Dinoflagellates - How to Raise PH

[daniella3d]

I used this Seachem HO Balance product and it worked perfectly to raise my PH without affecting anything else or the alkalinity. I only did it till 8.4 and it worked for me and the dino was gone in 3 to 4 days. I am sure it was dino since I had ID it with my microscope.

You can aim for 8.5 but first start like I did at 8.4 and see if it work. It might do it so no need to go higher. I never saw dino again and that's been 6 months. So this is the product.

http://www.aquavitro.com/Products/balance.html

First make sure that you really have dino and try to ID it with a small microscope. 200x will do the job. If that's diatome or cyano it will not work.

Originally Posted by Tyler Werbowski

I have been battling Dinoflagellates for the past 10 months.

I have my nitrates and phosphates down to immeasurable levels according to Salifert test kits. Reduced my tank feeding (only pellets) and been siphoning them out 3-4 times a week. I have done a couple 72 hour complete blackouts and only have the MH lights on 4-6 hrs daily. They keep growing back. This article by Randy Holmes Farley recommending raising PH to 8.5

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

I was able to borrow a Milwaukkee PH monitor and checked my current PH and it was 8.00 with lights on. Mixed 10 tsp of kalk to a 5G jug of RO water. Over the course of Saturday I added 4 cups of kalk solution 5 times (1.5 G total) and was only able to raise PH to 8.19. Does this sound about right? Parameters are below...

System - 160 G total water
Alk = 8.0 dKH
Ca = 420
Mg = 1400
NO3 & Phosphates = very low (no color period - Salifert test kits)

I just wanna make sure that I am on the right track as I've never played with raising PH before.

Or is there a better way to raise PH to 8.5 - 8.6?

Thanks, Tyler