YYCGUY's Red Sea 500S

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by yycguy

Thanks Kien, I guess it's my Apex displaying my PH that brings it to my attention. I just don't get why it appears low? When others say there's is 8.2 or higher? Does the salt blend have something to do with it? I used to use Reefers Best and I am planning on going back to that once I finish up the RC
What should I be aiming for Alkalinity ?
Is 8 ok or should it be closer to 9? Remember for me to get it there I was dosing more DkH and that caused my pump problems
My tank is mainly SPS

I totally agree with Kien, PH isn't a big factor as long as it's stable and within 7.8 to 8.3 range. My PH is always around 8.10-8.15 during the day and 7.9-8.0 at night. I know some of us even go to the extend of dosing soda ash only at night to balance out the night time PH swing but I have never gone that extreme.
Salt blend will play a roll in your tank PH but I don't think its a major roll, you can always test the ph in your premixed resevoir before your water change and see where it's at, that wll give you a good idea on whether its gonna make a huge difference in your tank ph.
As far as alk, it depends on if you are running a probiotic system or not. Most probiotic system ie zeovit or pellets would probably prefer parameters closer to NSW which is 7 since higher alk will tend burn the tips of some sps. If you are not runing a probiotic system, you can probably run it at 8 or higher but the key here is STABILITY!