Ph

[dudley moray]

Hi I'm having trouble getting my ph up it seems to hover around the 7.97-8.05
range, no matter how big a water change or what I dose
The only major change I've made is taking my bio pellets off line and replacing them with a poly filter I use aquavitro salt and dose with aquavitro chems any ideas ?

[Magickiwi]

Check your testing methods. What are you using to test: probe, chemical test etc? What specific alkalinity supplement are you using? What are your calcium levels? Are you using GFO or other phosphate reducers? What is your alkalinity level?

[mrhasan]

My question would be: what's the problem of having that ph range?

[Aquattro]

My question would be: what's the problem of having that ph range?

And that would be the correct question :)

[Reefer Rob]

I kept an SPS tank for years with a PH in that range. I wouldn't sweat it.

[dudley moray]

I have an apex with ph probe I use aquavitro 8.4 and balance as well as ions and calcification the salt mix is supposed to give these levels
Cal-400-443mg/l
Mag1269-1403mg/l
Ph8.40-8.60
Alk3.2-3.8meq/l
Mine should be that as I only do 30%~50% water changes weekly and dose a teaspoon of the three (and a tiny bit of balance when ph get below 8) in fresh water top offs throughout the week I don't test most parameters any more only phosphorus and ph I do run carbon and a tablespoon on phoslock in a reactor
The reason I ask is because I'm having trouble with phosphate and I'm sure it's low ph allowing it to be released from the rock

[Reefer Rob]

I don't think that PH level will dissolve your rock. If your rock has PO4 it will leach regardless of the PH. I would increase you GFO amount and change it more frequently until you have the PO4 under control. As well I would look for the other sources of PO4.

[Reefer Rob]

BTW is Phoslock lanthanum chloride?

[mrhasan]

I don't have any knowledge regarding the low ph being responsible (or not responsible) for leaching po4 from the rocks. I am assuming that you are using dry rocks? Possibly that's enough to leach po4 rather than the ph. The only time ph would cause any significant issue is when it starts to approach the neutral level (7.0) which is not very easy to do unless you have a sudden decrease in oxygen level or keep the tank in an airtight area. To me, 8.4 and balance would be a very poor thing to add to the tank due to the fact that it gives a temporary boost and then will go back to the "equilibrium" that you tank maintains; the primary factor (I think) would be the ventilation in the room.

[Myka]

Your tank would have to be around pH 6 to start dissolving any bound phosphate. Needless to say, I don't think your tanks' inhabitants would be doing very well at that pH. :)

A pH around 8.0 is nothing to worry about, but if you're that concerned, the CO2 released from human and animal respiration impacts pH by lowering it. The amount of CO2 in a home is often significantly higher in the winter months when windows and doors are kept closed. Better air exchange near the sump can make a big difference as well as airing the house out a few times per week by opening a couple windows and allowing a breeze to go through for awhile. Try this before messing around with the pH directly. If you're messing around with the pH directly you're very likely casing pH swings which stress the inhabitants more by leaps and bounds.

[Lampshade]

Any time i've gone to "correct" a bad PH I've had bad results, the most recent pretty much nuked all my sps. So I bought another PH test kit and did my old one and new one side by side, one at 6.5, the other one at 11PH. Obviously a bad reading, so re-did tests few times, still same results, bought a third PH test to see what one is right, and it said 8. So now I don't touch my PH at all, ever. Tanks been great since, never dosing again, also never trusting thousands of dollars of corals to a test kit either.

[Treebeard]

If you opened your windows for more than a few minutes in S'toon this time of year you would be scraping the frost of the fish tank to see your fish! :biggrin:

Better air exchange near the sump can make a big difference as well as airing the house out a few times per week by opening a couple windows and allowing a breeze to go through for awhile. Try this before messing around with the pH directly. If you're messing around with the pH directly you're very likely casing pH swings which stress the inhabitants more by leaps and bounds.

[Reef Pilot]

As a well known mod has said before here,...LITFA!!

[Aquattro]

As a well known mod has said before here,...LITFA!!

words to live by!! :)

[Aquattro]

Here's the thing about pH. It's stubborn. It sits where it sits in your tank for a reason. The environmental acids in your tank (from CO2, NHx, fish droppings, etc) all contribute to drive it lower than natural reefs. This can't be helped much, other than more regular water changes, bigass skimmers, fresh air feeds, etc. The problem is compounded by inaccurate measuring. Most probes, unless freshly cleaned and calibrated, are going to give false readings. Titration kits get thrown off as soon as you move the water into the testing vial.
Now the next thing that happens, the hobbyist freaks out at the 7.9 reading and tries to chemically adjust. But the tank is happy where it is, and tries to stay there. Yup, more chemicals :) This becomes a cycle of insanity with the tank (water) generally winning. The tank inhabitants often suffer a bit more. Sometimes a lot more.
If your tank says 7.8, or 8.4, or whatever, and there is no glaring problem with the tank, leave it alone. You'll likely do more harm than good, trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist. As for PO4 leaching because the pH "says" it's a bit lower than a natural reef, not gonna happen. If the PO4 is leaching, you just have too much in the tank. It's not a pH thing.
IMO, pH is the last thing a hobbyist should test for. I know some people like to test, so test for NO3 instead. If you have some, it's much easier to fix, and will give you results you can see.

[mrhasan]

As a well known mod has said before here,...LITFA!!

That should have an emoticon of its own! Canreef exclusive I would say...

[Reef Pilot]

That should have an emoticon of its own! Canreef exclusive I would say...
Yup, and can be applied to so many situations.... And since the creator has mod control, am sure he could add it to the side here. Looking forward to see what it looks like!!... hahaha.

[dudley moray]

Well I'm not loosing any sleep over my ph I'm happy it's over 7 for that matter it's over 8 but I know the skimmers efficiency is better at higher ph and the phosphate thing as for dosing like I said earlier I only do water changes and a tiny bit of three part in the make up water I'm not one to chase numbers I'm just trying to find out if I'm over looking something or if this inability to get my ph higher than 8.06 has some correlation to my phosphate level or if someone else has noticed an issue with the salt I'm using possibly not measuring up to their guaranteed analysis

[Reef Pilot]

Phosphates are an ongoing battle, even with the most experienced reefers. Only real solution is get a suitable reactor and run GFO, RowaPhos or other similar phosphate remover. For initial set ups or really high phosphates, Foz Down works well. Then once it is down to near zero, use GFO or similar to maintain. Of course, you still have to keep your tank clean and don't overfeed.

[mrhasan]

Well I'm not loosing any sleep over my ph I'm happy it's over 7 for that matter it's over 8 but I know the skimmers efficiency is better at higher ph and the phosphate thing as for dosing like I said earlier I only do water changes and a tiny bit of three part in the make up water I'm not one to chase numbers I'm just trying to find out if I'm over looking something or if this inability to get my ph higher than 8.06 has some correlation to my phosphate level or if someone else has noticed an issue with the salt I'm using possibly not measuring up to their guaranteed analysis

I highly doubt such small ph difference will have any sort of impact on skimmer efficiency. When the air being pulled into the water has lack of oxygen, then maybe there will be an impact. But I am pretty sure that such deficiency of oxygen level will make the room inhabitable for human :razz: try battling the phosphate and not the ph. :smile: