pH help PLEASE!!!!!

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ostromk45

Member
I have ordered a os/di since I have really hard water so in the mean time the water I have been adding is from a faucet mounted filter. As a result my pH started to go down. I just tested pH and now it is really high again.:dunno: How did that happen what should I do? I am just about ready to add the first stage of the cleaner crew but is it safe to do so with my pH so high?
 
Reddog170

Reddog170

Active Member
What is your alk at? You will not have one in with the other out. You would almost have to try to get you pH that high. Shaun
 
zoomie61

zoomie61

Member
you said you have really hard water right? I wouldn't be surprised if your Alk. is really high...leading to the high PH (possibly inaccurate reading too). Test your Alk and get that PH down before you add snails. A PH that high isn't really healthy for any tank inhabitants. It will put a lot of stress on the tank life for sure.
 
chipmunkofdoom2

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
pH is dependant upon MANY different factors. You should be looking for an overall chemical imbalance or something of the sort.

Zoomie61 is most likely right. Salt mixes are designed to be added to water with no minerals in it at all. The alkalinity (dissolved minerals) is likely high because you have minerals coming in the tap water and minerals coming in the salt mix.

There are plenty of great reads out there about pH/alkalinity, but this is a good basic one to start with. With a few big water changes after getting RO/DI, this likely won't be an issue.
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Don't add livestock until you have your parameters in line. You will probably need more test kits such as alkalinity and calcium to be able to attempt to control the ph. There are just too many factors that go into it. Check out our chemistry forum. There are a lot of good articles there to send you in the right direction including the one linked to above. However, without the test numbers anything we say would just be a guess.
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
Run another test and look at the comparison under different light sources - daylight, fluorescent and incandesent - without going into a long explanation, you'll most likely see a different result under each light you view the test under. It's a major fault of color comparison test kits.
 
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ostromk45

Member
Reefmack said:
Run another test and look at the comparison under different light sources - daylight, fluorescent and incandesent - without going into a long explanation, you'll most likely see a different result under each light you view the test under. It's a major fault of color comparison test kits.
Click to expand...

That is very interesting I did not know that but it does make sense are there different test kits that are not color based? My ro/di unit should be here tomorrow I will keep an eye on my levels do some reading and start with major water changes once I have my ro/di and go from there. Thank you every one for your input.
 
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