Jump to content

Low PH


Recommended Posts

I have been fighting with the PH level in a few of my tanks for the past month. I have been dosing aqua vitro balance to bump the PH back to where I would like it to be. Below are the tanks and the levels. I am trying to avoid using anything to raise the dKH. Everything in the aquariums seem to be happy and everything is growing and eating well. Any input on what I can do to get the PH to maintain between 8.0-8.5?

  60 cube 14g fluval
PH (8.1 - 8.5) 7.93 (Day 1PM) 7.7 (night 10 PM) 8.0 (Day 1 PM) 7.8 (night 10 PM)
Nitrite (0) 0 0
Ammonia (0) 0 0
Nitrate (0 - 10) 5 10
Carbonate Hardness (DKH 7-11 aim for 9) 9 11
Calcium (440-480) 480 460
Phosphate (0) 0.25 0
Salinity (1.020 - 1.024) 1.022 1.023

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It apparently does not like excel formatting.

 

60 cube

PH (8.1 - 8.5) - 7.93 (Day 1PM) 7.7 (night 10 PM)

Nitrite (0) - 0

Ammonia (0) - 0

Nitrate (0 - 10) - 5

Carbonate Hardness (DKH 7-11 aim for 9) - 9

Calcium (440-480) - 480

Phospahte (0) - 0.25

Salinity (1.020 - 1.024) - 1.022

 

14g fluval

PH (8.1 - 8.5) - 8.0 (Day 1 PM) 7.8 (night 10 PM)

Nitrite (0) - 0

Ammonia (0) - 0

Nitrate (0 - 10) - 10

Carbonate Hardness (DKH 7-11 aim for 9) - 11

Calcium (440-480) - 460

Phospahte (0) - 0

Salinity (1.020 - 1.024) - 1.023

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is nothing wrong with your pH, its the least thing to worry about.  Its more harmful to keep trying to raise it and having it bounce all around.  Your corals will adjust to the ups and downs through the day and night that are natural ups and downs.  Not so much the adding this or using a co2 scrubber here and there...etc.  Just let your tank do its thing with pH. 

Tank 1 I would raise your sg to .025-.026 and get your phos down to below .1

Tank 2 I would get your alk down to 9 (or lower) and pull your sg up to .025-.026.  With phos that low your corals may not do well with an alk that high.  If you want to run high alk generally you need a dirtier tank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Luke. I am planning to add more chaeto to the sump on the 60g to hopefully offset the photosynthesis process at night and hope it will stabilize it a little better. As for tank #2, I am wanting to get the dKH to about 9. A few more frequent water changes to help that maybe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Water changes will help if the alk is lower but if you have enough coral to absorb it and just let them pull it down.  If I don't dose my display it drops about 1dkh per day, so I would personally just check it every other day and see how long it takes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd be more concerned about how low your salinity is. As long as it's stable it's not really an issue but introducing new coral and fish, they might have a difficult time adjusting to your lower salinity. Ideally you would want to be around 1.025 - 1.026. 

What are you using to test pH? If it's a probe, have you calibrated it lately? I just re-calibrated my apex probe after 1 year and found it had drifted 0.3. I couldnt figure out why my tank pH was so high recently, it was at like 8.5 - 8.6 in the day. I recalibrated my probe and found that it settled at 8.1 - 8.2 in the day. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...