Hello reefers and reef chemists, as the title says, I'm trying to understand the possible causes for this trend I'm seeing in my pH.
Around 6 weeks ago, my pH was swinging between 8.1 and 8.2 and now it is between 8.39 and 8.55. I recently lost 2 corals and other 2 are looking bad. I wonder if this could be one of the causes.
I hope you can help me narrow down the cause and share possible solutions. I'm considering changing from Sodium Carbonate to Sodium Bicarbonate although I'm not sure if that will help.
I have a detailed log of parameters and all the changes I do to my tank so if any other info can help, I'll be happy to elaborate.
I use 3 different methods to test for pH (Apex, Alkatroinc, Hanna) and although they don't match exactly, they all agree on the upward trend
I don't seem to have much problems with CO2 in my basement and it doesn't seem to have much relation with the pH in my case.
I have been dosing BRS Sodium Carbonate and Calcium Chloride along with Tropic Marin trace A and K since September.
Around October, I finally dialed in my Sodium Carbonate dosing to 42ml/day. This upward trend I refer to started since October.
The white and blue lines show Alkalinity which as you can see stabilized around October. I'm aiming to keep it between 8 and 8.5
The yellow bars are the amount of Sodium Carbonate dosed per day, as you can see around October I started steadily dosing 42ml/day. For the past few weeks, I've been skipping doses and manually correcting with Sodium Bicarbonate.
My parameters this week are:
Salinity: 34.8 - 35.0 ppm
Temp: 76.4 - 77.4 F
pH: 8.3 to 8.54 (Hanna says 8.6)
Alk: 8.2 to 8.3 dKH
Calcium: 450ppm
Nitrate: 15.9ppm
Phosphate: 0.07ppm
Magnesium: 1540 ppm
Tagging @Randy Holmes-Farley for help, thanks in advance!
Around 6 weeks ago, my pH was swinging between 8.1 and 8.2 and now it is between 8.39 and 8.55. I recently lost 2 corals and other 2 are looking bad. I wonder if this could be one of the causes.
I hope you can help me narrow down the cause and share possible solutions. I'm considering changing from Sodium Carbonate to Sodium Bicarbonate although I'm not sure if that will help.
I have a detailed log of parameters and all the changes I do to my tank so if any other info can help, I'll be happy to elaborate.
I use 3 different methods to test for pH (Apex, Alkatroinc, Hanna) and although they don't match exactly, they all agree on the upward trend
I don't seem to have much problems with CO2 in my basement and it doesn't seem to have much relation with the pH in my case.
I have been dosing BRS Sodium Carbonate and Calcium Chloride along with Tropic Marin trace A and K since September.
Around October, I finally dialed in my Sodium Carbonate dosing to 42ml/day. This upward trend I refer to started since October.
The white and blue lines show Alkalinity which as you can see stabilized around October. I'm aiming to keep it between 8 and 8.5
The yellow bars are the amount of Sodium Carbonate dosed per day, as you can see around October I started steadily dosing 42ml/day. For the past few weeks, I've been skipping doses and manually correcting with Sodium Bicarbonate.
My parameters this week are:
Salinity: 34.8 - 35.0 ppm
Temp: 76.4 - 77.4 F
pH: 8.3 to 8.54 (Hanna says 8.6)
Alk: 8.2 to 8.3 dKH
Calcium: 450ppm
Nitrate: 15.9ppm
Phosphate: 0.07ppm
Magnesium: 1540 ppm
Tagging @Randy Holmes-Farley for help, thanks in advance!