Chart: Attempting to increase Alk & pH

[Beadz]

At the recommendation of my LFS I started using Reef Blueprint Carbon8 in an attempt to raise both Alk and pH.
Prior to starting dosing:
Alk - 7.3
pH - 7.9
Ca - 420
Alk is rising (and Ca is falling), but pH seems to not be increasing.
I also added 0.8mL to my ATO reservoir.

 

[Beadz]

45g AIO system which holds approximately 34g of water with system running.

I started dosing in the daytime, however I tried switching to lights out time attempting to lessen the overnight pH drop.

 

[Joe31415]

I don't know anything about the product you're adding, but regarding pH:
1)meh, it's not that far off. This is when people are going to tell you not to chase numbers.
2)You can bump the alkalinity more. Again, I don't know anything about your product, but using a normal Alkalinity supplement will work just fine. 8.3 is fine, but you can go a lot higher and if that's what it takes to get your pH where you want/need it, go for it.
3)I see you're checking pH at different times. Make sure you understand that your pH will fluctuate with your lighting schedule. It's perfectly normal, for example, to see your pH at 8.00 in the middle of the night and 8.3 in the middle of the day after the lights have been on for a few hours. I'd suggest, at least for the purposes of monitoring and adjusting the pH, check it at the same time each day. I mean, check it all you want, but pick a time and use that to see how it's trending. Preferably, at a time when the lights have been on for a few hours.
You can see the effect the lights have on the tank in the chart. Notice how it's the pH is low at 7:30am and higher at 7:30pm.
4)Make sure you're not testing pH right after adding something to bump alkalinity.
5)If you have a skimmer with an adjustable air intake, see if you can turn it up without it overflowing. More bubbles means more pH (kinda). If you can easily run a hose from the air intake to a window so it pulls in fresh air, that'll probably make the biggest difference. If you can't do it easily, there's a very easy test you can do to see if that's something worth putting work into doing. Similarly, you can look into a CO2 scrubber. But again, I'd make sure it would even help before investing in it.

 

[Beadz]

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

1.) yea the corals are healthy, so I do want to mind that I seem to be doing this because “they” say an ~8.3pH is conducive for increased growth

2.) that’s true, noted

3.) I do understand the pH fluctuation, not a concern…although keeping it from dipping at night seems like a good idea. I am checking at the same 3x each day. Using a Milwaukee constant monitor.

4.) the times I dose I take the measurements prior to adding the dose

5.) no skimmer, tried the IceCap 240 in the one chamber but once I moved to a second Radion that chamber is no longer usable.
I will try the aeration test.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The current values are fine and I’d just maintain alk and calcium at these levels.

 

[KStatefan]

What is your current alk demand? I would dose based off of that and pick a product/chemical that works best for you. Randy has some very good write ups on these. One example https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randy-recommended-diy-two-part-recipes.984604/