kayvon77
Community Member
Hi, I'm in need of some wisdom and critical thinking. So here's the situation that I would like to present to the good of the order: I have a Biocube 29 gallon mix reef tank that I'm having a heck of a time with trying to raise its PH. The current range of my PH vacillates between 7.6 and 7.8, which technically is not that bad. However, I'd like to keep a thriving tank where my corals are lively and growing fast, and as I understand, the optimal PH for creating that ideal environment is between 8.1-8.4. So I'd like to raise my PH by at least .5 units. Is that too much of a feat?
I have found a way to raise the PH through the addition of Kalkwasser, but it's not the easiest thing to administer for a tank that has minimal evaporation and such low capacity. I literally have to go through a gallon of Kalk mix every other day if I want to keep a PH of 8.2 or 8.3, and that would translate to a lot of dollars and maintenance nuances, not to mention a drop in Salinity of about .003 in SG for every gallon of Kalk mix added at max concentration (2 tsp of Kalk /gallon). So much for creating a stable thriving environment.
I have also tried running an air line from my skimmer to the outside that created no change in my PH.
Is there any other way to keep my PH up. I'm thinking there's just too much CO2 in the water due to the respiration of the organisms I'm keeping, but you be the judge. Here is my stocking list (sorry I'm not sure the accurate name for all my corrals, so please humor me):
Fish: 3" Yellow Tang, Med-sized Dottyback, Six-line Wrasse, Three Chromas, Watchman Goby
Invertebrates: Sand Sifting Starfish, Brittle Stars, Pistol Shrimp, Fire Shrimp, a few snails and hermit crabs.
Corals: One Montipora Plating, Brain Coral Frag, some branch SPS Acropora, 2 Acan frags, One Suny D Polythoas, Blue Berry Zoas, Fire and Ice Zoa, Eagle Zoa, Birdsnest Coral, Bubble Coral, Hammer Coral frag, Leather Toadstool Coral, Frogspawn, Two misc SPS Corals, 4 Duncans, A couple other SPSs, Candy Cane Coral, Favia, Two Mushrooms.
Tank Parameters: Ammonia: 0 , Nitrite: 0 , Nitrate: 40 ppm, Calcium:423, Alk: 9.3 dkh, Mag: 1290, PH: 7.8, Phosphate: 0, Salinity: 1.023
Thanks in Advance
I have found a way to raise the PH through the addition of Kalkwasser, but it's not the easiest thing to administer for a tank that has minimal evaporation and such low capacity. I literally have to go through a gallon of Kalk mix every other day if I want to keep a PH of 8.2 or 8.3, and that would translate to a lot of dollars and maintenance nuances, not to mention a drop in Salinity of about .003 in SG for every gallon of Kalk mix added at max concentration (2 tsp of Kalk /gallon). So much for creating a stable thriving environment.
I have also tried running an air line from my skimmer to the outside that created no change in my PH.
Is there any other way to keep my PH up. I'm thinking there's just too much CO2 in the water due to the respiration of the organisms I'm keeping, but you be the judge. Here is my stocking list (sorry I'm not sure the accurate name for all my corrals, so please humor me):
Fish: 3" Yellow Tang, Med-sized Dottyback, Six-line Wrasse, Three Chromas, Watchman Goby
Invertebrates: Sand Sifting Starfish, Brittle Stars, Pistol Shrimp, Fire Shrimp, a few snails and hermit crabs.
Corals: One Montipora Plating, Brain Coral Frag, some branch SPS Acropora, 2 Acan frags, One Suny D Polythoas, Blue Berry Zoas, Fire and Ice Zoa, Eagle Zoa, Birdsnest Coral, Bubble Coral, Hammer Coral frag, Leather Toadstool Coral, Frogspawn, Two misc SPS Corals, 4 Duncans, A couple other SPSs, Candy Cane Coral, Favia, Two Mushrooms.
Tank Parameters: Ammonia: 0 , Nitrite: 0 , Nitrate: 40 ppm, Calcium:423, Alk: 9.3 dkh, Mag: 1290, PH: 7.8, Phosphate: 0, Salinity: 1.023
Thanks in Advance
