PH ladder

[Akhval]

Hey Randy and fellow reefers!

I’m running a 65.4 waterbox AIO tank. Aquaforest salt and additives, lately been adding kalk.
I’m very happy with my tank.

PH? Not so much. I would like to increase my ph to 8.3. My peak right now is 7.9-8 low being 7.75.

I cleaned my AIO back area thinking it might be the detritus build up. I always had CO2 scrubber. I started dosing Kalk via a kalk stirrer a month ago. I calculated by evap rate to be around 2000ml a day. I started to dose Kalk 2000ml in the night via a kalk stirrer fed by a versa. I’m yet to see a benefit of it. I’m in an apartment with high co2 levels because of people in the house.


What can I possibly do to tackle this situation?

ACI method of dosing kalk? I do have apex. So turn on when ph is less than 8.3 (and no turn off). Chris says to dose double the evap rate which doesnt make sense to me. Wont it overflow tank? Increase alk way too much?

Change my protein skimmer? I have a Tunze 9004 currently. Perhaps its not generating enough bubbles or utilizing air? I am using aquaforest co2 scrubber and was using icecap before that.

My ph probe from Apex(pinpoint) crapes out again if not I would have taken a screenshot of my ph levels. I’m using hanna pen to measure. I do have a replacement probe coming from cole palmer that Randy had suggested in another thread.

I appreciate any tip or advice given!

Thank you!

 

[kindafun]

I'm not responding regarding Kalk, but I've been using this solution suggested by Randy to dose alkalinity and raise pH (same purpose):

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/second-new-diy-two-part-recipe-with-higher-ph-boost.357080/

It has been very helpful in raising my pH. Per the information in the post the base pH is above 14 (beware/be careful). With this you still need to dose Ca.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey Randy and fellow reefers!

I’m running a 65.4 waterbox AIO tank. Aquaforest salt and additives, lately been adding kalk.
I’m very happy with my tank.

PH? Not so much. I would like to increase my ph to 8.3. My peak right now is 7.9-8 low being 7.75.

I cleaned my AIO back area thinking it might be the detritus build up. I always had CO2 scrubber. I started dosing Kalk via a kalk stirrer a month ago. I calculated by evap rate to be around 2000ml a day. I started to dose Kalk 2000ml in the night via a kalk stirrer fed by a versa. I’m yet to see a benefit of it. I’m in an apartment with high co2 levels because of people in the house.


What can I possibly do to tackle this situation?

ACI method of dosing kalk? I do have apex. So turn on when ph is less than 8.3 (and no turn off). Chris says to dose double the evap rate which doesnt make sense to me. Wont it overflow tank? Increase alk way too much?

Change my protein skimmer? I have a Tunze 9004 currently. Perhaps its not generating enough bubbles or utilizing air? I am using aquaforest co2 scrubber and was using icecap before that.

My ph probe from Apex(pinpoint) crapes out again if not I would have taken a screenshot of my ph levels. I’m using hanna pen to measure. I do have a replacement probe coming from cole palmer that Randy had suggested in another thread.

I appreciate any tip or advice given!

Thank you!

This is a scenario where dosing kalkwasser without monitoring alk, would be a poor choice as alk may rise very high.

Are you tracking alk?

 

[Akhval]

Yes i am! I do have a trident.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It looks like alk is continuing on an upward trend. Do you have a limit of how high you want it to get before it is too high for your preference?

 

[Akhval]

Yes. I’d like it to be way lower because im starting to keep sps.

You see my confusion right? Lol

I guess dont chase pH?

 

[Akhval]

I have ordered a different skimmer than the tunze. A mode aquariums pls 50. Maybe that can change it a bit? Pull in more air so the co2 scrubber works more?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Keeping SPS does not imply what alk you want. They do fine at 7 dKH and at 11 dKH, as long as other conditions are suitable (which means no ULNS conditions when alk is higher).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have ordered a different skimmer than the tunze. A mode aquariums pls 50. Maybe that can change it a bit? Pull in more air so the co2 scrubber works more?

Maybe, but it will also deplete the media faster.

 

[Akhval]

If so, i am ok with any alk. My nitrates are at 8 as of 4 days ago and phosphates at 0.7. I like them at 10 and 0.1 respectively. I did dose both to fet to this point 4 days ago. I test weekly. My inference with that was to keep the alk at 8.5-9.

 

[e34stx]

Would it not make sense to dose sodium hydroxide in this case?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Would it not make sense to dose sodium hydroxide in this case?

If you want the higher pH boost per unit of alk added, both sodium hydroxide and limewater/kalkwasser (calcium hydroxide) work the best.

They each have pros and cons unrelated to the pH boost.

I used just limewater for 20 years, but it cannot always keep up.

 

[Akhval]

@Randy Holmes-Farley So, theres no solution to this?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Solutions to what? Raising pH?

More fresh air to the room, skimmer inlet run outside even with a scrubber already, hydroxide for all alk, no carbon dosing, more photosynthesis, etc.

 

[Akhval]

Solutions to what? Raising pH?

More fresh air to the room, skimmer inlet run outside even with a scrubber already, hydroxide for all alk, no carbon dosing, more photosynthesis, etc.

Ok thank you.

 

[jda]

Do you know the co2 in the room? It is possible that the pH probe is not correct - they are not all that reliable. If the co2 is near 400, then there is little chance that you have that low of pH unless your tank does not have enough gas exchange. If the co2 is near 1500, then your pH will always be low no matter what you do.

If the co2 is high, the solution is that you exchange air... as much as possible. You and the other humans will benefit too. If you are worried about the cost, you spend a hundred or two on a simmer, soda lime reactor and media, so a few pennies of gas a month to heat a place back up this time of year is nothing. If you time the air exchange right, most homes do not even drop or raise in temperature.

Tunze skimmers with the Hydrofoamer pumps are among the best-of-breed. I doubt that another skimmer will do any better, although it might not do any worse.

 

[Akhval]

Okay i will try that. Since im renting, im not sure on what to do bringing in fresh air than opening windows which i try to do but cant always happen.