Do I need to test PH for coral growth?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That doesn’t make sense to me. I plan to dilute 2 tsp per gallon in my dosing container.

I think you’re confusing the ATO method with the dosing pump method. Who is restricting me from dosing more than what gets evaporated? Is it because you are worried that my salinity will get too low?

I have a 250 gallon with a lot of evaporation. I doubt my Alk needs will exceed the rate of evaporation. That seems so unlikely.

Is Kalkwasser that diluted?

How much ml (more or less) is required of kalk if I’m dosing 40ml of 2 part? Just to get an idea.

Am I going to need to fill the dosing container daily/weekly now? If so, this might prevent me from making the switch.

I have a 5,000ml container.

Yes, 2 tsp per gallon of fresh water is VERY dilute, despite being saturated.

Since you can only add enough to replace evaporation (regardless of ATO or dosing pump delivery), you are limited in the total alk and calcium delivery per day.

IT was enough in my tank, but it is not enough in many SPS tanks.

 

[Miami Reef]

Yes, 2 tsp per gallon of fresh water is VERY dilute, despite being saturated.

Since you can only add enough to replace evaporation (regardless of ATO or dosing pump delivery), you are limited in the total alk and calcium delivery per day.

IT was enough in my tank, but it is not enough in many SPS tanks.

I just figured this out.

If my PH results are low, I’ll just run a line outside from my skimmer.

 

[Miami Reef]

I watched a BRS video, and Ryan said that if the outdoors is over 10feet away from skimmer, running a line outside is ineffective.

Is this true?

 

[Garf]

I watched a BRS video, and Ryan said that if the outdoors is over 10feet away from skimmer, running a line outside is ineffective.

Is this true?

Not seen that. A larger diameter pipe should do it, if restriction is the problem

 

[Miami Reef]

@Randy Holmes-Farley @Garf

Today I properly calibrated my PH probe in 7 and 10 PH solutions. The red hannah PH checker. I tested the solutions and they were all within .1 of the standards which is within range of test discrepancies.

My lights were on for 8 hours before I got a reading. Which was… 8.0. I checked multiple times with the same reading.

I’m not happy with that result. I am very disappointed with coral growth. They aren’t even growing! Only the clams are.

I did an ICP test and everything came out perfect. Bromine was a little high, but it’s ok! I use IO salt and I know Randy had the same thing.

My phosphates and nitrates are 0.06ppm and 6ppm respectively. Salinity is good. Lighting is excellent (T5’s).

The only thing that the issue lies in is the PH. I find that my 2 part usage has stalled. I had to even lower it after the dino issue I’ve had. They aren’t using more than what I’ve been dosing for 1+ months. I really expected myself to increase my ALK, CAL usage.


What’s the simplest way to raise my PH? I can’t open a window because I live in Florida. I can’t get a CO2 scrubber because I don’t have a PH controller (I don’t like complicated things). I have no space for a refugium.

The 2 methods I’m thinking of are:
Dose kalkwasser 24/7 for PH and 2 part to maintain cal and alk.
OR
Get green algae to grow in my DT (I currently have NO algae growth whatsoever. Only some dinos)

Unless I find a way to make a hole to get a 10FT + line outside (which might not even work). I’m in a bit of a pickle.

Please help me.

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

I don't really understand the idea that an air line longer than 10' will be ineffective. I ran a line to my skimmer that is roughly 25' long and it made an improvement in ph and growth, although I admit I can't back that up with real numbers. I have a ph probe on my list of wants and I will get some hard numbers at that time. At the time I used a titration kit that did show a significant color difference.
If possible, I think trying to run an outdoor line would be in your interest. For one thing, it's cheap and for another thing, it can't hurt.

 

[Miami Reef]

The skimmer nor co2 ideas are good for me. Too expensive and not possible in my house setup.

I’m going back to kalkwasser. JUST for the PH additive effect, how much ml in a 250 gallon tank per day (split either every hour or for 12 hours)

I just want the KALK ph effect. The less I use of kalk the better. The calcium and Alk will be maintained by my 2 part.

@Randy Holmes-Farley this will really help me out if you can answer this question.

 

[Garf]

The skimmer nor co2 ideas are good for me. Too expensive and not possible in my house setup.

I’m going back to kalkwasser. JUST for the PH additive effect, how much ml in a 250 gallon tank per day (split either every hour or for 12 hours)

I just want the KALK ph effect. The less I use of kalk the better. The calcium and Alk will be maintained by my 2 part.

@Randy Holmes-Farley this will really help me out if you can answer this question.

I dose 1250mls on a 60 gallon, as that’s generally a little less than the average it evaporates. You not considered Randy’s high pH 2 part? It uses calcium and sodium hydroxide, which are the components used to make kalkwasser, but without the evaporation restriction.

 

[Miami Reef]

I dose 1250mls on a 60 gallon, as that’s generally a little less than the average it evaporates. You not considered Randy’s high pH 2 part? It uses calcium and sodium hydroxide, which are the components used to make kalkwasser, but without the evaporation restriction.

I never knew this!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There's no need for a pH controller to use a scrubber. pH is very unlikely to get too high.

 

[Miami Reef]

There's no need for a pH controller to use a scrubber. pH is very unlikely to get too high.

You know what I did?

Before, I had my soda ash dose 12 times per day. It was equaling around 3ml per dose.

I switched my dose to 3 times per day and it will dose 20ml in each shot.

My brain is telling me that this will result in a larger PH increase (instead of smaller, more stable PH boosts).

I’m hoping this will cause my corals to increase their need for 2 part. Once I get to a point where they need too much in a single dose, I can split it up more and I will hopefully have a larger and stable PH raise.

Does this make sense?

 

[Miami Reef]

I was dosing 40ml x 12 times, but now I’m dosing 60ml x 3 times.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Adding hydroxide or carbonate boosts pH instantly by consuming CO2 from the water. Then the tank pulls in more CO2 from the air, and the pH drops again.

If you do two additions of half the size, each addition has a smaller pH boost, but the tendency to pull in CO2 is also smaller.

Which is best depends on what you are trying to accomplish, but many small pH boosts will, I think, result in a higher average pH over the whole day than would fewer but larger doses.

The reasoning is the same as the classic hot water question, which goes something like this:

Which is hotter after 30 minutes?

A. A half cup of hot coffee mixed with an equal volume of room temperature water at time 0
or
B. A half cup pf hot coffee that sits for 30 minutes and then is mixed with an equal volume of room temperature water.

The answer is A, because the rate of heat flow out of the cup is driven by the temperature difference between the hot liquid and the room air.

For the tank reuptake of CO2, the rate is driven by the difference in chemical potential (i.e., concentration) of CO2 between the water and the air. For the instantaneous addition, the water has a much bigger driving force to bring in CO2. For the many small addition scenario, the driving force is lower and CO2 is drawn in more slowly.

 

[Miami Reef]

Thank you Randy.

Im going to post in your 2 part with hydroxide thread with a question I have about the ingredients.