PH in FO tank

[ladyshark]

Questions about ph in my FO

125 gallon, FO with live sand, about 2 months old, newly cycled.

Wet dry, skimmer inline.

Param's are

Ammonia-0 (occas low levels--I do water change 20% or use Prime)
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
PH-7.4

I have good water flow, but the entire system is closed to the open air except at the sump under the cabinet.

I have 2 chromis, 2 damsels and a zebra eel in the tank, all doing well.

I am concerned about the ph. My searches on this site give me articles etc regarding ph and reef tanks, but I found nothing about ph levels in FO tanks, effect of ph on fish, etc.

I do remember reading that sometimes its ok to leave ph alone, because fish adapt to the ph that normally comes from the water used, you don't want to do constant changes in ph, etc.

I use distilled water mixed with Instant Ocean salt.

If anybody has any knowledge, insight, thoughts, I would greatly appreciate understanding if I should leave it alone, make changes, with what , how, etc.

THANKS

 

[reefergeorge]

Do you test KH? If so what is it? If not you should.
When are you testing? When the lights come on or later in the day?
My Fo ph is always 8.3 tested with digital, and drops. I keep my Kh between 9-11 drops with the api test. Not sure on the actual numbers.

 

[55gSW]

Have you read this article? www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

It gives good insight into many common problems causing low pH.

I have yet to find any information on how a pH of 7.4 would affect the fish. I know that my own tank runs at 7.8 but it wants to drop down over time so I aimed a powerhead at the surface to get a nice roiling effect. This blows off any excess CO2 and keeps my pH stable.

 

[billsreef]

Low pH in the tank will affect the fishes blood pH. This does have a long term negative impact on the fishes health over time. I would recommend 7.8 has the lowest pH for a fish only tank, with 8.0-8.4 has optimum.

 

[ladyshark]

Thank you 55g, I did see that article--it seemed it was geared toward ph for reef/coral, etc. Also, FO's can have reduced spec gravity, so I was wondering if the same were true for ph.

On re-read, I see that my ph issue could be related to a newly cycled tank, and could be related to alkalinity. I will get that tested, as well as double check ph with another test kit or at LFS to be sure my level is what I think it is.

Looks like redirecting powerhead, keeping lids open when I can watch to be sure the eel does not escape, and some macroalgae would give me some assistance on this in the mean time.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ladyshark]

Thank you all again--I redirected the powerhead, with lids open when I can supervise and this seems to have done the trick. I am now at a steady ph of 8.2 with alkalinity of 2.5.

Appreciate the easy fix.