How to raise ph

[Psiber_Syn]

Mr randy

I have some chemistry issues my kh has been high since the beginning when i say high it had been stable at 12 dkh since i put the tank up almost a yr we moved from a 65 to 125 about 2 weeks ago now the dkh Is at least 14 dkh we top off with rodi water about gallon a day about to do the first WC and ph is about 8.0 dkh is 12 cal is about 480 to 500 mag is 1400 thats in new water the tank sits at 8.2 ph 480 cal 1400 mag and 14 at least dkh my question is how to get alk back down to raise the ph in my new water

I know this is a bunch of numbers and info i use api test and redsea test both give similar results any info would be appreciated

Sincerely
Chemistry newbie

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not sure I understand the premise, but lowering the alkalinity will lower the pH. Do you mean you want to lower it so you can then add back a high pH additive to raise pH? I wouldn't do that.

A pH of 8.0 is fine and I would not be spending any effort to raise it unless you have a very strong focus on hard corals growing fast (like aquaculture).

The alk is on the high side, and likely reflects what is in the salt mix, assumign you are adding no additives tot eh water. No pH buffers?

If you want lower alk and have no significant demand in the h tank, you need to use a lower alk salt mix, or lower it yourself before adding it to your tank. Muriatic acid can do that, but will lower the pH in the new salt water a LOT until you completely aerate it to blow off the excess CO2.

This has more on pH, including how to raise it with outside air or a CO2 scrubber or by growing macroalgae:

Phosphate In The Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley
http://www.reefedition.com/phosphate-in-the-reef-aquarium-by-randy-holmes-farley/

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Ok sir i tried reading your article and man most of it was over my head lol

Let me try again i just finished testing my water after a water change

Api test results
Ph 8.0
Alk 15 dkh
Cal 480
Mag 1400
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Phos 0

Now the ones that are 0 just have none or very little react with my drops phos turns a very light color but not as much as the first color block on the card

Im looking to lower alk the cal and mag seem pretty stable

The only additives i use are fuel, zooplankton, phyto just recently got the fusion 2 part but never used them yet and dose ever two days with reef chilli or coral frenzy we normally used seachem marine buffer when setting up our wc water to help stabalize ph we did not use this the last wc we just got balance to help ph but have not used this either yet

My question is how to lower alk in the dt here is a pic of the 125 gal 14 fish small collection of zoas/palys some montis leathers and shrooms lobos

I hope this is not too much info but wanted to try to give all the answers before they were asked lol we use lfs sw which is made with instant ocean salt

Thanx for your help in advance

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Current setup

 

[brandon429]

My recommend is dont lower alk leave it as is, mixes vary none mix up lethal or they'll be edged out of the market.

Chase no detail params and put all effort and concern into feeding the corals and water changes or fine export to allow better than average coral feeding.

Given any reasonable param range, your heterotrophic feed provisions and export to refresh will get all the things you want out of corals, not the difference between exacting alk pH CA mg Fe po4 etc

I used to starve my setup in the hopes of keeping nutrients low, thought it was helpful to mention the option where great export work allowing for better feeding is what turned my tank around

 

[Psiber_Syn]

When u say feeding the coral what do u mean? I use fuel zoo and phyto and reef chilli or reef roids every other day anything else im missing i also spot feed mysis to the ones that will eat it

 

[BossGT911]

nice corals and i recommend Seachems aquavitro 8.4

 

[brandon429]

Those sound like great feeds I'm sure it will take off well. I noticed in my tank I had to sustain feeding and water changes a good few mos to seat in the frags and then could back off a little. Turns out the early work mode helps frag nubs add mass and as such are more resistant to invasions, competitive colonization of things like algae etc

To adjust params is fun for many and a technical challenge for sure, no harm in bringing levels down if one likes. My main angle was just frag fattening they want any feed in/waste out scenario and even in the presence of less than exacting params they'll still fatten up if you keep up the good feeding you've began.


My lfs will sell distress frags for five bucks this orange sps was rtn'ing in their frag tank. To regenerate it like this only took three weeks and it's in pretty much a goldfish bowl. I have no idea what any of my params are...but he gets roti feast squirted directly 3x week with flow off. Dips and detail weren't needed, he was just hungry heh

they're all super hungry

Within another month I can back off tank work and cruise into the summer easy time

Your tank looks to be in great balance I'd just spoil the coral occasionally w treats

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Im looking to lower alk the cal and mag seem pretty stable

What do you use for top off water? Tap? RO/DI?

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Rodi have a small rodi unit havent upgraded to a bigger one but afaik tds is 0 from the unit

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Rodi have a small rodi unit havent upgraded to a bigger one but afaik tds is 0 from the unit

OK, the reason I ask is because some people get excessive alkalinity from their tap water.

What sort of rock are you using? Some people get excessive alk from artificial rocks that contain cement.

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Afaik its mostly golden marengo or something with a few petco rocks and one or two lfs artificial rocks but all the rock but 2 or 3 have been in the 65gal we just added a few more of the golden rock when we changed tanks we do have a i think 30 gal sump/refug that has fiji mud in it and yesterday added live aquarias refugium kit that has chaeto ulva and lettuce of some kind with some pods

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry, I do not know what a golden morengo rock is, or whether it might be dissolving to add alkalinity, but the artificial rocks might be contributing.

If so, and if the alk stays high over time with no addition of alk supplements or buffers, then you might look to using a low alk salt mix, or adding muriatic acid to the salt mix to drive the alk down prior to use. I generally wouldn't add the muriatic acid to the tank itself as the pH will get too low.

 

[brandon429]

Also wanted to add that in a large tank making a capture bell is ideal for blast feeding that doesn't wreck your params.

Instead of broadcast feeding like currently, use a concentrator|retainer over a given coral for it then let it disperse, moving from coral to coral each feeding- see how that doesn't add to your nutrient loading but each coral goes from slim pickings to bonanza, at least once a month? There's a for sure coral growth mod above nearly any other action given great lighting.

If your nice tank was mine I'd have a clear plastic large cup with hole in top. Group four frags up under it, cap them with feed injected. The stop movement for ten mins is harmless and you just quadrupled their feed intake. Even if you cant seal, find creative ways to concentrate feeding on your rock positioned corals. You aren't using any more than you normally would be using.

 

[deerhunter06]

change your salt, problem solved red sea blue is what u want. It will gradually come down after u switch which is what you want anyways. 15 is high let it come down with small water changes and natural consumption over the course of a couple weeks. H2H

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Thanx a ton guys you all answered a lot of questions for me

And @brandon429 that is an excellent idea didnt think of that