High pH question - reads 8.8 in mornings drops to 8.2 at night.

[AquaBert]

I have a nano take, and my pH is consitantly too high.

In the morning I test it at it is at 8.7/8.8. I use 2 tests.

The pH drops to 8.2 before the chaeto refugium turns on at 10pm.

I feel like this swing is affecting my SPS corals.


Any thoughts?

All parameters are w/in normal range. I have a strong flow breaking the surface…

I feel like I have too much oxygen in the aquarium. Maybe I should half the size of my chaeto.

What do you think?

 

[John K]

Unless you are doing some thing to drive it up, this sounds like test error.

 

[Uncle99]

Very few tests return accurate PH readings.
You may be chasing a bad number.
Haven’t measured PH is more than 5 years now, but I did waste an entire year trying to max it, only to find out the probe was just wrong.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I have a nano take, and my pH is consitantly too high.

In the morning I test it at it is at 8.7/8.8. I use 2 tests.

The pH drops to 8.2 before the chaeto refugium turns on at 10pm.

I feel like this swing is affecting my SPS corals.


Any thoughts?

All parameters are w/in normal range. I have a strong flow breaking the surface…

I feel like I have too much oxygen in the aquarium. Maybe I should half the size of my chaeto.

What do you think?

Oxygen won't affect PH, not enough CO2 will raise it however, but I'm not sure 8.8 PH is possible at a normal DKH without extreme measures to raise it, such as a co2 scrubber and sodium hydroxide dosing.

I guess with a ton of photosynthesis and not much resporation it is possible. But at 10dkh your co2 concentration in the tank would have to be like .1ppm.

 

[jda]

I agree, but the photosynthetic boost (the swing) and numbers suggest testing error. If you are adding a whole bunch of kalkwasser around the high mark, then I guess that this is possible - if so, spread the kalk out through more of the day.

 

[AquaBert]

I do not dose kalk. I just have a skimmer and a refugium filled with chaeto

 

[ReefingDreams]

I do not dose kalk. I just have a skimmer and a refugium filled with chaeto

You have a test error. This is not physically possible.

 

[AquaBert]

You have a test error. This is not physically possible.

I thought that also, but I use 2 different pH tests lol

 

[jda]

If they use the same method, they both can be garbage. What do you use? Most ways of determining pH are folly in the hobby. Freshly calibrated pH probe is Ok for a while, but they drift and fail so you have to check them constantly. Handheld pH pen is probably the best, but it needs calibrated too, rinsed with freshwater after every use and otherwise cared for.

 

[AquaBert]

If they use the same method, they both can be garbage. What do you use? Most ways of determining pH are folly in the hobby. Freshly calibrated pH probe is Ok for a while, but they drift and fail so you have to check them constantly. Handheld pH pen is probably the best, but it needs calibrated too, rinsed with freshwater after every use and otherwise cared for.

I use Hanna and I can’t remember the other. I’ll look into the pH pen.

 

[Troylee]

If they use the same method, they both can be garbage. What do you use? Most ways of determining pH are folly in the hobby. Freshly calibrated pH probe is Ok for a while, but they drift and fail so you have to check them constantly. Handheld pH pen is probably the best, but it needs calibrated too, rinsed with freshwater after every use and otherwise cared for.

Agreed! I have calibrated my apex and bought a brand new probe and still couldn’t hit 8 I leave my doors wide open and windows and my ph falls! I finally bought a pen and boom! My apex sucks lol.. not to mention I top off with kalk!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If the pH is ever actually above pH 8.4, simple aeration will lower it. I agree it is highly unlikely to be accurate at 8.8 without substantial efforts to raise it that high.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

If the pH is ever actually above pH 8.4, simple aeration will lower it. I agree it is highly unlikely to be accurate at 8.8 without substantial efforts to raise it that high.

This is true, especially in the case where kalk or hydroxide anything else isn't being added steadily.

The tank was capable at photosynthesizing enough to rach such low CO2 concentrations in your home to give you that PH, would just be a carbon sink and suck more in through surface agitation keeping the PH down.

Edit: lol of course it's true, did not see I was quoting randy haha