Need help

PGriff · May 7, 2019

Just finished my 40 gal breeder and 20 sump. Put my first fish in today. Before he arrived i did a 10% WC just because the Nitrates were around 20ppm, it went back down to around 10ppm now. The PH this afternoon was 8.0.

When the fish went in he was pretty lively and was flowing in the jetstream, i noticed it seems hes gotten a little sluggish right so i checked the KH and PH.

KH 11
PH 7.7

I need to raise the PH a bit to around 8.1 8.2
and lower the KH any help will be appreciated

KorD · May 7, 2019

Are you looking at KH or dkh? My tank is low for dkh at around 9, I need to raise it. I would prefer to be at an 11dkh.

Baking soda can raise your pH levels, but do so in small amounts not to shock your fish. You can find info online about doing so.. I recommend removing your fish first if you have a QT tank

PGriff · May 7, 2019

KorD said:
Are you looking at KH or dkh? My tank is low for dkh at around 9, I need to raise it. I would prefer to be at an 11dkh.

Baking soda can raise your pH levels, but do so in small amounts not to shock your fish. You can find info online about doing so.. I recommend removing your fish first if you have a QT tank

The KH?

KorD · May 7, 2019

KH is alkalinity, and dkh is how the alkalinity is measured. You want between an 8 and 12 dkh

PGriff · May 7, 2019

KorD said:
Are you looking at KH or dkh? My tank is low for dkh at around 9, I need to raise it. I would prefer to be at an 11dkh.

Baking soda can raise your pH levels, but do so in small amounts not to shock your fish. You can find info online about doing so.. I recommend removing your fish first if you have a QT tank

I'm doing the baking soda in teaspoon increments now. I don't have a QT set up right now. These are the first two animals in the tank, A midnight clown and red fire shrimp.

Peace River · May 7, 2019

#reefsquad

KorD · May 7, 2019

Go SLOOOOOOOW while adding it.. mix it in RO water and add super small increments so you don't shock your tank

PGriff · May 7, 2019

KorD said:
KH is alkalinity, and dkh is how the alkalinity is measured. You want between an 8 and 12 dkh

Im checking the KH it was at 11 to 12? I have heard high alk can mess with the fishes energy levels?

Just had a new A/C installed as well so the windows were shut. I opened them in the tank room.

Is there a natural way to lower alkalinity?

I bought them from LiveAquatica and their recommendations are dhk 8- 12

KorD said:
KH is alkalinity, and dkh is how the alkalinity is measured. You want between an 8 and 12 dkh

Using the API kit Checking the KH and it around 11 to 12. shouldnt it be around 9? if so how do i bring it down?

heres a picture of the bottle.

PGriff · May 7, 2019

PGriff said:
Im checking the KH it was at 11 to 12? I have heard high alk can mess with the fishes energy levels?

Just had a new A/C installed as well so the windows were shut. I opened them in the tank room.

Is there a natural way to lower alkalinity?

I bought them from LiveAquatica and their recommendations are dhk 8- 12

Using the API kit Checking the KH and it around 11 to 12. shouldnt it be around 9? if so how do i bring it down?

heres a picture of the bottle.

MnFish1 · May 7, 2019

To increase pH - you need more fresh air - to lower KH you need to just be patient. Dont do anything... IMHO

vetteguy53081 · May 8, 2019

Air or even a fan will help for ph. I was able to boost my ph recently with pickling lime and also kalk in small bottle with RO And slowly added throughout the span of 2 days

SPR1968 · May 8, 2019

Your fine at those levels and I wouldn’t start adding anything unless you really know what your doing or things could go very wrong very quickly

My pH swings from around 7.7-8 most days, sometimes a little lower

Alkalinity is fine at 11, (I ran at 12.6dKh for accelerated growth for over 12 months) but if you want to lower it maybe do carefully calculated water changes with lower alkalinity salt, or just allow it to drop on its own over time

Don’t chase numbers whatever you do or you will go mad! Lol

vetteguy53081 · May 8, 2019

SPR1968 said:
Your fine at those levels and I wouldn’t start adding anything unless you really know what your doing or things could go very wrong very quickly

My pH swings from around 7.7-8 most days, sometimes a little lower

Alkalinity is fine at 11, (I ran at 12.6dKh for accelerated growth for over 12 months) but if you want to lower it maybe do carefully calculated water changes with lower alkalinity salt, or just allow it to drop on its own over time

Don’t chase numbers whatever you do or you will go mad! Lol

Agreed. My ph was at 7.6- 7.7 almost a year with no issues other than slow growth. Reason all was good was because it was stable and I left it alone rather than aiming for higher numbers. Key word was STABLE

Ron Reefman · May 8, 2019

Don't chase pH by adding chemicals to the tank. Yes it can raise the pH level, but the result is VERY TEMPORARY at best! You need to lower the C02 in the water and that happens by reducing the C02 of the air in your house. The C02 in the water is due mostly to gas exchange with the water at the water surface in your tank. And a pH of 7.7 is a tiny bit low, but perfectly OK, IMHO.

Your dKH of 11 is OK. I run mine between 9.0 and 11.0 dKH all the time.

Don't stress so much over the fish behavior when they are new to the tank. They have been through a lot with shipping and all. They need time to acclimate to the new water and new surroundings. Give it a few days. You and the fish will be fine.

PGriff · May 9, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
Don't chase pH by adding chemicals to the tank. Yes it can raise the pH level, but the result is VERY TEMPORARY at best! You need to lower the C02 in the water and that happens by reducing the C02 of the air in your house. The C02 in the water is due mostly to gas exchange with the water at the water surface in your tank. And a pH of 7.7 is a tiny bit low, but perfectly OK, IMHO.

Your dKH of 11 is OK. I run mine between 9.0 and 11.0 dKH all the time.

Don't stress so much over the fish behavior when they are new to the tank. They have been through a lot with shipping and all. They need time to acclimate to the new water and new surroundings. Give it a few days. You and the fish will be fine.

Well, it's day 2 and the fish is still here. you're right about the having a rough trip though. I ordered 2 midnight clowns and a fire red shrimp, one of the clowns didn't make it. I have a PH meter I used for hydroponics so I've been checking it at various times during the day to make sure it stays stable, so far it's run from 7.9 to 8.1 ph but the dKH is around 11 to 12. I haven't done anything to it since adding the baking soda wed. night.

I've come here and watched videos online trying to understand what these actually do in the aquarium and the best way to stabilize them naturally. from what I can tell when one is off the other is off? and by putting seashells in a media bag and that into the sump would help stabilize both?

My only other concern I have is I haven't seen him eat yet. I turned off the wave pump so the food didn't go down the return and put in a few flakes for him and a pinch of pellets for the shrimp. The pellets sank to the bottom and this morning they were gone. but I still haven't seen the fish eat.... I assume he caught one or two or he wouldn't be alive.

P.S. I tried to upload a video to show people what I was talking about but it doesn't allow for Mp4 format, or at least that's what it says. Can someone tell what formats this site accepts?

Ron Reefman · May 9, 2019

#ReefSquad

Hemmdog · May 9, 2019

PGriff said:
Well, it's day 2 and the fish is still here. you're right about the having a rough trip though. I ordered 2 midnight clowns and a fire red shrimp, one of the clowns didn't make it. I have a PH meter I used for hydroponics so I've been checking it at various times during the day to make sure it stays stable, so far it's run from 7.9 to 8.1 ph but the dKH is around 11 to 12. I haven't done anything to it since adding the baking soda wed. night.

I've come here and watched videos online trying to understand what these actually do in the aquarium and the best way to stabilize them naturally. from what I can tell when one is off the other is off? and by putting seashells in a media bag and that into the sump would help stabilize both?

My only other concern I have is I haven't seen him eat yet. I turned off the wave pump so the food didn't go down the return and put in a few flakes for him and a pinch of pellets for the shrimp. The pellets sank to the bottom and this morning they were gone. but I still haven't seen the fish eat.... I assume he caught one or two or he wouldn't be alive.

P.S. I tried to upload a video to show people what I was talking about but it doesn't allow for Mp4 format, or at least that's what it says. Can someone tell what formats this site accepts?

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I wouldn’t do anything imho. Don’t even check pH, it doesent matter if your alk, cal and mag are in line. Also ditch the api test kit your alk could be 6 for all you know. This site only lets you post videos if you posted them to YouTube previously, just share the link.