Losing hope. I need your help - Low PH

[GarrettT]

So I’ve always had PH issues, however they were generally manageable with a co2 scrubber, open window, and Kalk. Sometimes though, my ph will take a nose dive and honestly have no clue why, as the conditions just don’t add up… kids will be at school, I’ll be at work, etc.

My PH lately has been dipping to 7.7 (low point). When this happens, my Alk goes berserk. I keep my dkh around 7.8, however with the ph being lower, the dkh rose to 8.5 in just 2 days. I imagine tomorrow morning it will be around 8.7 and continue to rise. Anything I can do?? I really enjoy sps, however the constant dips in ph are making my dkh fluctuate like crazy.

- Opening windows with fan generally raise my PH but not as of late.
- I stopped my carx so that my dkh would adjust, but it made no difference in my PH.
- I dose Kalk, but had to take it offline as my dkh is already too high.
- Im not dosing anything and my dkh still continues to rise.
- I changed out my co2 scrubber media and it’s not making a difference.

Any ideas on what I can do? It’s starting to really get to me.

 

[KrisReef]

How are your tank occupants doing? If they are living and growing then you need to get rid of the pH monitor and stop obsessing over the level. You have enough to worry about with your family living at home that isn’t going to improve with your pH related stressing.

All the changes you have been doing may be counterproductive for stability?
That’s probably not the response that you wanted but as an expert in tank stressing I hope I might help you in this instance?
HTH.

 

[Dan_P]

So I’ve always had PH issues, however they were generally manageable with a co2 scrubber, open window, and Kalk. Sometimes though, my ph will take a nose dive and honestly have no clue why, as the conditions just don’t add up… kids will be at school, I’ll be at work, etc.

My PH lately has been dipping to 7.7 (low point). When this happens, my Alk goes berserk. I keep my dkh around 7.8, however with the ph being lower, the dkh rose to 8.5 in just 2 days. I imagine tomorrow morning it will be around 8.7 and continue to rise. Anything I can do?? I really enjoy sps, however the constant dips in ph are making my dkh fluctuate like crazy.

- Opening windows with fan generally raise my PH but not as of late.
- I stopped my carx so that my dkh would adjust, but it made no difference in my PH.
- I dose Kalk, but had to take it offline as my dkh is already too high.
- Im not dosing anything and my dkh still continues to rise.
- I changed out my co2 scrubber media and it’s not making a difference.

Any ideas on what I can do? It’s starting to really get to me.

Are you sure about the accuracy of the pH reading?

Alkalinity shouldn’t be changing with pH. Something else is going on maybe.

Is a pH of 7.7 causing problems with your coral?

 

[GarrettT]

Are you sure about the accuracy of the pH reading?

Alkalinity shouldn’t be changing with pH. Something else is going on maybe.

Is a pH of 7.7 causing problems with your coral?

Im sure as I run two probes and they track. I would generally agree, but this happens quite often. Anytime is see my ph dip below 7.8, I already know my dkh will be heavily elevated. My corals are fine right now with PE, but it’s only been two days and my Alk is anything but stable. I’ve seen corals look great then 12 hours later be all white, so it’s hard to really gauge sometimes.

 

[Garf]

Im sure as I run two probes and they track. I would generally agree, but this happens quite often. Anytime is see my ph dip below 7.8, I already know my dkh will be heavily elevated. My corals are fine right now with PE, but it’s only been two days and my Alk is anything but stable. I’ve seen corals look great then 12 hours later be all white, so it’s hard to really gauge sometimes.

So your DKH is rising because things aren’t calcifying, and your pH is depressed because of a reduction in photosynthesis?

 

[GarrettT]

So your DKH is rising because things aren’t calcifying, and your pH is depressed because of a reduction in photosynthesis?

That is pretty much how I see it. The problem is that I don’t know how to correct it. I’m replacing dinos with diatoms and found that the dinos are more effective at raising the ph than the diatoms. I believe I have mostly all diatoms at this point, which likely may have resulted in a lower PH. I get about a .4 swing per day and plan on using a reverse light schedule soon. My nutrients aren’t exactly high or optima for it, so not sure just how effective that will be.

 

[Dan_P]

Im sure as I run two probes and they track. I would generally agree, but this happens quite often. Anytime is see my ph dip below 7.8, I already know my dkh will be heavily elevated. My corals are fine right now with PE, but it’s only been two days and my Alk is anything but stable. I’ve seen corals look great then 12 hours later be all white, so it’s hard to really gauge sometimes.

Maybe check your probes. It is possible both are off.

Thinking of alkalinity variation as a separate issue might help you look in the right places for the cause.

 

[GarrettT]

As much as I hate to admit this, especially given how obvious it should have been, it was the carx that was causing my dkh to rise, so I can’t technically say it was rising without any supplementation

3 days ago I disconnected my co2 from the reactor. I just assumed the PH would adjust within a few hours and the media would stop dissolving. Wrong!

I just checked the effluent and it showed up as 20dkh. That is only 4 numbers from my original reading prior to disconnecting the co2 tank. I knew I had a very slow drip rate but dang….

 

[GarrettT]

My PH this morning was noticeably higher after cutting off the carx’s effluent/drip. Much better!