2 part dosing and PH

[Noobreefer84]

I have a question about PH and 2 part that may be an obvious answer.

Currently my ph is 8.15-8.2 during the day and 7.9-7.95 at night. I run a co2 scrubber and dose about 24ml of ESV Bionic over a 24hr schedule to keep up with alk/cal consumption.

My question is. As my 2 part dosing increases with alk/cal demand will my ph naturally drift up wards over time due to the increase daily dosing to maintain alk. ESV is a sodium bicarb and carb mix from my understanding so there is a small impact to ph but not as significant as kalk. I would like to get to 8.3-8.4 during the day and stay above 8 over night.

 

[fish_collector]

No, and you may not get the pH that you desire. About 8.22 is the highest I've ever seen mine, it's the pH at 6 am that is hard to elevate. It may not matter in the big picture anyways, lots of tanks run low 8s at 4pm and high 7s at sunrise.

 

[rowenaad]

0.1 is a lot if you want it to get from 7.9 to 8.0. i dont even think its possible with kalk, but i think your ph is fine as it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My question is. As my 2 part dosing increases with alk/cal demand will my ph naturally drift up wards over time due to the increase daily dosing to maintain alk. ESV is a sodium bicarb and carb mix from my understanding so there is a small impact to ph but not as significant as kalk. I would like to get to 8.3-8.4 during the day and stay above 8 over night.

No. A sodium carbonate additive essentially balances the pH neutrally (carbonate in/carbonate out).

Normal B-ionic is carbonate only.

 

[Noobreefer84]

No. A sodium carbonate additive essentially balances the pH neutrally (carbonate in/carbonate out).

Normal B-ionic is carbonate only.

Thanks Randy for the clarification. I looked at the ingredients for the 1g mix I have and it lists. Carbonate, Sodium, Bicarbonate, Sulfate, Borate, Fluoride, Iodide, Molybdate, Vanadate, Selenate. I thought with both carb/bicarb listed it would have some impact to Ph.

Right now I run my Alk at 8 consistently, if I adjusted it to 9 - 10. Would that provide a buffer to hold the PH over 8 at night.

Or am I just over thinking PH. My tank is 90% SPS so I want to keep my PH as high as possible without "chasing" numbers. Arguably I am doing that right now. The ideal would be 8.00 as the low and 8.2-8.3 at during the photo period. Which I am not far off from. Last night into this morning, the PH hit 7.93 as the low with the lights off. I run the lights from 11am to 12am with a 4.5 hour full spectrum period from 3pm to 730pm. Rest is just blues. From 10pm to midnight is a slow ramp down.

I just don't have room to add a giant container of Kalk where my tank is without my wife asking for a divorce. Nor do I want to have to fill it multiple times a week to keep up with consumption in a smaller container.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don’t think there is enough bicarbonate in it to be significant. I’m not sure why they put any in it, and maybe they don’t since dissolving sodium carbonate in water will provide a solution with some bicarbonate, hence making the recipe a little less clear to copycats.

They used to have a lower pH bicarbonate version, but I have not seen it lately.

Higher alk does help buffering at night, but one cannot say how well since it depends on your home CO2 level and the degree of aeration.

You could use a two part that uses hydroxide as the alk part. There are both diy recipes and some commercial versions.

But you may be stressing too much about pH. lol

 

[Noobreefer84]

I don’t think there is enough bicarbonate in it to be significant. I’m not sure why they put any in it, and maybe they don’t since dissolving sodium carbonate in water will provide a solution with some bicarbonate, hence making the recipe a little less clear to copycats.

They used to have a lower pH bicarbonate version, but I have not seen it lately.

Higher alk does help buffering at night, but one cannot say how well since it depends on your home CO2 level and the degree of aeration.

You could use a two part that uses hydroxide as the alk part. There are both diy recipes and some commercial versions.

But you may be stressing too much about pH. lol

Thanks Randy!

I appreciate the insights.

I'll keep my system as is for now as my PH isn't in unacceptable ranges.