alk low, pH high - again
- Thread starter bluespotjawfish
- Start date
prow
Well-Known Member
aahh man, no snail deal for me
its all good though, the bloom is gone
i dont think you need to adjust the effluent rate any, your Ca+ is being maintained at 405ppm with you current settings. give it a couple days at the current effluent flow rate. you may want to reduce the BPM (CO2) for reasons above but thats it. for now i would just leave reactor where it is(reduce BPM on the CO2, just cause) otherwise your good on the reactor for now. let the alk come down on its own or better yet keep it there, you are correct on the alk level, its perfectly fine with your ph. with your current alk even if your ph goes up its all good, that is unless your ph goes into the 8.5 ranges. but right now your alk is compensating for the ph, if you reduce alk to 3.0meq/l or lower its likely your ph will start to swing and dip too low at night again. i was only reducing mine because i was thinking the ph was going to go up with dosing balance, prior too i was keeping my alk at 3.5 but i think its better at 3.8ish (a little higher than your current level) for ph stablility...
of note; i did my normal routine water change last night and oopppsss'd my dosing of the new batch..i dosed some reef builder(not buffer) thinking it was Ca+(i use RC salt and need to add Ca+). so the new batch's alk tested in at 4.92, i did the water change and that brought my alk in the tank to 4.0meq/l...current readings..
Ca+ 420
Mg+ 1350
alk 4.0meq/l (200ppm)
ph- 7.98-8.08 (this is high/low through out the day and night after the water change)
i will let the alk come down to 3.8ish and keep it there. if needed will lower it during the summer if the ph starts to drift upwards. if i see ph climbing and maintains a ph range of 8.2-8.3ish then i will decrease the alk to 3.0ish.
its all good though, the bloom is gone
perfect.....
that is about what i expected, chemistry wise those last numbers are about the same as mine..
yeah you dont need to adjust the BPM, you might want to so your solenoid dosent go on and off all the time. also if the BPM is too much when the solenoid dose come on it will flow too fast and end up collecting a "air pocket" at the top in the chamber..might not just something to watch.....its not bad persay if you vent it out from time to time...
i dont think you need to adjust the effluent rate any, your Ca+ is being maintained at 405ppm with you current settings. give it a couple days at the current effluent flow rate. you may want to reduce the BPM (CO2) for reasons above but thats it. for now i would just leave reactor where it is(reduce BPM on the CO2, just cause) otherwise your good on the reactor for now. let the alk come down on its own or better yet keep it there, you are correct on the alk level, its perfectly fine with your ph. with your current alk even if your ph goes up its all good, that is unless your ph goes into the 8.5 ranges. but right now your alk is compensating for the ph, if you reduce alk to 3.0meq/l or lower its likely your ph will start to swing and dip too low at night again. i was only reducing mine because i was thinking the ph was going to go up with dosing balance, prior too i was keeping my alk at 3.5 but i think its better at 3.8ish (a little higher than your current level) for ph stablility...
of note; i did my normal routine water change last night and oopppsss'd my dosing of the new batch..i dosed some reef builder(not buffer
) thinking it was Ca+(i use RC salt and need to add Ca+). so the new batch's alk tested in at 4.92, i did the water change and that brought my alk in the tank to 4.0meq/l...current readings..Ca+ 420
Mg+ 1350
alk 4.0meq/l (200ppm)
ph- 7.98-8.08 (this is high/low through out the day and night after the water change)
i will let the alk come down to 3.8ish and keep it there. if needed will lower it during the summer if the ph starts to drift upwards. if i see ph climbing and maintains a ph range of 8.2-8.3ish then i will decrease the alk to 3.0ish.
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
Sounds good.
Overnight low pH 7.88.
Overnight low pH 7.88.
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
About a minute after the reading stops changing.
When I put the probes back in the 7.0 solution one was 7.01, the other 7.0; the readings on the vinegar solution was 2.58 and 2.57. Before the calibration, one was reading 2.69, the other 2.44.
Overnight low 7.88. The high was around 7.96. I can't download the data from the ACJr, the info is in there, but for some reason it won't download so I had to scroll through it.
When I put the probes back in the 7.0 solution one was 7.01, the other 7.0; the readings on the vinegar solution was 2.58 and 2.57. Before the calibration, one was reading 2.69, the other 2.44.
Overnight low 7.88. The high was around 7.96. I can't download the data from the ACJr, the info is in there, but for some reason it won't download so I had to scroll through it.
prow
Well-Known Member
i find i need to let my probes sit in the solution for about 5 min or more before they settle. even after calibrations if you put in the solution and the ph reading goes to 7.01 pretty quick and seems to have settled, its not done yet. try to recheck your probe, just place it in the 7.01 solution(not while calibrating just for checking, say for 5 min and see if it reads 7.01...) i am thinking it did not settle all the way and ph is running about 0.05 higher than your getting.
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
Hmm, k I'll check that.
BTW, I've always wondered what the indoor CO2 problem I have does when trying to calibrate a probe. Does it affect the pH of the calibration fluid?
Now to fix my darn Aquanotes issue. I still can't get it to download data. The data is in the history, the status is reading the controller, but the data doesn't download. I just reset the datalog, so we will see if that does it.
BTW, I've always wondered what the indoor CO2 problem I have does when trying to calibrate a probe. Does it affect the pH of the calibration fluid?
Now to fix my darn Aquanotes issue. I still can't get it to download data. The data is in the history, the status is reading the controller, but the data doesn't download. I just reset the datalog, so we will see if that does it.
prow
Well-Known Member
i would even leave it in the solution for 10min.
no not really. in time it will but unless you are stirring it up it will take some time to effect the fluid, after opening at least a hour before any real change in ph. i would try to dry the probe some before placing it in the solution though, you do not want to mix salt water with the calibration fluid. if the solution does not get contaminated you could reseal the solution and reuse. i would not reuse the packets once a probe was placed in it though, even though it "might" not be contaminated.
cant help you there, i have yet to use aqua notes. i did try the lite version but never got it to work. i plan on ordering the full version soon though. i have had a labtop all ready to go ever since i upgraded my tank, about a year ago...busy+lazy=no aquanote for me yet...what version are you using? have you tried talking with someone at neptunes?
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
Today's levels:
180 ppm alk
400 ppm calc
1320 ppm mag
15 ppm Nitrates
7.86 overnight pH
7.91 current pH
6.55-6.58 chamber pH
It's starting to feel good.
I always use the packets. I rinse in RO or tap water and dry as much as possible.
I'm using the current version (I tihnk it is 3.5). I need to track down Neptune's info and figure this out.
180 ppm alk
400 ppm calc
1320 ppm mag
15 ppm Nitrates
7.86 overnight pH
7.91 current pH
6.55-6.58 chamber pH
It's starting to feel good.
I always use the packets. I rinse in RO or tap water and dry as much as possible.
I'm using the current version (I tihnk it is 3.5). I need to track down Neptune's info and figure this out.
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
The test on the pH probe resulted in a 7.03 reading.
BTW, buy one get one free on the dwarf snails if you are still looking. I think that makes them about 11 cents each. Also buy one get one free on some macro algaes too.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reefcleaners/41713-buy-one-get-one.html
I fixed my Aquanotes. The serial number in the datalog got changed somehow and the record datalog was unchecked.
BTW, buy one get one free on the dwarf snails if you are still looking. I think that makes them about 11 cents each. Also buy one get one free on some macro algaes too.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reefcleaners/41713-buy-one-get-one.html
I fixed my Aquanotes. The serial number in the datalog got changed somehow and the record datalog was unchecked.
prow
Well-Known Member
nice, your parameters are much better. ph a little low but wayyyy more stable.
did you check the 10 or just the 7 on the ph solutioins.
thanks for the heads up on the snails, not really needed now but i may just get some more anyway, its been a long while sence i added anything, might have to add another clam while i am at it
did you check the 10 or just the 7 on the ph solutioins.
thanks for the heads up on the snails, not really needed now but i may just get some more anyway, its been a long while sence i added anything, might have to add another clam while i am at it
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
Just the 7. And, I only checked the ACJr probe.
prow
Well-Known Member
your in good levels now so i wouldn't worry about it unless your corals and things start to not look so good, most people i actually know that run Ca+reactors have ph's under 8.00. i used to fight it but now after running tanks for years with low ph's (running Ca+ reactors) i have no fear, just as long as you compensate for it with higher alk levels no worries. though i do think adding a second chamber on the reactor would be a good thing for both of us. one day i will do that but still feeling to lazy right now
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure the 2nd chamber would do much for me as these are the levels I was typically at before I added the reactor (that is before the alk was low and I started this thread).
It was strange not to have to mess with anything today. In fact, the alk and calc was identical to my WC water! Unfortunately, my new 65g setup
had an alk level of 116 ppm. I guess it needs a bit of dosing - bummer! Maybe I will hook the old kalk reactor up to it. I was hoping WCs would be enough.
It was strange not to have to mess with anything today. In fact, the alk and calc was identical to my WC water! Unfortunately, my new 65g setup
had an alk level of 116 ppm. I guess it needs a bit of dosing - bummer! Maybe I will hook the old kalk reactor up to it. I was hoping WCs would be enough.
prow
Well-Known Member
ture ture
O no here we go again, lol.......J/K. at least you now have a better understanding on how the relationships between ph/alk/Ca+ work, makes it much easier. just remember with kalk and higher ph's you will want to run your alk lower than the tank running with the Ca+reactor.
i was reading the TOTM at RC and when i seen the water parameters i though about you
. Tank of the Month - January 2008 - Reefkeeping.comhere is qoute with the parameters.
do these numbers sound familiar? and yes the tank is using a Ca+reactor....
bluespotjawfish
Well-Known Member
I never, ever test pH in my other tanks
Ok, I just checked...8.06
Ok, I just checked...8.06