PH and ALK Questions

[kyleshaw81503]

Good afternoon, I have been having some trouble with alkalinity and PH lately. My alkalinity has been going down lately. The lowest I’ve seen it was 6.6(DKH) so I do a water change to bring it back to 7 (DKH) which I’m comfortable with. However I’d like to be in the 8(DKH) range. Also looking for stability. I think the up and down of ALK has really been bothering the coral. PH is at a steady 7.9 for some time. I’ve noticed some color loss in all corals that also could have something to do with the trash Biocube hood they send with these things. Which I have an AI prime 16 HD on the way. Hope this might help with coloration.
Was thinking about dosing sodium bicarbonate instead of soda ash what are your thoughts on this? Also will I see any negative effects? Is this something that will need to be constantly dosed? Might this affect coloration? What are my options to raise Alkalinity/PH? LFS suggested I use some bottled product called eight.four by aquavitro is this any good?
Any words of advice would be great. Thank you.

 

[uhgster1]

You have a biocube? Can you send a picture of your setup?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

What salt are you using.. what do you measure for dkh on just brand new fresh saltwater mix?

your ph staying at 7.9 is not normal what do you mean by that its pegged and doesnt move at all?,

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You can boost alk perfectly fine using any of these:

1. baking soda/sodium bicarbonate. It has a tiny pH lowering effect

2. washing soda/sodium carbonate/soda ash. It has a pH raising effect.

3. sodium hydroxide/lye. It has a big pH raising effect.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

You have a biocube? Can you send a picture of your setup?

Here’s a picture not horrible coloring but just not as vibrant as I’d like. When I get coral they are extremely colorful and over time they kind of dull up a little.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

i think you tank looks nice. Your PH is not the issue.

What are you feeding? I have had really good luck with Coral Feast to bring back colors.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

What salt are you using.. what do you measure for dkh on just brand new fresh saltwater mix?

your ph staying at 7.9 is not normal what do you mean by that its pegged and doesnt move at all?,

I recently switched salt from reef crystals to aquavitro salinity. Lady at my LFS talked me into it when I told her my alkalinity was very low. I have done 2-15% water changes and 1-30% water change to acclimate everything.

The PH has not really fluctuated.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

What salt are you using.. what do you measure for dkh on just brand new fresh saltwater mix?

your ph staying at 7.9 is not normal what do you mean by that its pegged and doesnt move at all?,

I have not tested the salt mixed in the bin yet. My next water change I will for sure do that.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

i think you tank looks nice. Your PH is not the issue.

What are you feeding? I have had really good luck with Coral Feast to bring back colors.

Been dosing reef roids every week sometime every other. I watch phosphate and nitrate and when they start to get low I’ll dose reef roids to raise and then the next day do a water change. Been working fairly well. There for awhile I was having a 0 phos 0 nitrate problem. So I started dosing phos and nitrate however not a big fan of dosing. So tried the reef roids to control it and have had success.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

Yes reef roids are good too.. with both products as you probably know with the roids, a little bit goes a long way.
Back to Ph... a little bit of Kalk( sodium hydroxide -pickling lime) will help boost your Ph if you slow drip it in your top off. i would be careful on a small tank though.

 

[mdb_talon]

LFS suggested I use some bottled product called eight.four by aquavitro is this any good?

It's an expensive alkalinity supplement. Lots of ways to boost alkalinity. Some have minimal pH impact some have significant impact. In any case dose based off the alkalinity not the PH.

I recently switched salt from reef crystals to aquavitro salinity. Lady at my LFS talked me into it when I told her my alkalinity was very low.

Based off the alk ranges advertised by each mix I would not expect a significant difference in alk levels based off switching those salt mixes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I recently switched salt from reef crystals to aquavitro salinity. Lady at my LFS talked me into it when I told her my alkalinity was very low. I have done 2-15% water changes and 1-30% water change to acclimate everything.

The PH has not really fluctuated.

Which do you think the lady at the LFS thinks is best? lol

Buy an expensive salt mix (for, as it turns out, incorrect reasoning since Salinity does not have higher alk than IO Reef Crystals)

or

Buy some cheap baking soda at the grocery store and add it.

Time to look for advice from people not making money off your decisions

 

[uhgster1]

Your tank looks great. Be careful chasing numbers. Are you checking your calcium? You have a fair amount of lps and I see some sps. Your calcium and alkalinity get consumed almost equally. If the coral looks good and the alk is dropping it’s because it’s being used. I use All for Reef since it’s the simplest to dose. I have a 13.5 gallon mixed aquarium and I dose 5ml a day. Test your levels before and after dosing and adjust slowly.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

I just finished a water test using Hanna checkers. Yesterday’s readings ALK: 7.0 ,PH: 7.9.
Todays readings ALK:6.7, PH: 7.9. That’s a lot in 24hrs. I think haha could be wrong.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

Your tank looks great. Be careful chasing numbers. Are you checking your calcium? You have a fair amount of lps and I see some sps. Your calcium and alkalinity get consumed almost equally. If the coral looks good and the alk is dropping it’s because it’s being used. I use All for Reef since it’s the simplest to dose. I have a 13.5 gallon mixed aquarium and I dose 5ml a day. Test your levels before and after dosing and adjust slowly.

Yes tested calcium yesterday at 438. I’ll run a calcium check now and we’ll see the difference. Had a drop in alkalinity since yesterday.

 

[uhgster1]

When you get the prime, are you going to modify the biocube lid or just keep it off?

 

[uhgster1]

I used to have a JBJ 28 gallon, same concept as the biocube. I ended up getting rid of the top when I got my prime.

 

[mdb_talon]

I just finished a water test using Hanna checkers. Yesterday’s readings ALK: 7.0 ,PH: 7.9.
Todays readings ALK:6.7, PH: 7.9. That’s a lot in 24hrs. I think haha could be wrong.

The PH change is largely a factor of timing and would not be concerned about that. The .3 drop in alkalinity may be consumption or it may be testing variance. Measure over time and get a trend for your alk and determine how much you need to dose. Then dose using a high pH impact option since u want it up.

 

[kyleshaw81503]

Ok so yesterday’s tests ALK: 7.0, PH:7.9, Cal:438
Todays tests ALK: 7.0, PH: 7.9, Cal: 424.
now who knows how accurate the Hanna checker is for calcium I’ve heard they are not super consistent on numbers. Definitely consumption from corals or maybe Derasa clam. I’m probably being dumb about this and chasing numbers on something everyone is dealing with on a daily basis but thought I’d ask the experts. My thoughts are to go with sodium bicarbonate for the increased alkalinity and a short PH drop. Would it be a good assumption to dose directly to the tank until desired ALK ( of course slowly). Record the drop in alkalinity over a period of time to get a pattern of consumption then start adding sodium bicarbonate to my auto top off?

 

[kyleshaw81503]

The PH change is largely a factor of timing and would not be concerned about that. The .3 drop in alkalinity may be consumption or it may be testing variance. Measure over time and get a trend for your alk and determine how much you need to dose. Then dose using a high pH impact option since u want it up.

So maybe soda ash instead of sodium bicarbonate since it would benefit from a raise in PH.