PH is low...
- Thread starter invertinoob
- Start date
sanababit
Active member
I agree 7.8 is good, my tank is 7.79-7.82 in the morning and 8.25 at the end of the day, so stop chasing numbers, unles you are really worried about it, the. I should recommend to not stress over this, just keep good numbers on The BIG MAC (magnesium-alkalinity-calcium), good luck
Sana
invertinoob
New member
honestly at this point i am more worried about the phosphates being high in my tank. i took the distilled water that i get from the glacier machine at the grocery store to my lfs and the TDS was at 187!! what the heck! little did i know, they give there customers free RO/DI. my PO4 is at .25 and i follow all the right steps as far as weekly water changes and good feeding habits. so the source of the phosphate comes from the stinkin distilled water.
blanden.adam
Team RC
Well, you don't actually know that. A TDS level of 187 just means there are things dissolved in the water, it doesn't tell you if any of it is phosphate. You'd have to test the water for phosphate to be sure. I agree that getting the phosphate down is a priority. Water changes, good feeding habits, macroalgae in the sump, and chemical media like GFO are probably the safest way for beginners to go about reducing a high phosphate level in an up-and-running tank.
What is also a bit concerning though is your alk is a little on the low side if you are keeping any calcifying organisms, even coralline would probably like it higher. 7.5 dKH is really as low as you want to see it, but because of the intrinsic error in our test kits IMO it's better to keep the level constant and >8 dkh. It would probably be good for you to dose your tank up to about 8.0 with bicarbonate (regular old baking soda from the grocery store), and then watch how much it consumes over about 48 hours to see if you need to start dosing. If you do, kalkwasser will probably handle all your Ca/Alk needs and give your pH a bump if you are still worried about it.
What is also a bit concerning though is your alk is a little on the low side if you are keeping any calcifying organisms, even coralline would probably like it higher. 7.5 dKH is really as low as you want to see it, but because of the intrinsic error in our test kits IMO it's better to keep the level constant and >8 dkh. It would probably be good for you to dose your tank up to about 8.0 with bicarbonate (regular old baking soda from the grocery store), and then watch how much it consumes over about 48 hours to see if you need to start dosing. If you do, kalkwasser will probably handle all your Ca/Alk needs and give your pH a bump if you are still worried about it.
invertinoob
New member
thanks for the info. i am currently running chemipure elite, i have a filter bag over my overflow tube, i do bi weekly water changes as of now because of the high phosphates, everyother day feeding with raw shrimp diced up from the store, and i recently added a product called purigen, which is suposed to be a phosphate lowering media. i also have live rock in my sump with a phosphate pad which i started changing weekely ($4 dollars a pop). so when i dose with backing soda how much should i use? and would what intervals should i take test (every 12hrs)? after i determine how much alk/calc my tank consumes how often should i dose and with what?
blanden.adam
Team RC
Here is a reef calculator to help you determine how much to use. http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html
You will need to make a volume estimate of the water in your system to calculate the dose. A good rule of thumb is to dose half of the calculated required dose and test after like an hour or so (really, just enough time that your whole system has mixed thoroughly), and test until you have a really good idea of how much water volume is in your system.
As a note, always dissolve the baking soda in RO/DI before dosing.
Testing once after 48 hours, or twice (once at 24 and the next at 48) should be sufficient. I doubt your tank is using enough to make intervention after less time necessary. Importantly, make sure you always test at the same time of day. When you get into dosing calcium and alkalinity, there is a lot of information out there, and a lot of reading to be done to find the solution that's right for you.
This article might provide a good place to start: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/
You will need to make a volume estimate of the water in your system to calculate the dose. A good rule of thumb is to dose half of the calculated required dose and test after like an hour or so (really, just enough time that your whole system has mixed thoroughly), and test until you have a really good idea of how much water volume is in your system.
As a note, always dissolve the baking soda in RO/DI before dosing.
Testing once after 48 hours, or twice (once at 24 and the next at 48) should be sufficient. I doubt your tank is using enough to make intervention after less time necessary. Importantly, make sure you always test at the same time of day. When you get into dosing calcium and alkalinity, there is a lot of information out there, and a lot of reading to be done to find the solution that's right for you.
This article might provide a good place to start: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/
invertinoob
New member
started doing weekly 10% water changes and monthly 20% water changes. added more flow. up my tank maintenance. my ph stays at 8.1 8.2 mid day and my phosphates are now 0 on api! something tells me adding flow helped a lot with h and po4. i still want to ad a reactor for carbon and gfo. but all in all my tank has shot up to great health which makes me feel wonderful!
invertinoob
New member
definitely. i went from 560 gph to about three times that. the ph was in range of 8.1 one week later! would water evaporate faster from higher flow? i have had to top off way more frequently. 1 gallon ever day or two.
It could reduce surface films and increase air motion, if the water surface is rippling, for example.
invertinoob
New member
yeah i was thinking about buying some gfo to run on top of everything else, just to add a little extra filtration media. is there any ill effects to running gfo on top of all of the other things i'm using. i was thinking about running small amounts in a bag right from my overflow pipe and changing it out every couple of days when i wash my filter bag. would that be wasteful?
invertinoob
New member
is there any downfalls to running gfo, and if i do run it how do i tell if i am using too much?
Some tanks seem to suffer from GFO, or too much GFO, probably because it's starving corals. If the GFO gets ground up, that can be another issue, but much less of a worry.
In addition, if the tank has had a high phosphate level for a while, lowering it gradually seems to be safer than a large dose of GFO.
In addition, if the tank has had a high phosphate level for a while, lowering it gradually seems to be safer than a large dose of GFO.
