.

I'm not quite sure what the heck to do.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Donovan

 

[virginiadiver69]

Your 8.2 is perfect. Why do you want to bring it up?
I think your supposed to mix your kalk into your top off water, not your salt water.

 

[stagefright13]

Ummmm mix the salt and water together. Aerate one day. Microwave a measuring cup with salt mix and dump back into bucket. Repeat 'till water is at tank temp. Do water change. Perfect 8.2 PH.

Dose Kalk for top off water. Perfect PH of 8.2 in tank.

Sometimes like every 2 weeks I add a teaspoon of Kent super buffer to keep dkh at or over 10. Buffer keeps PH stable.

At least that is what I have been doing for years. NEVER had a PH problem. I don't even test for PH any more. Just a waste of time...

You REALLY need a RO/DI unit to purify the water first. I would NEVER use water straight from the faucet!!!

Or do what I did when I was poor and buy distilled water from the supermarket.

 

[reefergeorge]

I don't see a problem. Keep up the good work.

 

[thecoralreefer]

Agreed If you want to raise the alk in your tank do it there and not in the premix. Most are made to meet the right Ph and alk when you mix
Hence the name "premixed"
8.2 is a good Ph any way
if you raise it much more then you wil affect the Calcium levels too.
Think of it as a bowl (your Tank) and cal and alk are marbles in the bowl, cal being red and alk being blue. Equal portions are ideal. Add more red ones and you lose room for blue ones.
So by changing the balance you have lost some alk.
And Tap water is fortified w/ Calcium so that might give you a improper balance. Lower alk.
If you monitor your Ph moves up and down the scale daily
due to gas exchange and lighting. So don't get to excited over the perfect Ph. Some corals do better at one stage of Ph than others. Fish can adapt to a wide variety of levels in Ph.
But I also agree that you should never use Tap Water due to other more detrimental things like Phosphates and amonia and
and and.

 

[crvz]

Not sure why you're trying to increase the pH. You're in a great range, and the pH is going to fluctuate about ~0.2 a day anyways. I'd also question your test values based on how your testing... a test kit is not going to be very accurate.

So, what are you really trying to accomplish by increasing the pH?

 

[sanababit]

aereate the hell out of your new salt water mix, either with an air stone or some pumps, good luck

sana

 

[Dval]

Thanks much to everyone who replied. I guess my only reason for shooting for 8.4 was that was the most printed parameter I've seen given for a good PH level. I'll be the first to say I don't totally understand how all the chemistry works. I guess I picked up on 8.4 as the level I should shoot for. Thanks for the correction.

I suppose I can stop beating my self up now over the PH level. That's a relief!

As for the tap water I can't afford a RO/DI unit just yet. I do the best I can with some phosphate remover and aging the water. Actually up here in Alaska our tap water seems to be fairly well off.

Thanks again for all the help.

Donovan

 

[crvz]

Seriously consider putting the RO/DI on high priority, tap water is only bad news in the long run. You can indeed be relieved about pH, though! Good luck with the setup.

 

[miwoodar]

An RO/DI is definitely a good piece of equipment to have. I would foregoe the hobby rather than run a tank without RO/DI. That said, Alaska's water could be pretty good without RO/DI. You might begin by buying or borrowing a TDS meter to find out what your incoming water is.

My pH routinely drops to 7.8 by morning time and rarely tops 8.1 in the evenings. I've even seen it as low as 7.6 on occasion and once at 7.5. I'm running a calcium reactor which is driving it low through the excess CO2 in the water. As long as your calcium and alkalinity levels are good 7.8 or higher is rarely a problem.