PH is high, DKH is low, should I be concerned?

Micro-Reefs Aquarium

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My aquarium is new, 12.5 gallons started it January 27th. 10 lbs live rock, 20 lbs live sand. I added a refugium about 3 weeks ago to work on phosphates and nitrates. 6 tiny gobies in my tank no corals.

Here are my testing.
March 8th

Salinity 1.023
Temp 77.4F
LR Nitrate 3.50 ppm
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Calcium 445
PH 8.0
Dkh 7.8
ULR Phosphate .07

March 14th

Salinity 1.024
Temp 77.4
LR Nitrate 2.48
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Calcium 476
PH 8.0
Dkh 7.9
ULR Phosphate .01

March 28

Salinity 1.025
Temp 77.3 F
LR Nitrate 0.00
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Calcium 514
PH 8.4
Dkh 6.9
ULR Phosphate 0.00

I added the cheato in the back of my AIO media basket about 2 1/2 weeks before getting the 3rd test on March 28th. I haven't done a water change since the 2nd test. I run the cheato reverse lighting from 7pm to 6am. I will post pictures tomorrow of the massive growth of my cheato in the 2/12 weeks roughly that it was added. No corals to show stress since I don't have any yet, and I have been feeding very tiny amounts of frozen brine, cut a slice with a knife off a cube, cube can last 1 week of feeding, I only let them eat what they can eat every other day from the small slice. Any feedback would be great.
 

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I would guess the other increase in ph is related to refugium using co2 as well as having a reverse light cycle the ph probably drops less at night now. Also make sure you are testing at same time of day. For each test when comparing ph. Also i would consider 8.4 PH very good and not "high".

The dkh went down some just a bit over two weeks. Maybe starting to get some coralline growing, maybe variation in tests, etc. In any case neither your ph or you alk seem like any cause for concern.
 
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I noticed the nitrates and phosphates gradually went to 0

Zero isn’t a good place to be ....
Here are my pics of cheato growth.
 

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I would guess the other increase in ph is related to refugium using co2 as well as having a reverse light cycle the ph probably drops less at night now. Also make sure you are testing at same time of day. For each test when comparing ph. Also i would consider 8.4 PH very good and not "high".

The dkh went down some just a bit over two weeks. Maybe starting to get some coralline growing, maybe variation in tests, etc. In any case neither your ph or you alk seem like any cause for concern.
Take a look at the Cheato growth I posted.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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The pH at 8.4 is not high and is no concern. it may be better for coral growth than any lower values.

Unless the pH gets above 8.55, I would not try to lower it.
 
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I don’t think 6.9dkh is too low .
Aim for stability rather than a specific number .
Thanks!

My PH was 8.0, before I added Cheato. Then I go back to test my PH in the night about 10:3pm and I picked up 8.4PH. Then I remove my media basket and find 2 cups full of it that had multiplied a ton since I started 3 weeks ago with a small tiny ball.

I trimmed it back, and restarted it very small and now I have a small baseline to my feedings, water changes and the amount of fish I have, 6 tiny gobies.

I have not added any corals, as I was waiting for the water to be stable, tank is 2 months young. I needed to know from you guys about the DkH dropping since last test I did. And oh the increase in the PH, from 8.0 to 8.4.
 

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Thanks!

My PH was 8.0, before I added Cheato. Then I go back to test my PH in the night about 10:3pm and I picked up 8.4PH. Then I remove my media basket and find 2 cups full of it that had multiplied a ton since I started 3 weeks ago with a small tiny ball.

I trimmed it back, and restarted it very small and now I have a small baseline to my feedings, water changes and the amount of fish I have, 6 tiny gobies.

I have not added any corals, as I was waiting for the water to be stable, tank is 2 months young. I needed to know from you guys about the DkH dropping since last test I did. And oh the increase in the PH, from 8.0 to 8.4.
Ph will fluctuate from
Day to night . which is normal
Measure alk daily at the same time and record if it’s gradually decreasing consistently , that consumption needs to be either dosed or water changes to balance .
 
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Update: April 4th @11:20pm



Salinity 1.025

Temp 77.5

PH 8.3

Phosphates ULR 0.00

Alkalinity DKH 6.9

Nitrate .48

Calcium 481



So, my Alk stayed the same, PH went down by 1.0, read 8.4 last Sunday. Interesting that Phosphates are not detectable again, however I upped the feeding to each day frozen brine, what the 6 gobies can eat, and sure enough, I have readable low range Nitrates at .48 and the Cheato grew from a golf ball to a tennis ball, in just 1 week, WOW! My refugium is way to awesome and that is on a AIO with black out acrylic using IM 9watt LED. That red and blue is killer man. Calcium went down, since I used non reef salt, just regular, it went down slightly. I will take a picture of the cheato so you can see comparison when I pruned it last Sunday and 7 days later.
 
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#s look great. Chaeto looks great. Keep it stable. Watch your alk if you start to add a lot of stony skeleton corals.
Throw some coral in!
D
Yeah, I am finally about to add my first SPS corals since I have a bout 3 weeks with stable numbers and very low nitrates. I was dialing in my skimmer and another reefer was making fun of me, since air driven skimmers are old school he joked around. I don't have room, have you seen how small my 12 gallon is and how much room I literally have in my AIO? I squeezed, refugium, mechanical filter, chiller, skimmer and UV in the back, I can even do ATO if I wanted, so the magic is in how you service each component you use.
 
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