newbie help -- PH is low

lucidvtec

lucidvtec

avid Reefer
just like the title states my ph is low 7.5 range...even after the lights have been on for a min



heres the setup......30gallon

just started it saturday

used mostly pre-mixed saltwater from aquarimun arts...and the rest of the water was ro/di with red sea salt mix -"black jug"

i have 30lbs of live sand...about 2.5 of live rock rubble in my fluval filter...and a 5lb live rock in the tank

had the water tested yesterday at Aquarium arts...my ph is read by my RKL...i calibrated it the night before and its readings matched AA's reading yesterday...no nitrates or amonnun...grr i can't spell today


i have lost 3 damsels already "starter fish"

the guy at AA sold me a jar of buffer "kents superbuffer -dkH" 8.8oz jar


i added bout half the jar in a 4-5 hour period all while the light was on

it was slowy goin up...i thought it was working...the highest it got was 7.92

i got of early today....light is off right now...but it's back down to 7.51!!!!!


i dunno what today...but i don't wanna mess anything up...i know it's supposed to be up to 8.1-8.3 range.....at this rate i'm gonna have to buy big jars and add alot of that buffer stuff

it was like 11 bux for that little jar


i know i have good areation on my water..protein skimmer...to BIG Ph's and i'm using a eggcrate top...even left my window open today for good airflow


what am i missing....i need help!!!!!


thx guys
 
I dont know about the stuff your adding to help bring it up. I've chosen not to use additives and let nature do its thing, so far i've been ok. I'm sure someone here will have great advice for you. My PH has always been fine, I have read that water movement at the top affects PH so i've got my sump return pointed up to aggitate the water as well as one of my koralias is pointed up. I get good movement at the surface.
 
i have to evo 550's PH's in my tank...kinda overkill

right now one is turned off...the other is on and point towards the surface....i know the tank has awesome water flow


i was told that it started out low PH because ro/di water is nutral 7.0
 
Alright lucid...lets just get this out of the way. you cant add fish yet. Make sure your params are in check and you have cycled your tank. if you started with live rock and live sand you may not ever see one or you will see a little one. You also have to remember ph drops when lights are off. take a reading when your tank is in mid shift.. so about halfway through lights on and lights off to get a more accurate reading of where your params are. Stop adding stuff to your tank as I know from first hand experience that all these additives sometimes dont do much that a water change cant do. I would hate to tell you to buy something and it not work. as much as I like the guys at AA they are still a business and will sell you anything. Do another water change, maybe about 25-50% and see where things are after 24 hrs.
 
dublo8 said:
Alright lucid...lets just get this out of the way. you cant add fish yet. Make sure your params are in check and you have cycled your tank.
Click to expand...

Good point! i've read people say to add fish to help the cycle..but its not worth it murdering the livestock!
 
UberNoober said:
Good point! i've read people say to add fish to help the cycle..but its not worth it murdering the livestock!
Click to expand...

I'm not gonna lie, I did this on my first tank. Little bugger is still alive and kickin it. I dont think it really cycles a tank to the fullest anyways. The tank will only mature enough to handle what is thrown at it. Hence why it's a good idea cycle your tank using fish food ramping it up as the cycle progresses and finishing with a rough estimate of how much you will feed your tank on a daily basis. That way you are ramping up your bio load and not throwing it all in there at once.
 
I can't imagine you needing to add that much buffer, the salt has buffers in it. +1 on no fish right now. Test your PH right before your lights go off and test before the come on to get a high low range. Do a water change every couple days until your tanks cycles. What kind of lights are you running? And what is there cycle on, that effects PH as well

When I started I only added 1 teaspoon off buffer twice a week for maybe 2 weeks until it held its PH
 
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What is your salinity at?
Have you tested for kh mg or ca?
Low ph and alkalinity are more like indicators that something else is wrong rather than the actual problem.
The buffer wont correct the problem so you will have to keep adding buffer to keep the ph up.
Usually this is a low Magnesium & Calcium problem that needs to be corrected and if your salinity is low that means you are not adding enough mag, calc, and buffers that are in the salt mix as Brian mentioned.
 
my light sux right now its a corallife dual 24" t5 HO i'm pretty sure it's not a true HO


i have the light on from 11am to 10pm....that's prob way to long


i didn't think i was gonna put fish in the beggining either i did with my freshwater and they made it...poor little damsels didn't :( the guy at AA suggested starter fish thou


i have taken my readin during mid and at the end of my light cycle and right before they came on today

bout 10:45this morning 7.49 now at 1pm 7.58 when i added buffer yesterday it got up to 7.89-7.91 but it would go down...i started addin halfway thru my light cycle and did it over a couple hour period



ps...i plan on getting a MH with dual t-5s fixture soon for it



my salinity is at the higher side..i used a hydro 1.025 ...at AA they used a refrat thing...it was the same... he didn't test for calcium the other stuff
 
Stop listening to the LFS employees! Unless you shop at Reef Culture. It's possible that the water that you mixed up and added to the tank was not fully done mixing. Causing the low ph reading. Let the tank do it's thing for at least a two weeks before doing any water changes or adding fish, corals, or inverts. Top off of course, but thats it. At the two week mark I usually do a 25% water change and let it go for one more week. At that point you should be done with the cycle. From then on do a 10-15% water change every week or two depending on how your tank is going.

The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to read and read and read some more. And take everything as an opinion. Like mine for example. You WILL hear a different ways to cycle tanks, feed fish, light the tank, and so on. But only you can know for sure what really works for your tank. Just take things slow and enjoy it. And ask a lot of questions!
 
frctlimg said:
stop listening to the lfs employees! Unless you shop at reef culture. It's possible that the water that you mixed up and added to the tank was not fully done mixing. Causing the low ph reading. Let the tank do it's thing for at least a two weeks before doing any water changes or adding fish, corals, or inverts. Top off of course, but thats it. At the two week mark i usually do a 25% water change and let it go for one more week. At that point you should be done with the cycle. From then on do a 10-15% water change every week or two depending on how your tank is going.

The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to read and read and read some more. And take everything as an opinion. Like mine for example. You will hear a different ways to cycle tanks, feed fish, light the tank, and so on. But only you can know for sure what really works for your tank. Just take things slow and enjoy it. And ask a lot of questions!
Click to expand...

^+5,654,982
 
Keeping a reef log is one of the best things you can do. Put everything in there too. Log water changes, test results, bulb changes, when fish/corals/inverts are added, when they die. Everything.
 
And yes make sure your water is mixed well... I mix mine for 24hrs before I do a water change.
And I strongly suggest reading about QTing and get QT tanks. Or you will have problems TRUST ME. I'm in the process of starting over and my tank is a year old
 
Get a sump or a hang on the back refugeum run lights on that opposite of your tank lights and it should help keep your PH from nose diving at night.
 
Quick read through and I think everyone missed the 3 most important things you need to know.

1) The cycle itself causes depressed ph.

2) Adding a half a bottle of, well, anything will nuke a tank. Fortunately it was buffer, which all just precipitated out with calcium. So now you have white crap all in the dirt/rock - and most likely low calcium and high alk. Do yourself a favor and 1) Read instructions 2) ignore LFS employees who contradict instructions.

3) pH is dependent on the o2/c02 content of water. You should take a glass of tank water outside and aerate it properly and see if the ph rises. If it does, lack of O2 in the water is your problem.


I would suggest taking some water up to aquatouch or reef culture and getting it tested. If your parameters are all askew a 50% water change will be in order. Personally I'd do one anyways just to help erase everything you've done so far.
 
frctlimg said:
Keeping a reef log is one of the best things you can do. Put everything in there too. Log water changes, test results, bulb changes, when fish/corals/inverts are added, when they die. Everything.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. A little science never hurt anyone :)

It mostly sounds like your tank needs to hit its stride without a whole lot of monkeying around with it.
 
ya i'm gettin a build of of white hard film over everything!!!!! sux i scratched the glass..super mad bout that

ph is up to 7.62 right now

i did the outside areation thing with a gallon....no real change...even kept a heater in it to maintain the temp


ya i wish the guys at AA would of tested my calcuim and alk...who knows what that is at

my buddy said he is gonna try and make it over ..hopefully i can get this goin before i mess up my live rock and sand


here it is

tank.jpg
 
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