Low PH I've tried a few things.. Need help!

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

Hi! I need some advice from you fellow reefers. I have two tanks that I started this year around March. Everything is going well except my PH. It hovers around 7.4 - 7.6 on both tanks. I think it is due to CO2 levels in the house. I cannot open a window since I live is south florida. I was thinking about using Soda Ash but I don't know how long the PH bufffering effect will last. I've tried a CO2 scrubber in the 25 but I've only been able to get it to 7.8, but if I have to dose anything in the tank and I have to turn off the skimmer the PH just crashes. I don't want to use kalkwasser since my calcium levels are already high enough and I don't really have anything the tank that would consume a lot of calcium So I was thinking of using Soda Ash. Does anyone know how long does the PH buffering of Soda Ash last for? I still have some wiggle room with my DKH so that I can bump the PH some. At least on the 25. On the 10 I have no idea why the DKH is always so high. I use tropic Marine Pro Reef and that mixes at 7dkh and I only dose probidio reef kit which I don't think has anything that would impact dkh. I was looking at the RedSea recipe and they go to 12dkh for coral growth so I guess I can go pretty high on that?

Below is the information about each tank

10 gallon AIO

DKH 10
PH 7.4
Calcium 455
Mag 1410

25 Gallon
DKH 8.5
PH 7.4
Calcium 437
Mag 1350

Any help or insight to bump my PH or stabilize any parameters is welcomed. I know people say to not chase the PH but I think mine being that low at 7.4 is detrimental. If it were 7.8 I would not worry.

Billldg · Jul 7, 2020

What are you having to dose that causes you to turn off the skimmer? Plus, and correct me @Randy Holmes-Farley if I am wrong, but higher Alk will lower your PH, I believe. What salt are you using, or are you dosing to raise Alk?

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

Billldg said:
What are you having to dose that causes you to turn off the skimmer? Plus, and correct me @Randy Holmes-Farley if I am wrong, but higher Alk will lower your PH, I believe. What salt are you using, or are you dosing to raise Alk?

Hi!

The only thing I dose is probidio. Which I have to turn my skimmer off for 3 days after because it just doesn't really do anything. Well the first day I have to otherwise it foams like crazy the next two days it just gurgles.

I am using tropic Marin Pro Reef and I'm not dosing anything for ALK.

I'm not sure why my ALK on the 10 gallon is so high and on the 25 I would have expected it to be lower than 8.5 since I'm not dosing anything and the tropic Marin mixes at 7. I even tested a fresh batch. So that is a mystery I have to solve. If higher ALK lowers PH well there is a problem right there off the bat.

Billldg · Jul 7, 2020

Lets have @Randy Holmes-Farley chime in on the higher Alk causing lower PH, I have seen several posts from him on this, but may be getting something mixed up and I want him to comment before you make any changes on that front.

Curious as to why you are still using Prodibio? I googled it, and if I am correct it is used to to help convert nutrients. If the tank has been running for a few months at least then it should be able to do it on its own as the tank bacteria should have built up to convert ammonia.

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

Billldg said:
Lets have @Randy Holmes-Farley chime in on the higher Alk causing lower PH, I have seen several posts from him on this, but may be getting something mixed up and I want him to comment before you make any changes on that front.

Curious as to why you are still using Prodibio? I googled it, and if I am correct it is used to to help convert nutrients. If the tank has been running for a few months at least then it should be able to do it on its own as the tank bacteria should have built up to convert ammonia.

The probidio product that I use is..

BIOKIT REEF - Kit d’entretien pour aquarium récifal - Prodibio

BIOKIT REEF est un kit qui renferme tous les produits de la gamme PRODIBIO nécessaires à l’entretien et suivi régulier d’un aquarium récifal. Contient : BIODIGEST, BIOPTIM, REEF BOOSTER, IODI +, STRONTI+ Gamme NANO : boîte de 30 ampoules de 1 ml. Gamme STANDARD : boîte de 30 ampoules de 1 ml.

www.prodibio.com

So it is more than just bacteria it also has trace elements. Oh another thing that I use is Chemipure Blue. I use it on both tanks. I haven't seen anything that says that it would affect ALk but that is all I use...

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

Oh and I also use matrix as bio media in pouches.

Billldg · Jul 7, 2020

ramesis said:
The probidio product that I use is..

BIOKIT REEF - Kit d’entretien pour aquarium récifal - Prodibio

BIOKIT REEF est un kit qui renferme tous les produits de la gamme PRODIBIO nécessaires à l’entretien et suivi régulier d’un aquarium récifal. Contient : BIODIGEST, BIOPTIM, REEF BOOSTER, IODI +, STRONTI+ Gamme NANO : boîte de 30 ampoules de 1 ml. Gamme STANDARD : boîte de 30 ampoules de 1 ml.

www.prodibio.com

So it is more than just bacteria it also has trace elements. Oh another thing that I use is Chemipure Blue. I use it on both tanks. I haven't seen anything that says that it would affect ALk but that is all I use...

Ok, so its the same thing I googled. Some things we add to our tanks to combat things can also effect the chemistry of the tank. They can raise or lower Alk, they can raise or lower Ph. Lets wait for @Randy Holmes-Farley to chime in as this is his specialty, and I want to make sure you get the best info available.

tnw50cal · Jul 7, 2020

How is everything in your tank doing-alive and growing-quit chasing numbers. Not so well chase numbers.
So how is everything in your tank doing?

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

tnw50cal said:
How is everything in your tank doing-alive and growing-quit chasing numbers. Not so well chase numbers.
So how is everything in your tank doing?

Hi,

Things seem to be doing ok. I also am a believer in not chasing numbers but a PH of 7.4 doesn't sound healthy to me. If it were 7.8 I would not really worry. I only have a few frags and I'm concerned that such a low PH will impact their growth. Tanks are fairly new so I can't judge how well they are growing yet at that PH.

tnw50cal · Jul 7, 2020

You could add a refugium(natural method) to help lower the CO2 in the tank.

cmoore806 · Jul 7, 2020

How are you measuring the pH and alkalinity? Even with an electronic Hanna Checker for dKH and a digital pH probe there are errors in measurement that might surprise you. Basically, what I am saying is that you cannot consider the reading to be a source of truth. It can help show trends. I wouldn't be concerned unless the tank looked unwell. You could also send off a sample for ICP analysis to see how your equipment compares.

cmoore806 · Jul 7, 2020

you can find his article here:

Chemistry And The Aquarium: The Relationship Between Alkalinity And pH

Randy answers many questions in this complex relationship.

reefs.com

savagereefer · Jul 7, 2020

I’m new here but , I put a air stone at night until my lights turn on and my ph stay from 8.0-8.3
Lights turn on at 0900 turn off at 20:00. (8pm)
Also I make sure my water Surface has enough agitation
my tank is a 15g nano

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

cmoore806 said:
How are you measuring the pH and alkalinity? Even with an electronic Hanna Checker for dKH and a digital pH probe there are errors in measurement that might surprise you. Basically, what I am saying is that you cannot consider the reading to be a source of truth. It can help show trends. I wouldn't be concerned unless the tank looked unwell. You could also send off a sample for ICP analysis to see how your equipment compares.

I'm measuring PH with a Hanna PH Probe and also with the salifert PH test kit. DKH I am testing with a Hanna checker.

ramesis · Jul 7, 2020

savagereefer said:
I’m new here but , I put a air stone at night until my lights turn on and my ph stay from 8.0-8.3
Lights turn on at 0900 turn off at 20:00. (8pm)
Also I make sure my water Surface has enough agitation
my tank is a 15g nano

On the 10 gallon I have a glass skimmer that works with an air stone and not really seeing any huge benefits. I thought that it would help. I also have the back chamber return pointing up to agitate the surface. The problem is CO2.. if I open a window my PH goes up but I live in South Florida and that's not an option. I bought a CO2 meter on amazon and the CO2 in the room fluctuates between 1200 to 900 ppm. I think the outdoor levels are Around 300.

PacoPetty · Jul 7, 2020

I’m getting more surface agitation with a powerhead and I added air stones to both of my tanks and boosted the PH by .5 which was a tremendous help.

kyleinpdx · Jul 7, 2020

run the airline from your skimmer outside. works wonders.

LRT · Jul 7, 2020

kyleinpdx said:
run the airline from your skimmer outside. works wonders.

Almost tempted to try this as mine has been running low but I wonder how our 110-115 degree days would affect my water temps pulling that kind of air into the system?
Better yet how about an adjacent room?

LRT · Jul 7, 2020

PacoPetty said:
I’m getting more surface agitation with a powerhead and I added air stones to both of my tanks and boosted the PH by .5 which was a tremendous help.

I'm giving this a try first.
Great info in this thread.

kyleinpdx · Jul 7, 2020

LRT said:
Almost tempted to try this as mine has been running low but I wonder how our 110-115 degree days would affect my water temps pulling that kind of air into the system?
Better yet how about an adjacent room?

Thats a good question, not sure with those temps but I can say with my setup, even at 95*+ the tank never got over 1* past my set point. The large water volume inside the conditioned house should keep the temperature fairly stable. Worst case add a fan to aid in evaporative cooling, then all you need it to add fresh top off water to the ATO slight more often.

The co2 content should be pretty steady through out the house, I cant imagine sucking air in from an adjacent room would have much benefit.