Low ph in 3 week old tank.

[polyppal]

Is it 3 1/2 weeks old or a 1 1/2mo?
Point being it’s going to fluctuate regularly between now and the time it’s ready for corals, not going to be an issue if you just have a fish or two in it in the meantime

 

[Reef_prop88]

Is it 3 1/2 weeks old or a 1 1/2mo?
Point being it’s going to fluctuate regularly between now and the time it’s ready for corals, not going to be an issue if you just have a fish or two in it in the meantime

Look at the date of the original post.

 

[ffmurray]

pH is among the top three params I recommend not testing for in the first ~6 months of the tank. Im on year 17 never running it once

most folks are bound and determined to make use of the testers they bought, its best to wait a long time before tinkering with it.

pH nitrate and po4 detailing is changing the hobby into an invasion prone mess

the chances your actual readings are correct as stated is about 10% likely if we take reading comparison threads in the chem forum between testers as any sort of indicator. You can do so much more with direct feeding of corals, knowing what light intensity and spectrum to run, and heavy busy work like water changes and manually guiding out cyano vs any sort of chemical detailing in new reefs especially if they are nanos vs large tanks. nanos that get water changes can easily use higher % water exchanged to offset the excellent feeding to really kick in early coral growth. new systems that practice hands off mode/ chemistry detailing are in the absolutely highest likely to get dinos soon category. while pH measure and response isn't implicated much in dinos issues, that mindset sure is. at no time will pH matter in my very old nano its focus has been heavy feeding and water changes since 06

phosphate detailing inevitably follows pH detailing for most, and that's a dinos accelerating habit approach. in the very least, make no adjustments to params that aren't measured on calibrated digital readouts where a very very high % of comparison threads shows consistency, such as seneye monitoring for nh3. now that's consistent, tank to tank

Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I have a 1mo. Old tank and seeing a bunch of “need 8.3”. So I’m running a steady 7.8- 7.89 other parameters are within normal limits. I’m getting a kalkwasser set up soon DKH 7.6. I’m looking for some guidance on adding corals. I’m going to QT any corals for a 80 days… I’m thinking birds nest, candy cane, toad stools and some softies. As I add fish and my nitrates / phosphates rise I’ll get a refugeum. Then ultimately a skimmer and run the air line outside. Am I totally off base? I’m probably overly concerned that my PH is low

 

[Reef_prop88]

Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I have a 1mo. Old tank and seeing a bunch of “need 8.3”. So I’m running a steady 7.8- 7.89 other parameters are within normal limits. I’m getting a kalkwasser set up soon DKH 7.6. I’m looking for some guidance on adding corals. I’m going to QT any corals for a 80 days… I’m thinking birds nest, candy cane, toad stools and some softies. As I add fish and my nitrates / phosphates rise I’ll get a refugeum. Then ultimately a skimmer and run the air line outside. Am I totally off base? I’m probably overly concerned that my PH is low

I mean 7.8 is in the range you want to be in. I would get a skimmer and run the line outside like you were saying to get that ph higher and also have the other obvious benefits of the skimmer.

 

[ffmurray]

I mean 7.8 is in the range you want to be in. I would get a skimmer and run the line outside like you were saying to get that ph higher and also have the other obvious benefits of the skimmer.

I’m concerned with zeroing out my nitrates and phosphate. I think id rather have the refugeum

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m concerned with zeroing out my nitrates and phosphate. I think id rather have the refugeum

Skimmers are rarely a primary cause for undetectable nutrients, IMO.

 

[Reef_prop88]

Skimmers are rarely a primary cause for undetectable nutrients, IMO.

Wouldn't a fuge or carbon dosing normally be the likely cause of zeroing out nutrients?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Wouldn't a fuge or carbon dosing normally be the likely cause of zeroing out nutrients?

Those are big ones, yes.

 

[ffmurray]

Skimmers are rarely a primary cause for undetectable nutrients, IMO.

Does it make sense to get kalkwasser going, and as nutrients start becoming an issue add a skimmer? At that point add the hose from outside, then add the CO2 scrubber. Any advice is helpful. Thanks!

 

[Spare time]

I’m concerned with zeroing out my nitrates and phosphate. I think id rather have the refugeum

Refugium are better than skimmers at doing that lol

 

[arking_mark]

Wouldn't a fuge or carbon dosing normally be the likely cause of zeroing out nutrients?

Here is what happened when I added 1/3 recommended dose of DIY NoPox to a 1 year old system that had roller mat, skimmer, and refugium.

1 week in zeroed out my nutrients. It took me me a month to more slowly dial it in properly.

Carbon dosing is no joke.

 

[Reef_prop88]

Here is what happened when I added 1/3 recommended dose of DIY NoPox to a 1 year old system that had roller mat, skimmer, and refugium.

1 week in zeroed out my nutrients. It took me me a month to more slowly dial it in properly.

Carbon dosing is no joke.

Are you still running nopox? What did you dial it back to dose wise and are you able to control nutrients above 0?

 

[arking_mark]

Are you still running nopox? What did you dial it back to dose wise and are you able to control nutrients above 0?

I use an Ecotech Versa for my DIY NoPox dosing. So I dialed it back to about a 1/10 dose and upped my feedings. Numbers recovered and I very slowly raised my NoPox. I'm at 3/4 recommend dose and my numbers are almost were I want them (NO3 < 10 and PO4 < 0.10)

 

[Reef_prop88]

Good to know I started nopox also and want similar numbers. I've been keeping a very close eye on nutrients so they don't zero out on me.

 

[CourtNjoeZreef]

Just as a follow up I added the co2 media to my skimmer intake I noticed a small change in stability and its no longer dipping under 7.8 but its definitely only at 8.0 on average. when I add for alk in the evening I get the spike then it settles back to 8 it dips a little into 7.9's at night but there isn't a huge swing. I'm getting a bit of precipitation from my kalk I believe (its around where that comes in) if I remember correctly there is a correlation between ph and precipitation in the tank

Definitely not the 8.2-8.3 that I was hoping to see. I recently switched to Fritz Reef Pro Salt (ran out of tropic marin this is what the LFS had in stock <3 the world we live in these days....) The low ph however was with both salts so I cant really attribute the issue to the salt. It is however my understanding to a point what makes the ph of the RO water when we mix it.

o.o

 

[Reef_prop88]

Just as a follow up I added the co2 media to my skimmer intake I noticed a small change in stability and its no longer dipping under 7.8 but its definitely only at 8.0 on average. when I add for alk in the evening I get the spike then it settles back to 8 it dips a little into 7.9's at night but there isn't a huge swing. I'm getting a bit of precipitation from my kalk I believe (its around where that comes in) if I remember correctly there is a correlation between ph and precipitation in the tank

Definitely not the 8.2-8.3 that I was hoping to see. I recently switched to Fritz Reef Pro Salt (ran out of tropic marin this is what the LFS had in stock <3 the world we live in these days....) The low ph however was with both salts so I cant really attribute the issue to the salt. It is however my understanding to a point what makes the ph of the RO water when we mix it.

o.o

How long has it been hooked up? Also my co2 scrubber requires me to add 1 tsp of water into the bottom of the chamber. Did you do that?

 

[CourtNjoeZreef]

How long has it been hooked up? Also my co2 scrubber requires me to add 1 tsp of water into the bottom of the chamber. Did you do that?

its been on there for about 2 weeks now. the media doesn't say to put water in it. I have the ice cap media just says put it in a reactor then hook reactor to the intake on the skimmer and change when it turns pink

 

[Reef_prop88]

Taken off a icecap retailers page. Try it out and see if it makes a difference.

Installing the IceCap CO2 Scrubber is Super Easy
The IceCap CO2 Scrubber can be installed on just about any aquarium with a protein skimmer. Just connect the tubing from the air intake on your protein skimmer to the output side of the CO2 scrubber. You may be able to remove the silencer from your protein skimmer and attach the tubing directly to the skimmer pump’s venturi. Next, remove the cartridge inside the scrubber. Add 1-2 tablespoons of RODI water to the bottom of the scrubber. Fill the cartridge with IceCap Carbon Dioxide Adsorption Media (or your preferred CO2 absorbent media) and place it back inside the scrubber. Be careful not to allow the CO2 media to come into contact with the water you put inside the scrubber. Finally, put the lid back on the scrubber and tighten it. Test the pH level of your aquarium water hourly (or as frequently as possible) during the first few days of use. Once the pH level begins to drop (usually after 2-4 weeks), it’s time to replace the media inside. Most carbon dioxide removal media changes colors once it’s depleted, so you’ll likely have a visual indicator as well to help you determine when it’s time to swap it out.

 

[CourtNjoeZreef]

Taken off a icecap retailers page. Try it out and see if it makes a difference.

Installing the IceCap CO2 Scrubber is Super Easy
The IceCap CO2 Scrubber can be installed on just about any aquarium with a protein skimmer. Just connect the tubing from the air intake on your protein skimmer to the output side of the CO2 scrubber. You may be able to remove the silencer from your protein skimmer and attach the tubing directly to the skimmer pump’s venturi. Next, remove the cartridge inside the scrubber. Add 1-2 tablespoons of RODI water to the bottom of the scrubber. Fill the cartridge with IceCap Carbon Dioxide Adsorption Media (or your preferred CO2 absorbent media) and place it back inside the scrubber. Be careful not to allow the CO2 media to come into contact with the water you put inside the scrubber. Finally, put the lid back on the scrubber and tighten it. Test the pH level of your aquarium water hourly (or as frequently as possible) during the first few days of use. Once the pH level begins to drop (usually after 2-4 weeks), it’s time to replace the media inside. Most carbon dioxide removal media changes colors once it’s depleted, so you’ll likely have a visual indicator as well to help you determine when it’s time to swap it out.

i just have the media not their reactor maybe thats why there is no change

 

[Reef_prop88]

i just have the media not their reactor maybe thats why there is no change

I don't understand how you have the media hooked to the intake without the co2 scrubber itself?