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Consistently low Mg and pH


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In my 30g rimless reef I have found that I just can't shake low Mg and Ph even when changing salt brands. My pH always goes back to about 7.8 or so at the end of the night, and starts at under 7.6. I have Aquavitro 8.4 and it does a good job of temporarily bringing it up. The bottle says to keep adding it daily until the pH is up to 8.4 but the boost is gone by the time I dose the next day. My Mg is at 1050. I have BRS Mg mix and dosed it before changing salts. I went from Salinity to Fritz Pro salt and get some of the same issues I had before, even though the Fritz buckets test out at good levels the tank seems to drain these 2 very quickly. I will say that I used to have extremely low Alk and the new salt has corrected that. The only thing I can think of for pH is low oxygen/high CO2 so I'm thinking of adding a CO2 scrubber until I eventually build the fish room and put in a line to the outside of the house for the skimmer intake. Has anyone else run into these issues? I find that the fish and  LPS are fine but more delicate corals didn't do well at all.

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My ph has always been relatively low, hasn't really been an issue though as it's consistent and stable.  I don't really keep any sps though so my experience may not compare too much.

Are you experiencing any calcium precipitation?  Sometimes the PH supplements can cause problems, that coupled with reasonably high alkalinity could explain the issue as a fair amount of mag can go with it.  Just a thought.   It seems like it would be something tank related given two different salts are giving you basically the same results.

I've never really had to chase mag myself, if it's low it's generally because I've been lazy with regards to dosing but again I don't have a large collection of sps to suck it and calcium up.  

Have you tried another test kit or had another member test to rule out a bad kit?

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C02 scrubbers are the latest way to get people to dump a lot of money consistently.  The media lasts about a day and then you need to buy more, totally not something you can keep buying over and over and over.  Are you positive its getting below 7.6?  If its getting below 7.6 your coral will not be able to build skeletons and it will start to break down your sand, rock....etc anything calcium based.  Its like your turning everything into a calc reactor.  I would open some windows for a bit or add the chaeto like mentioned above and run the light 24/7.

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On 7/16/2017 at 11:20 PM, Reefer82 said:

My ph has always been relatively low, hasn't really been an issue though as it's consistent and stable.  I don't really keep any sps though so my experience may not compare too much.

Are you experiencing any calcium precipitation?  Sometimes the PH supplements can cause problems, that coupled with reasonably high alkalinity could explain the issue as a fair amount of mag can go with it.  Just a thought.   It seems like it would be something tank related given two different salts are giving you basically the same results.

I've never really had to chase mag myself, if it's low it's generally because I've been lazy with regards to dosing but again I don't have a large collection of sps to suck it and calcium up.  

Have you tried another test kit or had another member test to rule out a bad kit?

I'm not getting any calcium precipitation, haven't seen anything like that at all. I didn't think of a bad test kit for 2 reasons: the readings are dead on for the buckets of new saltwater, and the test seems to backup the changes claimed on BRS Mg calculator with their Mg mix. Here's another funny thing since the original post, I started dosing again following that calculator starting Sunday and found just a few minutes ago that my Superman Monti frag has popped out a few polyps. I thought it was a dead skeleton. I have no idea if the dosing is the cause or if it's just a coincidence. 

 

On 7/17/2017 at 7:29 AM, MrsBugmaster said:

Are you running a fuge with cheato? If you run lights in fuge opposite the tank light it does help more with ph swings.

I don't have a fuge, it's an all in one tank that doesn't plumb out. I'd love to have one, maybe I can place a small fuge above it and use one of the return lines in the back chamber to go up there and then have it drain back to the tank with an overflow. I've read that hang on back fuges are too small to be effective, what do you think?

On 7/17/2017 at 4:56 PM, Luke33 said:

C02 scrubbers are the latest way to get people to dump a lot of money consistently.  The media lasts about a day and then you need to buy more, totally not something you can keep buying over and over and over.  Are you positive its getting below 7.6?  If its getting below 7.6 your coral will not be able to build skeletons and it will start to break down your sand, rock....etc anything calcium based.  Its like your turning everything into a calc reactor.  I would open some windows for a bit or add the chaeto like mentioned above and run the light 24/7.

That's the thing I've read about CO2 scrubbers, constant media changing. I'd like to avoid that. I did just recently calibrate the pH probe on my Apex and it's been consistently around 7.7 during the day reaching as high as 7.8 just before lights out and 7.58 just before they come on in the morning. I did find that it went up when I ran a line out my window but my wife didn't like that.  Do you think I should calibrate again just to be safe? 

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If you have space in your sump, there is a hang on fuge that you can put in your sump. It holds the chaeto in a confined space and allows water to pass through. I use one in my sump and it helps keeping things organized and also allows pods to grow in a safe spot.

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12 hours ago, dmits41 said:

I'm not getting any calcium precipitation, haven't seen anything like that at all. I didn't think of a bad test kit for 2 reasons: the readings are dead on for the buckets of new saltwater, and the test seems to backup the changes claimed on BRS Mg calculator with their Mg mix. Here's another funny thing since the original post, I started dosing again following that calculator starting Sunday and found just a few minutes ago that my Superman Monti frag has popped out a few polyps. I thought it was a dead skeleton. I have no idea if the dosing is the cause or if it's just a coincidence. 

 

I don't have a fuge, it's an all in one tank that doesn't plumb out. I'd love to have one, maybe I can place a small fuge above it and use one of the return lines in the back chamber to go up there and then have it drain back to the tank with an overflow. I've read that hang on back fuges are too small to be effective, what do you think?

That's the thing I've read about CO2 scrubbers, constant media changing. I'd like to avoid that. I did just recently calibrate the pH probe on my Apex and it's been consistently around 7.7 during the day reaching as high as 7.8 just before lights out and 7.58 just before they come on in the morning. I did find that it went up when I ran a line out my window but my wife didn't like that.  Do you think I should calibrate again just to be safe? 

To me it sounds like your borderline but more than likely safe from the calcification issue.  I really don't think PH being that low is going to cause any issues as long as your consistent in your figures.  Like I said, the C02 media gets very costly which I would avoid, that and your ph really fluctuates a lot which imo causes even more of an issue than just a bit low.  How old is this tank?

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It's 4 years old now, it went through a good period of neglect before and after we moved a year ago but it is pretty much back on track at this point. Just trying to figure out this last issue.

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