PH problems....

[waverz]

Ive been having some issues with my PH as of lately. Its really taking its toll on some of my SPS, especially my montis. At nite my PH will swing down to 7.5 and only get up to 8.1 or 8.2 during the day. I've tried dripping kalk at night but it just doesn't seem to help. I've even tried making an inline kalk doser for my top-off water but it clogged up my float valve and stopped working. I may look into buying or making a reactor.

Im gonna try the aeration test sometime to next week and see if i might have excessive CO2 in the house.

 

[got2lb]

This may be a dumb question but when was the last time you calibrated your probe?

I just got a pinpoint PH monitor and mine goes from 8.36 down to about 8.1 when the lights are off. But I start a kalk drip when I leave for work at 4:00 AM and it seems to help keep it up where it needs to be until the lights come back on at 1:30 pm.

Do you still have your kalk drip running off your ac2?

 

[leeweber85]

7.5? that's pretty extreme. I would double check your readings, make sure your alk and Ca are up, and keep a light on the sump/refugium on a reverse schedule.

 

[waverz]

Yeah, i dbl checked with a salifert kit, and i dont have a refugium. I really wish i did. I would put one in but it would be a PITA and i really wanna focus my efforts on that table top.

 

[got2lb]

hmmm, you have a sump setup don't you? Just throw a light over it with a little cheato and might help. I don't really know a whole lot on the matter though.

If you are worried about losing anything until you get the table top setup my tanks pretty stable now and everything is doing great so I could hold some stuff for you if needed. Just let me know if you want me to.

 

[waverz]

there is absolutely no room in my sump, to be honest im about ready to sell it all and start over from scratch.

 

[got2lb]

Well it's an open offer if you need it!

 

[leeweber85]

theres no room for a light? you wouldnt even have to put the chaeto in. I have some PH 8.3 buffer you could try. It might just raise the ALK even more though.

 

[waverz]

Just lighting the sump would help?

 

[leeweber85]

ok, maybe not....that was a stupid remark. I guess there would have to be some sort of photosynthesis going on.

 

[got2lb]

Could you make a makeshift fuge until you get the big tank up and running?


This is what I was thinking. Maybe take a small pump like a mj1200 or something and pump the water into a 5 gal. bucket or rubbermaid or something sitting beside the tank and then put a bulkhead towards the top of it and let it just overflow back into the tank. Put your cheato in that with a light over it and BAM instant fuge. Not sure if you got room for that but it would easy to do until you get the big tank up and running. Feel free to laugh at my drawing skills!

 

[waverz]

Wow matt, thats a damn good idea....here i was thinking about using an aquarium or building an acrylic tank but a bucket would work perfect.