finally PH Perfection (or close) - with specific steps to achieve it.

[rschneid58]

For a very long time I let my reef tank just putter along. 75g +30g sump. Typical PH was between 7.6 and 8.1. About 2 months ago I dedicated resources to this issue.
1. drill hole thru outside wall and bring in outside air to aquarium area. (useless)
2. hook up outside air to airstone and drop in sump. (also useless because pressure of water in sump column above airstone prevented air flow thru airstones - water pressure over airstone exceeded the little tine [normal] air pump I had trying to bring air in
3. add in super air pump (SUPER as in 800GPH per hour - normal air pump is around 25 GPH). Force outside air to move thru airstones. Small problem solved -

outside air bubbling LIKE mad from airstones in sump. RESULT PH accords the board from 7.6 - 8.1 to 7.9 - 8.25
4. add in CO2 scrubber between outside air line and air stones. RESULT PH accords the board increase to 7.75 to 8.29
5. add in Bullet3 HOB skimmer. RESULT PH across the board increase to 7.9 - 8.31
6. move outside co2 scrubbed air from airstones to primary air intake on skimmer
across the board increase to .....------>>>>>>> 8.1 to 8.5<<<<<<<<------ and still increasing

Notes:
7. I am using Limewater and somewhere in the above process I also started increasing limewater and reducing fresh and alkaline solution.
8. Also BLOXYGEN is absolutely a critical part of how I keep my limewater (kalkwasser) from reacting at all. Strongly encourage anyone not familiar with it to check it out. It's expensive ARGON but it does the job. Used this a lot in my days as a carpenter to keep all my various paints/thinners/ etc.. stored for a long long time. (heavier than air, so you squirt/spray/dispense this on top of your container, voila, anything that can react with LimeWater is now prevented from reaching the solution. Argon is INERT so no reaction of any kind... Go Chemistry!

I consider the above steps (while some might say excessive) a significant victory in my attempts to grow more healthier corals

Rich S.

 

[rschneid58]

For a very long time I let my reef tank just putter along. 75g +30g sump. Typical PH was between 7.6 and 8.1. About 2 months ago I dedicated resources to this issue.
1. drill hole thru outside wall and bring in outside air to aquarium area. (useless)
2. hook up outside air to airstone and drop in sump. (also useless because pressure of water in sump column above airstone prevented air flow thru airstones - water pressure over airstone exceeded the little tine [normal] air pump I had trying to bring air in
3. add in super air pump (SUPER as in 800GPH per hour - normal air pump is around 25 GPH). Force outside air to move thru airstones. Small problem solved -

outside air bubbling LIKE mad from airstones in sump. RESULT PH accords the board from 7.6 - 8.1 to 7.9 - 8.25
4. add in CO2 scrubber between outside air line and air stones. RESULT PH accords the board increase to 7.75 to 8.29
5. add in Bullet3 HOB skimmer. RESULT PH across the board increase to 7.9 - 8.31
6. move outside co2 scrubbed air from airstones to primary air intake on skimmer
across the board increase to .....------>>>>>>> 8.1 to 8.5<<<<<<<<------ and still increasing

Notes:
7. I am using Limewater and somewhere in the above process I also started increasing limewater and reducing fresh and alkaline solution.
8. Also BLOXYGEN is absolutely a critical part of how I keep my limewater (kalkwasser) from reacting at all. Strongly encourage anyone not familiar with it to check it out. It's expensive ARGON but it does the job. Used this a lot in my days as a carpenter to keep all my various paints/thinners/ etc.. stored for a long long time. (heavier than air, so you squirt/spray/dispense this on top of your container, voila, anything that can react with LimeWater is now prevented from reaching the solution. Argon is INERT so no reaction of any kind... Go Chemistry!

I consider the above steps (while some might say excessive) a significant victory in my attempts to grow more healthier corals

Rich S.

made it to 8.5+ (first time ever at this level)

 

[Matty Ice]

You’re dosing lime water and still have low ph?

 

[rschneid58]

Well not anymore. Could be as simple as I wasn’t dosing enough limewater.
whatever the case it’s looking good now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

8. Also BLOXYGEN is absolutely a critical part of how I keep my limewater (kalkwasser) from reacting at all. Strongly encourage anyone not familiar with it to check it out. It's expensive ARGON but it does the job. Used this a lot in my days as a carpenter to keep all my various paints/thinners/ etc.. stored for a long long time. (heavier than air, so you squirt/spray/dispense this on top of your container, voila, anything that can react with LimeWater is now prevented from reaching the solution. Argon is INERT so no reaction of any kind... Go Chemistry!

I question how important that is. Or at least, there are easier ways to achieve it. I agree it will work, but I have also shown that limewater in a closed trash can retains its potency over weeks.

The Degradation of Limewater in Air - Reefkeeping.com

Figure 2. The conductivity of the limewater in my dosing reservoir as a function of time.

 

[rschneid58]

Ok fyi this is just a follow up to close this out.
1. My ph is running around 8.4 to < 8.6. I also added an Apex routine to shut off all dosing pumps if the pH ever exceeds 8.62 (and yes, that 8.62 is sort of a random pic)
2. Live and learn, some how I Got confused months back and thought the 3 teaspoons per gallon was a fully saturated solution. So that’s what I was trying to dose and it was hard to Dose enough to make a substantial difference. At some point rereading various posts, I suddenly realized I was at 50% instead of 100%. So I am now mixing at 6 teaspoons per gallon and that’s obviously making the impact of lime water way more effective
3. Alkalinity is running right around 9. good too.
4. Calcium around 500 - also fine by me.
5. My ph is still dropping to about 8.05 over night. I did try to dose way more lime water at night, and I could not see that it made any difference. My pH still drops about the same amount that it always did, But I am starting from a much higher point. (Used to run 7.5 up to about 8.1 ). So I used to hit 7.6 overnight. That’s history. I am thinking about that. Anybody has any fantastic suggestions I’m all ears. Possibly I could re-route some of my outside co2 scrubbed air to the sump via airstones At night? I do run an algae scrubber 24 seven and I’m thinking about shifting up to a nighttime only run. I just don’t know if an algae scrubber has enough potency to help. I don’t have any space left for a macroalgae chamber, so it’s more air or cycling the algae scrubber Or something else that requires no more space, because I’ve got no space left.!
bottom line I am more optimistic now than I have been in years that my tank is in a happy place!

 

[John Biddle]

Ok fyi this is just a follow up to close this out.
1. My ph is running around 8.4 to < 8.6. I also added an Apex routine to shut off all dosing pumps if the pH ever exceeds 8.62 (and yes, that 8.62 is sort of a random pic)
2. Live and learn, some how I Got confused months back and thought the 3 teaspoons per gallon was a fully saturated solution. So that’s what I was trying to dose and it was hard to Dose enough to make a substantial difference. At some point rereading various posts, I suddenly realized I was at 50% instead of 100%. So I am now mixing at 6 teaspoons per gallon and that’s obviously making the impact of lime water way more effective
3. Alkalinity is running right around 9. good too.
4. Calcium around 500 - also fine by me.
5. My ph is still dropping to about 8.05 over night. I did try to dose way more lime water at night, and I could not see that it made any difference. My pH still drops about the same amount that it always did, But I am starting from a much higher point. (Used to run 7.5 up to about 8.1 ). So I used to hit 7.6 overnight. That’s history. I am thinking about that. Anybody has any fantastic suggestions I’m all ears. Possibly I could re-route some of my outside co2 scrubbed air to the sump via airstones At night? I do run an algae scrubber 24 seven and I’m thinking about shifting up to a nighttime only run. I just don’t know if an algae scrubber has enough potency to help. I don’t have any space left for a macroalgae chamber, so it’s more air or cycling the algae scrubber Or something else that requires no more space, because I’ve got no space left.!
bottom line I am more optimistic now than I have been in years that my tank is in a happy place!

How have the corals reacted to this increase in ph?

 

[exnisstech]

Ok fyi this is just a follow up to close this out.
1. My ph is running around 8.4 to < 8.6. I also added an Apex routine to shut off all dosing pumps if the pH ever exceeds 8.62 (and yes, that 8.62 is sort of a random pic)
2. Live and learn, some how I Got confused months back and thought the 3 teaspoons per gallon was a fully saturated solution. So that’s what I was trying to dose and it was hard to Dose enough to make a substantial difference. At some point rereading various posts, I suddenly realized I was at 50% instead of 100%. So I am now mixing at 6 teaspoons per gallon and that’s obviously making the impact of lime water way more effective
3. Alkalinity is running right around 9. good too.
4. Calcium around 500 - also fine by me.
5. My ph is still dropping to about 8.05 over night. I did try to dose way more lime water at night, and I could not see that it made any difference. My pH still drops about the same amount that it always did, But I am starting from a much higher point. (Used to run 7.5 up to about 8.1 ). So I used to hit 7.6 overnight. That’s history. I am thinking about that. Anybody has any fantastic suggestions I’m all ears. Possibly I could re-route some of my outside co2 scrubbed air to the sump via airstones At night? I do run an algae scrubber 24 seven and I’m thinking about shifting up to a nighttime only run. I just don’t know if an algae scrubber has enough potency to help. I don’t have any space left for a macroalgae chamber, so it’s more air or cycling the algae scrubber Or something else that requires no more space, because I’ve got no space left.!
bottom line I am more optimistic now than I have been in years that my tank is in a happy place!

OK I'm either missing something or totally confused. I thought two teaspoons per gallon was fully saturated kalk no? @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK I'm either missing something or totally confused. I thought two teaspoons per gallon was fully saturated kalk no? @Randy Holmes-Farley

It is, although some folks dose a cloudy slurry of particulates stirred up into the water. Not sure what was done here.

 

[bakbay]

@rschneid58 - apologies but I'm confused with all the steps. What is the final setup (with pics) that you've ended up with?

I have a CaRx and running a recirculating CO2 scrubber to combat low pH.