Low PH issue

[wpg1024]

Hoping someone can help me with my low PH issue. I’ve been struggling to hit 8 even at the peak.

I have tried many different things including co2 scrubbing but nothing has worked in this nano. Anybody else have a solution for this?

 

[Fish Fan]

I honestly wouldn't be concerned about it. Many tanks run at a chronically low pH and do just fine. Many R2R members don't bother testing pH at all. Unless you are trying to wring the maximum possible growth from your corals, I wouldn't bother chasing pH.

Good luck!

 

[acroholicanonymous]

I don’t know much about Apex - but is the alk swings you have right? I’m assuming it’s a really tight range and it isn’t as bad as my mind think it is. :)

 

[mmorrison55]

Im in the Same boat as you. I can’t get my ph to stay above 8. Highest I’ve ever been able to get was 8.1

Kalkwasser has helped, that is what got me to the 8.1. But I average around 7.8-7.9

Unfortunately it seems the “fixes” of Kalkwasser and co2 scrubbers only raise by a few tenths if lucky.

If you live in a Climate that allows you to open your windows, that would likely give you the best chance of increasing your ph by reducing your co2 inside.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Do you have another pH probe to double check your current one? Seems odd to have ph that low with an Alk of 9.6.

I would pick up a handheld Hanna ph tester. And calibrate both the Apex and Hanna probes then check the water. If it’s actually that low then maybe look into sodium hydroxide for your Alk.

 

[mmorrison55]

Do you have another pH probe to double check your current one? Seems odd to have ph that low with an Alk of 9.6.

I would pick up a handheld Hanna ph tester. And calibrate both the Apex and Hanna probes then check the water. If it’s actually that low then maybe look into sodium hydroxide for your Alk.

Good point… you should also check your alk if you have another alk test kit. I recently discovered my Neptune alk was out of calibration. I thought I was in the mid 8’s and I was actually in the low 7’s. So verifying your apex reading with other test kits every few weeks or monthly can help.

 

[galantra]

So my question is what kind of tank do you have? Reef? SPS dominates? Cause like other reefers PH isn’t important that much unless for coral growth. And higher Ph usually is more focus on coral growth than anything else. There are always tricks like kalk, scrubber, drawing outside air to skimmer, or dosing

 

[wpg1024]

Thanks for all of the replies. My alk stays around 9.5. Might be a bit high but it was an attempt to keep PH up. I’ll take your advice and try and not focus on it as much. The frustrating part is that I’ll have random weeks where it sky rockets with no change to my maintenance. I’ve seen 8.2 before for 3-4 days straight.