Super low ph

[dzhuo]

The system runs atm around 7.4 og 7.6 in ph, i can tell you that i had to turn off my calc reactor, as there is little to no consumption in calk atm. corals has lost most color, some still have pe, but ALL color is dull.. they havent browned out or anything, blue,red, and so on are just dull and faded. 2 corals has had a little stn.

Sorry about that. Maybe you should consider slowly raising alk to about 10 and keep it there with kalk. You would only need about 15% of kalk (saturate) to your tank vol to raise .3 unit of pH. This should help keep the pH around 7.7 which is a lot safer.

 

[power boat jim]

DZHUO, you appear to have all the answers, I guess my years of experinces in this hobby, including having a hydrogen sulfide problem that did lower pH, could not have happened . I will stop here as I dont want to comment on anything that doesnt conform to your interpretation of quotes taken out of context from a different thread.

 

[dzhuo]

Thanks for taking a cheap shot at me without providing any detail of how your years of experience in hobby matter so much more than a professional chemist and countless other hobbyists (myself included) also with years of experiences. Maybe you have redefined pH in saltwater and find a way to alter it without altering alk or CO2.

Whatever hydrogen sulfide problem you mention might have lower pH but it will also lower alk as well, period. If you don't have a alk problem and you are still having low pH issue, you have a CO2 problem. Feel free to search for a pH buffer.

If you think my quotes are out of context, feel free to take the discussion to the chemistry forum and I will be happy to continue the discussion but I will give you a hint: Everything I said in this thread will still apply in the chemistry forum. Btw, for all the quotes I took, I provide links to the entire discussion as well.

 

[power boat jim]

OK, sometimes things can be read or understood online not as they are intended. To see you dismiss my experience in having the hydrogen sulfide problem as an alk or Co2 problem was a irritating (to me anyway) I understood it to mean it could not have happened. I have learned that pH can be changed not only by adding Co2 or a changing alk but also by adding acids or caustics. All I was saying was look for an alternative source of low pH that may not be related to the usual test kit parameters.

As for as the Kalk not workig as a buffer, it never did for me. My alk doesnt change wether I use it or not.

Hope this clears things up a bit

 

[dzhuo]

OK, sometimes things can be read or understood online not as they are intended.

That's why I always provide extra links to the quotes where the discussion happens.

I have learned that pH can be changed not only by adding Co2 or a changing alk but also by adding acids or caustics.

Adding acids would lower your alk which would lower your pH.

As for as the Kalk not workig as a buffer, it never did for me. My alk doesnt change wether I use it or not.

That's the point of using kalk to maintain pH without drastically altering alk. If kalk did in fact raise your alk substantially, then it won't be a good pH solution.

I want to correct a typo I made earlier where I said 15% of saturated kalk would raise 0.3 unit of pH. I was wrong and it should be:

Problem Dinoflagellates and pH

As a general guideline, adding the equivalent of 1.25% of the tank's volume in saturated limewater will raise the pH by about 0.66 pH units.