Ph drop

[allof fish]

So my ph drops on average probably .2-.25 at night and I want to find a good way to keep it as stable as possible. I am already running a co2 scrubber which keeps ph between 8.2-8.3 at height during day but during night it can fall as low as 7.85 at times. Is there a way to keep it increased at night. Tank is 6 months old and I dose 2 part but not sure if kalk is needed for consumption. I heard an airstone can maybe help? Any other suggestions or is that kind of what I have to deal with and normal. Just recently seems like it’s dropping a bit too much. Thanks for the help

 

[Miami Reef]

What type of two-part are you using?

 

[allof fish]

The brs versions for calcium and alkalinity

 

[painter1982]

Mine drops at night too. I run a co2 scrubber. I put a new larger skimmer in yesterday. A dc pump model. My ph was topping at 8.31 but today the high was 8.44. Last night low was 8.07. Was dropping to 7.85 at night before. I think co2 at night is something to try to counter. An air stone may help. Maybe a refugium or algae scrubber. The kalkwasser to raise ph doesn’t address the cause of lower ph. Imo isn’t the fix.

 

[Miami Reef]

I heard an airstone can maybe help?

To understand if more aeration will help, you’ll need to do the aeration test:

The Aeration Test

To run the test, you’ll need an 8 oz cup of tank water, a calibrated pH probe, a timer, an air pump with an air stone, and access to the outdoors. Only use a small cup because off-gassing carbon dioxide is very time-consuming. A small sample ensures the water will be fully equilibrated after the set time for accurate results.

• Measure the aquarium’s initial pH.
• Take a cup of tank water and heavily aerate it indoors for an hour. Record the pH.
• Take the cup and repeat the same process outdoors for an hour. Record the pH.

*Keep in mind that temperature differences can affect pH readings. Ensure both samples are near the same temperature when recording the pH. The diagnostic results are here:

1) If heavily aerating a cup indoors increases the pH, there is either not enough aeration or some filtration/maintenance routine is adding too much CO₂ or H⁺.

2) If aerating the cup indoors doesn’t meaningfully raise the pH, but aerating it outdoors does, the culprit is excess indoor carbon dioxide entering the tank. The solution is to increase the pH-boosting methods ('Managing pH in Reef Tanks: Part Two' will discuss how).

3) If both the indoor and outdoor cup pH values remain low after the test, or if the outdoor sample rises, but not meaningfully, then the probe, test kit, calibration, or buffer standards are very likely inaccurate. The outdoor aeration part of the test determines if the probe is accurately responding to low CO₂ conditions and shows how concentrated the indoor CO₂ is.

 

[Miami Reef]

The brs versions for calcium and alkalinity

Sodium hydroxide has the same pH boost as kalkwasser, and it can be a direct replacement for the BRS alk part. Same alk concentration. The only difference is the increased pH boost.

I prefer sodium hydroxide over kalkwasser because sodium hydroxide can be made the same concentration as 2 parts, while kalkwasser has poor solubility that will usually require gallons of the solution to meet the alkalinity demand.

 

[rishma]

yep, do the aeration test and report back.