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my ph is not going up at all either by adding.i am getting very frustrated
The first step in solving a low pH problem is to determine why it exists in the first place. Some possibilities include:
- A calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactor (CaCO[SIZE=-1]3[/SIZE]/CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] reactor) is in use on the aquarium.
- The aquarium has low alkalinity.
- The aquarium has more CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] in it than the surrounding air due to inadequate aeration. Don't be fooled into thinking that an aquarium must have adequate aeration because its water is very turbulent. Equilibrating carbon dioxide is MUCH harder than simply providing adequate oxygen. There would be NO change in the pH between day and night if equilibration of carbon dioxide were perfect. Since most aquaria have lower pH during the night, they also are demonstrating less than complete aeration.
- The aquarium has excess CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] in it because the air in the home that it is being equilibrated with contains excess CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE].
- The aquarium is still cycling, and has excess acid being produced from the nitrogen cycle and degradation of organics to CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE].
I also use a cup to skim the surface, using surface tension.
In a related experiment, a limewater solution with excess solids was allowed to settle for 24 hours and the liquid was decanted from the solids. This liquid was then monitored by conductivity while stored in an open container. In this case, the probe was generally not left in the solution, but was added for each measurement, breaking the solid crust and permitting much of it to settle to the bottom. Figure 6 shows that the conductivity does decline slightly over a period of several days. The drop in potency here is likely due to both the fact that there is no excess solid calcium hydroxide on the bottom that dissolves as potency drops, and because the crust was protecting the solution from penetration of carbon dioxide.
Limewater can lose potency by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air, forming insoluble calcium carbonate. Since calcium carbonate is not an effective supplement of calcium and alkalinity in reef aquaria, the limewater can become less useful through this process. The rate at which this happens in large containers, such as plastic trashcans with loose fitting lids, is much less than many aquarists expect. There is, in fact, little degradation under typical use conditions. Consequently, the dosing of limewater from such large still reservoirs can be just as effective as dosing using any other scheme, and may have substantial advantages. These advantages include simplicity of the system and the ability to use organic acids such as vinegar to boost the potency. The use of a reactor to dose limewater has the advantage of requiring less space, but does not have the oft-stated advantage of eliminating degradation by atmospheric carbon dioxide that is reported to plague delivery from reservoirs.
The purpose of kalk is to maintain levels not raise them. You need to buffer your levels up to where you want them and then drip/dose the kalk and see if it maintains those levels for you.ok been dosing kalkwasser for 4 days-ph stays at 8.0 all the time-i have two ph meters in there a pinpoint and milwaukee-dkh is at 8 calcium is at 340.i did the aeration test and no change using indoor or outdoor air with airstone.i am totally lost.i am ready to throw in the towel and quit.i have no clue anymore calcium not going up dkh not going up and ph not going up using kent kalkwasser.maybe this stuff is junk.:sad::sad:
crushed coral really doesnt buffer anything till the ph is in the 6's thats why we put co2 in a cal reactor to drop the ph that low to dissolve the media being used.