Please help me get my pH up!

[stapet77]

We have had our tank for about 9 months now and everything is stabilizing nicely. We finally got our nitrates down to about 5, and Alk 5-6 meq/l, Mg 1200, Ca 400, temperature 77-78, salinity 1.024-1.025. However, every time we get our pH up to 8.3 using buffer, it drops overnight to 8.1 and does not go up again the next day. I realize it is normal for it to drop at night, but it never goes back up. According to SeaChem these values for Mg, Ca, and, Alk should be right on. Are there trace elements that could affect the pH? Is there anything else besides an ionic balance that could cause consistently low pH? We are using purigen, Phosorb, and deNitrate, and Stability (with water changes) - all by Sea Chem. These are the only other additives we use.

[iluvzigz]

ive have a ph problem with my tank aswell...always at 8.0 with the lights on.I cant seem to make it go up except for buffer ,but thats just a temporary fix to a large problem. All my perimeters seem about the same as yours. I'll tag along hoping for a cure.good luck.i was told by a LFS that it could have to do with c02 but i wouldn't know how to fix that problem.

[cheeks69]

What are you using to test your ph ? Have you checked with different test kits ? Since you alk isn't low I would say the problem is excess CO2 which is a problem I'm also having particulalry in the wintertime, just no fresh air coming in.

Check this site for some good info on ph problems:

Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

[cheeks69]

RHF:

Some solutions to pH problems are peculiar to each cause, and these are detailed below. There are, however, some general solutions that are frequently effective. These include using high pH additives when alkalinity is required. Limewater (kalkwasser) is the best choice in this regard, followed by the high pH two-part additives. These methods have the advantage of raising pH, but not raising alkalinity relative to calcium in an undesirable fashion.

Buffers alone are not generally a good method as they raise pH little, and result in excessive alkalinity. Unfortunately, the labels on many commercial buffers are written in ways that convince aquarists that the pH will be fine if they just add some buffer. More often than not, the pH is not improved for more than a day, and the alkalinity rises beyond desired limits.

Two other useful methods include growing macroalgae that absorb some CO2 from the water as they grow (often lit on a reverse light cycle to the main tank to provide the maximum pH rise when the main tank is at its pH minimum), and aerating the water with fresh air.

[Triggerjay]

I have the same problem with ph.. My tank is near an outside wall,.. could I just run a line outside from the venturi on my skimmer, (would that be enough) or should I put an airstone in one of the empty sections of my fuge and run the air pump from outside? which one would give better results? Thanks

Jason

[prow]

hey this is on here too i will say the samething.
i dont know that its CO2 causing his issue here. could be, but i would expect my ph to be on the low side with a alk level that high. really you dont want your ph to come up anymore at this point. if you raise the ph with the buffer you will raise your alk some too, you then run the risk of precipitions. i would just let it ride and cut out the buffer and keep your Ca where it is, you can use just the Ca part of your 2 part or just Ca to maintain levels. but no more alk or buffer. let things fall back to balance on there own.

give this a read here. i gave some links and quotes for ya.
Please help me get my pH up!

[2455coop]

I had the same problem....the only way I found to fix this problem in my tank was to follow the formula I found on the garf.org website

http://www.garf.org/bulletproofreef/bulletproof.asp

It talks about a bullet proof reef...


You might give it a try. It worked for me...

[Frankie]

I too hade a ph problem. I couldn't get it to go over 8.0 during the day. I gave up on buffers and started to drip kalk like in that info Cheeks provided. It seemed to do the trick. I now battle keeping it from going to high! I am now working on building a kalk reactor.

[Triggerjay]

Originally Posted by FFrankie

I too hade a ph problem. I couldn't get it to go over 8.0 during the day. I gave up on buffers and started to drip kalk like in that info Cheeks provided. It seemed to do the trick. I now battle keeping it from going to high! I am now working on building a kalk reactor.

Yeah, I drip Kalkwasser.. but it does not seem to help.. I tested water again today, I will post results later..(There are in the other room and I am toooo lazy to go get them right now. lol)

Jason

[stapet77]

Wow this is a lot of good data. For those of you tagging along be sure to check on the general reef forum. Prow posted some killer articles there. I am going to digest all of the information he posted and will let you know what happens.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Triggerjay

Yeah, I drip Kalkwasser.. but it does not seem to help.. I tested water again today, I will post results later..(There are in the other room and I am toooo lazy to go get them right now. lol)

Jason

Do you drip all top off water or just when you remember? Don't let laziness cause your tank to crash! Good luck...

[JFK_Jr]

Wow... seems like there's a lot of you out there having problems "getting it up"... I've got the answer for you!

Take two... and call me in the morning.

[Triggerjay]

Originally Posted by FFrankie

Do you drip all top off water or just when you remember? Don't let laziness cause your tank to crash! Good luck...

I drip all top off...about a gallon a day now in the 55.....and a 10% WC every sunday..

lol @ jfkjr!

Jason

[iluvzigz]

thanks jfk .

[flricordia]

I used to have the same problem till I started kalk in top-off. You say you use it and it doesn't help. Maybe you have a glass cover over your tank so evaporation is low? If you do, take it off. If you don't have one on then get a fan blowing across surface to help in evaporation or power heads to disrupt water's surface more. This may not be desirable, but the end result is higher PH. With 1.5tsp kalk per gl top-off PH will run 8.5 and higher. If this is too high than add 30-45mm per gl vinegar. This will keep it at approx. 8.3. Another method, excellent method when used with kalk top-off, is to run a heavily stocked chaeto fuge 24/7. When the lights are out and plant life is not producing oxygen it produces carbon dioxide which lowers the PH. Buffers need constant adjustment along with close testing of alk. Some buffers will cause power heads to clog through precipitation. This was a problem I found with Seachem's buffers.
Don't expect results overnight. It usually takes a couple months, depending on the size of tank and bio-load to stabilize, stop feeding unwanted algae and produce steady coraline growth.
Another problem with some tanks is that the room they are in has high levels of carbon dioxide and the tank takes this on rather than oxygen which produces low ph.