PH and BB

[phatstanley02]

Im running my first BB tank and im having a hard time keeping my PH up. At the high point in the middle of the day it goes around 8.1 and at the low point its about 7.75. Im not running a calcium or kalk reactor, adding B-Ionic daily. Ive used a PH buffer and the PH drops back down within 3 or 4 hours, same with B-Ionic. My PH out of my R/O after it has sat in the vat for a few days is around 9.0 and after I mix my salt its around 7.8-7.9 (oceanic salt). Im almost wondering if i got a bad batch of salt because i assumed the salt mix would buffer PH up to 8.2 or so. I put my probe in my new water for my water change after 24 hours of mixing and the PH was 7.8. Is anyone else having problems keeping PH up with BB or with oceanic salt? If i cant figure this out before long im gonna break down and put sand in it (as im thinking about anyways).

 

[djperezo]

IMHO, having a pH range of 7.8-8.1 is ideal. Since you don't have an aragonite sandbed to act as a buffer, having a calcium reactor or dripping kalk for top off is a must to keep ca and alk stable. dosing bionic 2 part is fine if you have a low ca demand, but when ca demand goes up, so does the fluctuations of ca, alk, and pH between dosings.

 

[imbuggin]

ph

ph

My ph went up after going BB and stayed much more stable. I even got rid of my kalk reactor and just use the calcium reactor. Yes I use oceanic. I think most people have seen a rise in PH going BB. How are you testing it?

 

[phatstanley02]

Im using a lab grade PH probe connected to an aquacontroller II. The reason i was thinking i may have gotten a bad bucket of salt is the PH reading from the freshly mixed salt was about 7.8. Yes the Probe is calibrated.

Any time i use something to buffer the PH up (B-Ionic, or a specific PH buffer) the PH only goes up for a short time. I am stumped with this. Im gonna start building a kalk reactor soon. Oh and i forgot to mention that my alk is at 9dkh.

 

[phatstanley02]

If the salt is bad could it be buffering the PH to stay as low as it is?

As of now the calcium/alk demand is low and im shopping for a calcium reactor in the used forums here. Ive lost 1 acro colony and 1 frag to RTN which i believe to be linked to low/swinging PH as everything else seems to be in check. I would really like to get my PH above 8.1

 

[jsweir]

Was this a change when you went BB? I also have a problem with low ph on my bb, but I believe that is due to CO2 in the house. Try aerating a cup of aquarium water outside for an hour, then test it. If it goes up - that is part or all of your problem.

 

[wakefreak33]

I have the same problem with my BB tank. I have a calcium and a kalk reactor and my pH goes from 7.65 to 7.85. I am dosing kalk at a rate of 250 ml/hr. I just started running the Kalk reactor in the last week in order to raise the pH of the tank, but it has barely budged. I can not figure out how to get my pH up.

 

[imbuggin]

ph

ph

phatstanley let me know if you are interested in a nice kalk reactor (I have an almost new nice one I would sell/ trade).

Yes, early on there were some bad batches of oceanic. that is most likely it

I think the reason I keep a higher Ph BB is because the sand bed is not releasing c02 anymore and holding in other "junk" as well. My experience has been the exact opposet as yours. I use to have a terrible time keeping my ph up. Got rid of the sand bed and it is steady as a rock? The idea of the sand bead buffering IMO is kind of garbage. Your ph would have to be soo low to disolve the sand bed that you would be in alot of trouble before this happened. Make sure your skimmer is getting fresh air and so is the tank.

 

[143gadgets]

Re: ph

Re: ph

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6792755#post6792755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by imbuggin
My ph went up after going BB and stayed much more stable. I even got rid of my kalk reactor and just use the calcium reactor. Yes I use oceanic. I think most people have seen a rise in PH going BB. How are you testing it?

I ahve to agree. My PH stays at 8.3 in the day and 8.2 in the night. No problems here.

 

[phatstanley02]

Well the RO vat and the salt mixing station are both outdoors and the PH is still low so i doubt its because of CO2 indoors (tank was set up as BB). Im really thinking it may be the salt. Im going to the lfs tomorrow and im gonna pick up some tropic marin salt and give that a try. My skimmer is getting about as fresh of air its gonna get i guess, its pulling in air from the sump.

Are you guys that are having low PH problems seeing any effects in your acros or with polyp extension. I have lost 1 colony and 1 frag and the PH is the only thing that seems to be out of whack. I also do not get very good polyp extension from my acros (but do get good extension on a cap and a pocci). My temp swing is less than 1 degree a day and all my other params are within the accepted "norms"

 

[imbuggin]

low ph

low ph

low ph will effect acros for sure.

 

[trueblackpercula]

tag

 

[elephen]

You might have a bad batch of salt, I use IO/Oceanic/Tropic Marin PRO mix and run BB and my pH drops to 7.9-8.0 at night and 8.3 during the day.