Opening windows to rise ph not working

[Oiseaufeu]

All things being equal, have you considered dosing kalkwasser to boost your pH? I don't dose much (500 ml a day in my 164 gal reef, dosed equally 12 times per day with a simple Kamoer dosing pump) but it has raised my pH from 8.0 to 8.2. And my corals have never looked better, and they're growing quickly.

It has also helped stabilize my alk and calcium, and it's very cost effective.

I’ve thought about that, but I’m way too scared to kill my turbos and other small invertebrates from dosing way off in my 33 gallon tank.

 

[LPS Bum]

I’ve thought about that, but I’m way too scared to kill my turbos and other small invertebrates from dosing way off in my 33 gallon tank.

I was hesitant at first too, but it’s made a nice difference for me. I’ve seen zero drawbacks and I don’t dose much of it considering the size of the system.

Just take it slow. Start out with a low dose and work your way up. Your corals and your testing will tell you when you’ve hit the sweet spot.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

I was hesitant at first too, but it’s made a nice difference for me. I’ve seen zero drawbacks and I don’t dose much of it considering the size of the system.

Just take it slow. Start out with a low dose and work your way up. Your corals and your testing will tell you when you’ve hit the sweet spot.

Thanks! I have no corals in yet.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

I would not assume a pH test kit is accurate since there's no easy way to check it, but if you think it might be, try this aeration test. If the pH does not rise considerably with outdoor aeration, the kit is not accurate.

pH and the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

by Randy Holmes-Farley For many aquarists, pH is not something that they have much experience with aside from their aquarium. For many, pH is almost a black box measurement: something to be considered, but whose physical meaning makes little sense to them. This article will Read more here...

www.reefedition.com

The Aeration Test

Some of the possible causes of low pH listed above require an effort to diagnose. Problems 3 and 4 are quite common, and here is a way to distinguish them. Remove a cup of tank water and measure its pH. Then aerate it for an hour with an airstone using outside air. Its pH should rise if it is unusually low for the measured alkalinity (Figure 2). Then repeat the same experiment on a new cup of water using inside air. If its pH also rises, then the aquarium’s pH will rise simply with more aeration because it is only the aquarium that contains excess carbon dioxide. If the pH does not rise in the cup (or rises very little) when aerating with indoor air, then that air likely contains excess CO2, and more aeration with that same air will not solve the low pH problem (although aeration with fresher air should). Be careful implementing this test if the outside aeration test results in a large temperature change (more than 5°C or 10°F), because such changes alone impact pH measurements.

I did the test and with half a cup because I don’t want to lower my salinity even more as I had issues with my canister leaking and making impeller noises for some reasons. And the results are the same. It’s not working at all. I’ll slowly dose my tank with a buffer since aeration won’t work for me.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I did the test and with half a cup because I don’t want to lower my salinity even more as I had issues with my canister leaking and making impeller noises for some reasons. And the results are the same. It’s not working at all. I’ll slowly dose my tank with a buffer since aeration won’t work for me.

That was inside or outside air? The experiment in this case needs outside air.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

That was inside or outside air? The experiment in this case needs outside air.

Outside air.

 

[KrisReef]

Thanks! I have no corals in yet.

If you have no coral then pH level is as important for your tank as the day of the month or the moon phase, there’s no need to consider that for now.

If you do want to have coral, many will do fine without measuring and adjusting tank pH. Folks who keep sps corals try to keep the pH at 8.2 or greater because they expect better growth with the elevated pH.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

If you have no coral then pH level is as important for your tank as the day of the month or the moon phase, there’s no need to consider that for now.

If you do want to have coral, many will do fine without measuring and adjusting tank pH. Folks who keep sps corals try to keep the pH at 8.2 or greater because they expect better growth with the elevated pH.

Thanks! I can't really the stars as it's cloudy outside and there's a storm coming my way this weekend. It'll be the second storm this week. I do plan on corals. Just that my ph might not be suitable for them and I don't want to spend tons of money see one die a week later.

 

[FUNGI]

CO2 scrubber might help....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Outside air.

Then the kit is not accurate and you should not act in any way based on its result.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

Then the kit is not accurate and you should not act in any way based on its result.

Thanks! Which one should I get?

 

[jda]

Outside air is a good thing, even if a pH test kit sucks. The lower co2 is good for the humans and pets too. I agree with the above and would not do anything directly to the tank, but exchanging air is nearly always good.

Once you get corals and/or a larger population of algae and film bacteria, your tank could have a photosynthetic bump to the pH - the average is about .2, or so. New tanks often do not have this and their pH is lower during the day.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

Outside air is a good thing, even if a pH test kit sucks. The lower co2 is good for the humans and pets too. I agree with the above and would not do anything directly to the tank, but exchanging air is nearly always good.

Once you get corals and/or a larger population of algae and film bacteria, your tank could have a photosynthetic bump to the pH - the average is about .2, or so. New tanks often do not have this and their pH is lower during the day.

Thanks! It’s 6 months old with a bit of cyano and hair algae/bryopsis issue. Plus a small bubble algae problem. I just pulled out some of these out because my nitrates are lowering quite a bit and I don’t want to lose them.

 

[jda]

Thanks! Which one should I get?

Search for some reliable pH pens. They are better than test kits, IMO. There are all kinds from really bad to good to really expensive - one in the middle should work well. If you get a pen, then rinse off the saltwater after each use and they last for a long time.

I don't test pH anymore, but rather just have co2 meter in my house. As explained above, the reef tank is just one of my worries. A meter with a NDIR sensor is less than $100 and you can take them on vacation and stuff and make sure that your VRBO and hotel rooms do not have garbage air. If my co2 stays below 600, my tank pH is always above 8.0 at night... which is fine with me. My co2 is usually in the 400s or low 500s which means that my pH is between 8.1 and 8.35, or so.

If you have matting bacteria and some algae, you are likely already getting a photosynthetic bump... which makes a 7.6 reading very unlikely to be accurate.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

Search for some reliable pH pens. They are better than test kits, IMO. There are all kinds from really bad to good to really expensive - one in the middle should work well. If you get a pen, then rinse off the saltwater after each use and they last for a long time.

I don't test pH anymore, but rather just have co2 meter in my house. As explained above, the reef tank is just one of my worries. A meter with a NDIR sensor is less than $100 and you can take them on vacation and stuff and make sure that your VRBO and hotel rooms do not have garbage air. If my co2 stays below 600, my tank pH is always above 8.0 at night... which is fine with me. My co2 is usually in the 400s or low 500s which means that my pH is between 8.1 and 8.35, or so.

If you have matting bacteria and some algae, you are likely already getting a photosynthetic bump... which makes a 7.6 reading very unlikely to be accurate.

thanks! I will take a look at those. And yeah, I just pulled out some since my nitrates are also getting quite low. It’s at 5 ppm right now.

 

[nickng]

Just sharing my experience, I am in Massachusetts. During summer with windows open ph reported by neptune ranges from 8 to 8.1 I run a reverse cycle refugium with chaeto and turf algae. But winter it plummeted to 7.6to 7.8. After installing a recirculating co2 scrubber ph went back up to 8.15 to 8.25

 

[Oiseaufeu]

Just sharing my experience, I am in Massachusetts. During summer with windows open ph reported by neptune ranges from 8 to 8.1 I run a reverse cycle refugium with chaeto and turf algae. But winter it plummeted to 7.6to 7.8. After installing a recirculating co2 scrubber ph went back up to 8.15 to 8.25

Yeah, I don’t know how to install something like that without leaving a window open 24/7 in winter.

 

[amutti]

I suspect a bad test kit, but I missed if you posted what the salinity is in the tank. What is it? Maybe that’s actually lower than you think? How do you test.

Aeration with outside air should have raised the PH somewhat. Alk is on lower side.

PH has less of an effect on soft coral. LPS and SPS, which have parts built with calcium, and the low PH will prevent them from forming or/and slow growth.

Your PH is in a caution zone. Acidification does have a negative affect on fish (Google it, lots of research due to increasing carbon dioxide in atmosphere).

Kalk is a good way to increase PH and Alk.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

I suspect a bad test kit, but I missed if you posted what the salinity is in the tank. What is it? Maybe that’s actually lower than you think? How do you test.

Aeration with outside air should have raised the PH somewhat. Alk is on lower side.

PH has less of an effect on soft coral. LPS and SPS, which have parts built with calcium, and the low PH will prevent them from forming or/and slow growth.

Your PH is in a caution zone. Acidification does have a negative affect on fish (Google it, lots of research due to increasing carbon dioxide in atmosphere).

Kalk is a good way to increase PH and Alk.

Thanks! I’ll try to fix that. Although, the test kit expires in 2025. It was very hard to read on the bottle. My salinity has lowered a bit because I had an issue with my canister filter and I completely fixed it. And yeah, some white spots have appeared on my rocks. It’s not that bad yet.

 

[Oiseaufeu]

I suspect a bad test kit, but I missed if you posted what the salinity is in the tank. What is it? Maybe that’s actually lower than you think? How do you test.

Aeration with outside air should have raised the PH somewhat. Alk is on lower side.

PH has less of an effect on soft coral. LPS and SPS, which have parts built with calcium, and the low PH will prevent them from forming or/and slow growth.

Your PH is in a caution zone. Acidification does have a negative affect on fish (Google it, lots of research due to increasing carbon dioxide in atmosphere).

Kalk is a good way to increase PH and Alk.

My salinity is at 1.023. It was slightly higher before at around 1.024-25. I haven’t used the marine buffer yet, but will use it to raise my ph.