PH buffer

bgraves

New member
Is it ok to use Seachem's reef buffer to buffer PH? My PH runs around 8.0 during the day and 7.89 at night. I dose twice a week to keep this level. Not sure what it would go to if I didn't. My water params are:
1.025
79 deg F
cal 400-440
alk 8.9
mag 1250-1300

I would like to keep it at 8.1-8.2. I have several SPS and LPS's and they seem to be doing fine. Or should I leave it alone and not add anything?
 
I do not know what they have in this buffer, I did not see a list of ingredients unfortunately. ;)

What do the products sold as buffers for the purpose of increasing pH have in them?

Many will have the equivalent of baked baking soda (soda ash or sodium carbonate). The pH of sodium carbonate is higher than that of regular baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). When supplementing for alkalinity with the sodium carbonate it will results in higher pH levels.

Some products will have a combination of baking soda and baked baking soda, which will result in not as much a pH increase. In between the two so to speak.

Other products will add borate to the above two possibilities. The borate will result in higher pH levels, but will mess with your alkalinity kits and produce deceiving results if the borate content is too high.

All of these buffering products should be dosed to maintain your alkalinity or you will end up with high alkalinity levels.

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Your current pH is fine and you do not need to worry about it, unless your pH drops below 7.8. Many Reef of the Month tanks run their pH at your current level.

Randy goes into more detail regarding low pH problems in this article:

Low pH: Causes and Cures
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.htm
 
FWIW, using kalk water to maintain your alkalinity and calcium levels will result in higher pH levels in your tank than will sodium carbonate (baked baking soda). Fully saturated kalk water has a higher pH then does the baked baking soda (sodium carbonate).
 
I have been using lime water for awhile now. I am currently using Coralife Kalkwasser plus because I ran out of Ms Wages. I mix 2tsp per gal of RO/DI. The buffer just says it's a blended product not just sodium carbonate. I have made some baked baking soda and stored in a butter bowl. Will this still be good to mix with RO/DI to raise the PH? However. I will monitor my current levels since they are ok and go from there. I don't like adding anything I don't have to.

On another note. When my lights come on it effects my PH probe. It will drop from 7.79-6.0-7.20, it moves around. I say it's stray voltage. I do have a ground probe in my fuge, should I add another one? As each ballast turn off my PH monitor moves back to the 8.0 range. I also believe it's because my ballast don't have a ground wire into the plug.
 
Personally, I would not use a buffer, I used the same product 2-3 years ago and had problems with my alk spiking and have seen many posts on RC with the same problem. Your PH is fine at the level it is at, if you want it a little higher, I recommend using baked baking soda or dosing with kalk. Dosing with kalk is what I am doing and has raised my PH from 7.8 to 8.2 and also benefits the tank by helping stabilize my cal and alk. A stable cal and alk is much more important to your tank. If you get below 7.8 it could be a concern.
 
I dose kalk in my ATO and I am not sure if it helps with PH that much. I have been dosing it for 4 months now.
 
In the summer months I keep my basement window open with a fan in it. This does cause a rise in pH. Everytime my wife closes the window for rain or what have you, the pH drops. ;)
 
There was a recent thread on ventless fireplaces. They do produce excessive CO2 and in many cases can cause too high a levels of CO which can be deadly. Most of their manufacturers recommend that a door or window be cracked when they are used especially for longer periods of time. Due to the complaints regarding the ventless fireplaces California, Massachusetts and Canada have baned their use. Other states and counties have baned them in bedrooms. Using a ventless fireplace in the room where your tank is will lower your pH due to the increased CO2 it produces.
 
FWIW, there ought to be some law that requires every prospective reefer to sign a promise to never try to use buffer just to raise pH. That would be the big government approach. :lmao:
 
How is this helpful to the thread?

My apologies for the attempt at humor. Call off the thread police. My point was that many new hobbyists wreck their systems trying to raise pH with Buffer. To make matters worse, usually the pH they were trying to raise was not out of range.

I've personally visited many failing systems only to find the carbonate hardness off the scale because the hobbyist was trying to raise pH with buffer. This is usually accompanied by either a very high atmospheric carbon dioxide condition or an acid problem due to the decay of excessive organic materials.

IMO if every new hobbyist could somehow know that buffer is for alkalinity only, and never tried to raise pH with it, they would be better off.
 
Is it ok to use Seachem's reef buffer to buffer PH? My PH runs around 8.0 during the day and 7.89 at night. I dose twice a week to keep this level. Not sure what it would go to if I didn't. My water params are:
1.025
79 deg F
cal 400-440
alk 8.9
mag 1250-1300

I would like to keep it at 8.1-8.2. I have several SPS and LPS's and they seem to be doing fine. Or should I leave it alone and not add anything?

seachem's reef buffer (and others i believe) will increase alk by 1-2 dKH and this fluctuation really p1sses off your SPS, MUCH more so than what you consider to be low pH. i'm guessing that your pH won't be affected at all by stopping your semi-weekly dosing as the real problem is atmospheric CO2, which is most likely inordinately high because of the ventless fireplace. if you run an air tube outside and connect that to your skimmer air inlet, this will help.

i was in the exact same position as you a month or so ago until several people and articles warned against chasing pH. the linked article on causes of low pH is a must read. i have nearly identical water params as you (8.75 alk, 420ppm calc, 77-79 F, 1.025, 1250-1300 mg) and my corals have been happier since i stopped with the seachem buffer nonsense. i run pH from 7.9-8.1 (just before lights on to just before lights out) and once i upgrade to a larger tank in the basement, i'll run an air tube or 2 to the outside to add more oxygen to the water and expect to be 8.2-8.3 at that point. for now and until then, stability is key.
 
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