Neptune DOS to Raise PH

[MrTang13]

So, as part of a fight with Dino’s, I plan on reducing the amount of C02 in my tank considerably.

Right now my dKH hovers around 7 from hand dosing but as of tomorrow, I will have an Apex DOS which I will use to DOS Brightwell two part directly in the sump.

My questions are as follows:

1) If my dKH is 7 and ph 7.8, what will raising my dKH to 11 put my pH at?
2) Do I have the DOS do calcium during the day and alkalinity at night? Or run both simultaneously?
3) For a 65 gallon tank, what would you recommend as a starting dose? I’m told I should be dosing equal amounts.
4) Is this approach along with a blackout a good strategy for Dino’s? I’m doing at this the advise of Bulk Reef Supply.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[ihavecrabs]

Hi Michael,

Welcome to R2R!

First, Alklainity (DKH) is much more important than pH as raising it from 7 to 11 in short order will likely kill any SPS and do damage to LPS. While 11dkh is certainly attainable, it needs to be done slowly for corals that have settled in.

Now as for your dosing, to maintain a high pH, it is possible to dose at night to keep pH from bottoming out as pH is diurnal. Dosing over a full day will give you a high peak pH.

I personally dose Alk and Cal both at the same time in a high flow area. You can do this too and if you are worried about it, put their entry points into the tank far apart in a high flow area.

For your starting dose, you should figure out your consumption (i.e. what your drop is per day) and dose the same amount it would take to raise your dkh back up given your overall water volume.

I have found that Dinos take hold with instability in chemistry (PO4 and NO3 being important to not let them take hold).

HTH

 

[laxman05]

My fight with Dinos took 2 blackouts of 72 hours each. Not sure if you had a chance but look up ways for you to get an Air line from the outside into your tank. The fresh air will raise the PH in your tank. It is best to not chase the PH :)

 

[Billldg]

All I did was fix the air line on my skimmer, the post broke allowing water to be sucked into skimmer, I fixed air line and just allow air from the sump area to be sucked in and you can see what it did to my ph.

 

[jda]

Just dosing 2 part probably won't have much affect on your pH. To effect your pH, Kalkwasser works better and adds both carbonate and calcium. Kalkwasser can be dangerous if added too quickly, so read up, be careful and go slow.

With any tank pH issue, getting fresh air into your home is the best way to raise pH. ...might be hard with a Polar Vortex coming right now, but open the windows whenever you can.