8.4-8.1 diurnal pH swing

Tim92G

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
36
Reaction score
12
Location
Monmouth County, NJ
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Screenshot_20220705-212642_APEX Fusion.jpg

Ok so I keep my tank in my bedroom and since I have been running the AC most of the time, the pH drop at night has increased by 0.1. I am running a C02 scrubber at night and I turn it offline during the day because the pH goes up to almost 8.5 if I don't. I am also running my refugium on an opposite photosynthetic schedule. All of lps and acros have been fine. I use TM pro salt and my alkalinity has stabilized at 8.3. P04 is 0.06 and N03 is 0.8. My acroporas are still growing frags so I would like to lessen the pH swing for optimal growth. I have about a softball size of chaeto in my fuge and a piece of red pom-pom gracileria. Any advice?
 

KrisReef

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
May 15, 2018
Messages
11,520
Reaction score
27,299
Location
ADX Florence
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
You need to sleep on the couch in the other room until your frags are old enough.
:cool:
 

ReefLife_Guy

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 6, 2022
Messages
425
Reaction score
569
Location
Birmingham, AL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I agree with not chasing the numbers, sometimes I think we talk about tank stability too much in terms of the "numbers". I would argue that stability is not about how numbers fluctuate over a days time but how stable the health of your inhabitants are. Sounds cliche but let your tank tell you how its doing. If your corals are consistently looking good and growing at a reasonable rate then I wouldn't worry about it but if you start to have issues then it might be something to look into further.
 

spsick

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
1,412
Reaction score
1,660
Location
Mpls, MN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Honestly with pH numbers that good I wouldn’t even be running a scrubber.

Is there somewhere you read that those numbers or swing are not acceptable? If feel like BRS made a few videos about pH and everyone is obsessing about it now.
 

DanTheReefer

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
482
Reaction score
493
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Don’t sweat it. I also haven’t heard that the daily ph rhythm has any adverse effects

37A25EDF-B9FB-429A-9E54-D4C9E7728B7B.jpeg
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

Reef Chemist
View Badges
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
66,533
Reaction score
62,824
Location
Arlington, Massachusetts, United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
IMO, chasing numbers is perfectly appropriate, as long as you choose what to chase, what targets to set, and do the chase properly. It's part of the fun and challenge of reef husbandry, and by definition, I don't see how it could go wrong. Some might argue it's a wasted effort, but it won't cause problems when done appropriately.

IMO, a pH swing from 8.1 to 8.4 is likely to be perfectly fine, and I'm not sure if you'd even notice a difference if it was steady 8.2 or 8.4.

If the goal is fastest possible hard coral growth, pushing up the pH even more is likely fine, but may take some significant efforts.

My biggest concern for pH is when the daily low starts to get below pH 7.8, or the daily high is below 7.9.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 73 37.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 66 34.2%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.0%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 14.5%
  • Other.

    Votes: 1 0.5%
Back
Top