Increasing pH - Connecting Skimmer airline tubing to chimney?

[Cantusaurus]

I'm pretty sure I have been having low pH issues for the past week or so. My tank is 1.5 years old, and lately corals have all been doing well. But lately certain things have looked a bit off.
I think my pH always was slightly low (but not too bad). But I think I have been having pH swings due to the cold weather, and the windows being closed more.
I have a skimmer in my AIO and it's on all the time running well.
I'm pretty sure pH is my issue. My other parameters have been pretty stable lately, and my Alk has been going up a bit more lately so I think the corals are not up taking as much due to lower pH.
I only have the API test, but it definitely seems low the 2 times I've done it. It seems about 7.6, but I am sure it has dropped a bit lower at times. My Red Monti cap has been pretty stressed, and has started receding majorly in the center. My Green one looks unaffected. Also my Pocciloporra is not as fluffy as it usually is. I have crazy polyp extension usually on it, and lately that has not been the case, but it is still definitely open a fine amount. There are a couple other minor things here and there, but the corals just have not seemed as happy lately, and I am sure that that has to be the reason.

Should I run my airline from my skimmer to the entrance of my chimney? would that work?? I don't really want to run it up through the whole chimney, but will this work to provide more Oxygen?
Also is the only product to increase just pH BRS Soda Ash? All the other products seem to increase Alk too much. I know Alk will rise no matter what product I use, but most increase Alk a lot, and I really only want to increase pH until I can figure out methods to keep it more consistent without adding anything.
I heard Baking Soda works, but I really don't know if I want to test that.

 

[blaxsun]

I would first get your pH tested at your LFS or get something other than an API test kit (Red Sea, hanna, etc.) I wouldn't run the airline near the entrance to your chimney, no - as you run the risk of pulling in pollutants and contaminates.

 

[Cantusaurus]

I would first get your pH tested at your LFS or get something other than an API test kit (Red Sea, hanna, etc.) I wouldn't run the airline near the entrance to your chimney, no - as you run the risk of pulling in pollutants and contaminates.

Yeah, that was my one concern with the chimney. However, we have not used it in well. Probably 6 years. But not sure if that makes a difference. That is a good idea. I should get it tested at a LFS.
I've pretty much tested everything, and that seems to be the big thing that could be the reason along with the API results looking much lower than they have before.
But I should have them better looked at.

 

[blaxsun]

Red Sea makes a Marine Pro kit that has been fairly reliable and accurate. Your pH will naturally fluctuate during the day; mine ranges between 7.95-8.1.

 

[Dolphins18]

Would not want Santa to trip on his way down.

 

[ReefingFamily]

Once you have a good idea on what your ph is you can resolve this in several ways. feeding a tube to fresh air to see if that changes anything, adding a refugium or CO2 scrubber. Bulk reef supply just did a nice video on this topic of PH recently so you can also look at that for reference on how to approach.

I opened up the windows and doors to monitor PH over a few hours and when I saw this helped I opted to try the skimmer idea. I tried venting my skimmer to outside air but made the mistake of using airline tubing which was smaller than the skimmer tubing and this didn't do anything but make the skimmer pump work harder to draw in air. I haven't done anything to address this but now added a refugium with chateo which seems to help the evening ph spike from being so drastic but am working on keeping my kalk more in line to stablize my ph. Never tried the co2 scrubber for your skimmer but I hear mixed reviews. Just my thoughts.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

When I was setting up my tank/stand I added a 120mm 120v AC fan to the stand. It's on the same timer as the fuge light and runs for about 10 hours a day (mostly overnight) keeping the sump area ventilated. This allows the skimmer to draw in a better mix of air than recirculating the same air in the sump 24/7. As a result for the 5 years it's been running the PH has never dipped below 8.2-8.3 at any point when I check it. Much easier than solution than running tubing out a window or something like that.

 

[Cantusaurus]

When I was setting up my tank/stand I added a 120mm 120v AC fan to the stand. It's on the same timer as the fuge light and runs for about 10 hours a day (mostly overnight) keeping the sump area ventilated. This allows the skimmer to draw in a better mix of air than recirculating the same air in the sump 24/7. As a result for the 5 years it's been running the PH has never dipped below 8.2-8.3 at any point when I check it. Much easier than solution than running tubing out a window or something like that.

I have an AIO tank, but I may try something similar to hopefully get some better circulation (I also have a CO2 scrubber)

 

[ReefingFamily]

When I was setting up my tank/stand I added a 120mm 120v AC fan to the stand. It's on the same timer as the fuge light and runs for about 10 hours a day (mostly overnight) keeping the sump area ventilated. This allows the skimmer to draw in a better mix of air than recirculating the same air in the sump 24/7. As a result for the 5 years it's been running the PH has never dipped below 8.2-8.3 at any point when I check it. Much easier than solution than running tubing out a window or something like that.

I would think this would work provided your home has enough 02 coming in. My house is pretty sealed up and so I don't get a lot of fresh air coming in especially in the winters in the north east along with forced air heating. Do you see an increase in evaporation in your tank by doing this?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

My house is 55 years old. It leaks like a sieve.... Even with making sure the windows and doors have good weather sealing, there are still drafts. Plus I have two kids who are in/out/in/out all the time. I had a test done a few years ago and the co/co2 levels were 0.0 CO and only 480-500ppm CO2 being just slightly higher than outside. Probably the major reason why I don't have much in the way of PH issues.

As for evaporation the fan I have only moves about 50cfm and my ATO will usually pump in .25 - .3 gallon/day in the summer and .5 - .75 gallons /day in the winter. The relative humidity in my house is 50-60% most of the year but dips to 30% in the winter months.

 

[Cantusaurus]

I may try and put a mini fan next to my tank to try and get some more air circulation near the intake of my Co2 scrubber
I am going to lower my tanks temp a bit (from 79.5 to 77 and gradually) since the higher temp may cause the pH to be slightly lower. I also am going to try Microbubble Scrubbing occasionally in the morning which should boost it a bit.

Who knows it may work, but my pH isn't dangerously low (since my SPS seems to grow decently), but I really want it to be a bit more consistently high to improve growth and overall health