pH at 7,65-7,9... should I be concerned?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for chiming in Randy. Would you consider the 7.65-7.9 range as too low and something that can potentially kill my SPS?

By tomorrow I will have a better picture on how the Kalk has moved this range upwards. If still. It enough I can easily bring my refugium back online but I really would rather avoid it because it usually brings me more problems than benefits.

I doubt it "kills" most SPS if alkalintiy is adequate (7 dKH or higher), but I think they will grow faster and possibly be healthier at higher pH. I'd try to keep pH 7.8 as the minimum.

 

[VJV]

So, this morning it was again at 7,63... in spite of the kalk. I have been thinking about a possibility and would like your opinions:

Could it be hat I have a leak somewhere between the Co2 canister and the reactor and Co2 is constantly being leaked into the the sump cabinet, which than gets sucked by the skimmer intake and injected into he water again? I will run the skimmer air intake outside of the tank cabinet to test it.

It is my first reactor so I would not know if this is normal, but when my solenoid closes the bubbles continue in the bubble counter. Is this normal?

 

[Amoo]

#Reefsquad Can we get some help from CaRX users please.

 

[Amoo]

So, this morning it was again at 7,63... in spite of the kalk. I have been thinking about a possibility and would like your opinions:

Could it be hat I have a leak somewhere between the Co2 canister and the reactor and Co2 is constantly being leaked into the the sump cabinet, which than gets sucked by the skimmer intake and injected into he water again? I will run the skimmer air intake outside of the tank cabinet to test it.

It is my first reactor so I would not know if this is normal, but when my solenoid closes the bubbles continue in the bubble counter. Is this normal?

You can always check for this with a spray bottle with just some dawn and water to check for bubbles/leaks

 

[VJV]

#Reefsquad Can we get some help from CaRX users please.

Thanks!

 

[Lasse]

Could it be hat I have a leak somewhere between the Co2 canister and the reactor and Co2 is constantly being leaked into the the sump cabinet, which than gets sucked by the skimmer intake and injected into he water again? I will run the skimmer air intake outside of the tank cabinet to test it.

Test this ASAP. Whatever answer you get is a help in understanding your problem.

If the solonid close - you maybe will se bubbles for a short time. But if they do not stop to come - it will indicate a faulty solonid valv.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[VJV]

Thanks! It is a brand new GHL solenoid so I did not expect it to be defective. I will try and post.

 

[VJV]

Another strange thing is that I have the pH probe set in P4 to downregulate with a nominal value of 6.5 and hysteresis of 0,3, and although the solenoid opens at 6.65, it is closing at 6.50, instead of 6,35.

I also need to keep the bubble rate at 2 per second in order to get down to 6,5 otherwise it will not get that low. The effluent is like a constant stream as otherwise it does not keep up with my Alk demand (and even now it is having a hard time even combined with kalk).

 

[VJV]

My regulator seems to be acting out, which is infuriating given I paid a lot for it [emoji34] and was told it was a “quality one”....

I regulate the bubble count and after a couple of hours it gradually reduces the CO2 flow until it no longer is enough to bring the pH down...

 

[rainmaker]

I have experienced that when my co2 tank was getting low bubble rate would start to vary One way I new it was getting time to have refilled this could also mean that there could be a co2 leak check all connections with soap and water to make sure there's no leak

 

[VJV]

I have experienced that when my co2 tank was getting low bubble rate would start to vary One way I new it was getting time to have refilled this could also mean that there could be a co2 leak check all connections with soap and water to make sure there's no leak

The CO2 tank is brand new so it should be ok...? I have also tried to close the main valve on the CO2 tank and the pressure remain the same in both gauges so this should mean there are no leaks righ?

 

[rainmaker]

I always check with soap and water for Leaks no matter if I think it's not there's something cause your bubble rate to vary so I would check before determining it's the regulator

 

[VJV]

Here is my morning pH. Still very low in spite of the Kalk.

Another thing that is puzzling me is that the reactor is not able to maintain my Alk levels...

I have the pH of the reactor at 6,5 and the effluent is a constant large stream (which is maybe the reason for such a large impact in the tanks pH), kalk should be adding some 0,4 dKh per day (based on a fully saturated solution and daily evap of around 2,7L) and still I need to dose balling to maintain Alk levels....??

The tank is a 700 Liters tank with some large SPS colonies but not what you would call packed. When dosing balling consumption was around 1,5 dKH daily so the reactor should be able to cope with this alone right...?

The reactor model is the Tunze 3171 which claims to be good for tanks up to 1200 liters though it is a very small unit compared to other CaRX out there.

 

[2una]

Biggest help for low ph from carx i found was:
If you have space a 2nd skimmer or even just skimmer pump will help raise it - even better if that air intake is plugged thru a co2 scrubber.So if you have room & have another one laying around that will help out.
I also run kalk stirrer on apex doser - 600L tank i pump 2500ml/per day kalk .My tank burn 2 dkh/day so similar to you.
Running a dastaco carx so pH is fixed at 6.0 for me....the 2nd chamber i found does very little to help any pH increase(maybe 0.1) is all.

 

[2una]

Should add also if it is a DC skimmer try set it up so the pump is running close to full power - you'll see the results quickly

 

[VJV]

It is an AC skimmer so can’t regulate.

I am away from home for the next 4 days so fingers crossed I will not get back to a crashed tank [emoji51]. Some of those colonies are 1,5 feet in diameter...

I do not know if this makes sense but I guess one issue could be that I am running the effluent almost wide open. Because of that I am having to inject a ton of CO2 to keep pH at 6,5 and I can see a lot of bubbles getting sucked by the effluent.

I am thinking if I lower the effluent to a sort of constant drip this will allow for more re circulation of CO2 inside the reactor and should make the effluent more potent. At the same time I would use less CO2 to achieve that potency and perhaps have less of an impact on the tank’s pH...? Does this make sense?

 

[2una]

If it were me i'd put it back on whatever you had it on till you have the time to be there to adjust it in.
Half set it up then go away might be a recipe for trouble

 

[VJV]

Yes, I understand. Problem is I work abroad so am only at home on weekends. My main concern was to keep Alk stable and I believe I have achieved it this week as I tested 5x a day. I was tired of mixing 4 gallons of balling every two weeks (and have a wife and 4 kids at home so can’t spend the whole weekend looking after the tank) so I want a more maintenance free solution. I know CaRx take time to adjust but once they are adjusted it should be pretty set and forget so this is my objective here.

 

[VJV]

Well, not even 24h later and the pH in the reactor is no longer able to sustain a 6,5 level. It is currently 6,75 and rising is spite of the solenoid being open (I am monitoring via GHL connect)

Is this a bad solenoid valve or just the result of running the effluent almost wide open?

 

[2una]

Take a look at this one - believe a few here have used this way of setting up BUT whatever way you do you need time to be around to avoid issues like are coming out now for you...else you just going to bomb your tank