PH and Alk, drop together?

[sandman12]

First question, does PH and Alk drop hand n hand? My PH seems to be dropping about .2 every day if I don't add anything. So I have been assuming my Alk is dropping along with it. I have been adding about 20Ml of buffer every night to keep the PH up, is this normal?

I want to start dosing kalk soon with my ATO so I am trying to stabilize my parameters first....

I usually test Cal, Alk, and Mag every 3-5 days. Mag and Cal haven't been an issue and stay relatively stable. Its just the alk that drops quickly.

TIA
James

 

[ChadRaay86]

In short, yes the two tend to drop together. Having Alk at say 7, will usually lead you to having a lower Ph than if your alk was at 8-10. Using Kalk would raise your Ph by sucking out CO2, and raise also your raise alkalinity. That's why it's so popular. If you're not heavy into the SPS or have a bunch of clams, that should be your solution.

Other options to raise just Ph would be to get air exchange in your tank through a skimmer upgrade or by running your air intake outside.

 

[IrishTang]

What are your PH levels? If they are in the higher ranges (actually above 8.2) they can cause abiotic (nonbiological) precipitation. This would manifest itself as little white dots on heaters, pumps, etc thus causing a drop in Alk. Usually the Calcium would drop with it though, What kind of salt do you use?

 

[sandman12]

My PH usually drops and stays around 8.11 via reef keeper. With PH at that level my Alk will drop to 6.8-7.2. When my PH drops to 8.11 (every day almost) Ill add 20 ML of buffer to get it to 8.4

 

[ChadRaay86]

That seems way too high. Ditch the buffer and let it level out so you have a baseline for your PH. Anything over 7.8 is safe. I run anywhere from 7.85-8.16 with a big calcium reactor. I'm starting Kalk to keep my ph at around 8.2-8.25

 

[sandman12]

Everything I've read says keep PH at 8.2-8.4?

 

[IrishTang]

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

These articles by Randy Holmes Farley are invaluable!

 

[rogergolf66]

Ph has very little important a as long as it's between 7.8-8.4

 

[Tombones]

In short, yes the two tend to drop together. Having Alk at say 7, will usually lead you to having a lower Ph than if your alk was at 8-10. Using Kalk would raise your Ph by sucking out CO2, and raise also your raise alkalinity. That's why it's so popular. If you're not heavy into the SPS or have a bunch of clams, that should be your solution.

Other options to raise just Ph would be to get air exchange in your tank through a skimmer upgrade or by running your air intake outside.

I'm curious why you say that about the SPS and the clams.

 

[kcsnook]

When I had clams in my tank I could never keep my Alk consistent, sold clam my Alk found consistency....With both higher demand I am assuming is what he means.

 

[ChadRaay86]

When I had clams in my tank I could never keep my Alk consistent, sold clam my Alk found consistency....With both higher demand I am assuming is what he means.

Yep, that's it I have found consistency in my alk by going commercial with my calcium reactor

 

[sandman12]

So a calcium reactor will stabilize both calcium and alk? I think at this point I am going to start dosing kalk in my ATO and see what happens

 

[sandman12]

2 day reading of alk
12/19 - 9.8 dkH
12/20 - 9.0 dkH

Is that drop normal and more importantly will kalk in the ATO keep up with that?

I think PH has leveled off at 8.1 via RK