pH on a steady decline, why?

[TTipsyDragon]

I am dosing Alk and Calcium daily in my IM 112 ext lagoon and for some reason my peak ph levels are on a steady decline and I don't know why. My house is pretty drafty and not green at all so there really is never any CO2 build up like better sealed up houses. I also have lots of plants and don't have a pH problem with my smaller 15 nano cube.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Either falling alk, drifting calibration, or more CO2 for some reason. :)

 

[TTipsyDragon]

Last alk measurement was 10 so it was been rising over the time period in the chart. I could go buy another pH probe to make sure I'm not chasing dragons

 

[Psyduck]

Are you running reactors at all? Also, if you arent dosing kalk, maybe its something to consider! You can probably stop dosing alk and ca perhaps with kalk dosing.

 

[TTipsyDragon]

Are you running reactors at all? Also, if you arent dosing kalk, maybe its something to consider! You can probably stop dosing alk and ca perhaps with kalk dosing.

I am dosing alk and calcium throughout the day. I run a refugium though no reactors

 

[Psyduck]

I am dosing alk and calcium throughout the day. I run a refugium though no reactors

If that is the case, I think you can definitely benefit from kalk.

 

[Reign1]

When the swamp cooler was turned off and Heater is kicked on my tank experienced this. I started dosing Kalk and this has helped. you can do two part and also Kalk.

 

[tbrown]

Have you checked your pH probe's calibration lately?

 

[TTipsyDragon]

Have you checked your pH probe's calibration lately?

Tank is only a month old hope she's not out of calibration already. I did just wiped down the probes though to see if that helps

 

[TTipsyDragon]

When the swamp cooler was turned off and Heater is kicked on my tank experienced this. I started dosing Kalk and this has helped. you can do two part and also Kalk.

If I dosed kalk I would stop doing alk red sea? What would be the difference?

 

[Uncle99]

Last alk measurement was 10 so it was been rising over the time period in the chart. I could go buy another pH probe to make sure I'm not chasing dragons

Yup, I played chase the PH probe game.

 

[TTipsyDragon]

Yup, I played chase the PH probe game.

I mean was it a fun game that you won at last?

 

[Psyduck]

If I dosed kalk I would stop doing alk red sea? What would be the difference?

You will have to calculate the dosage to see if you can rid of alk red sea, but simply kalkwasser raises all ph, alk and ca levels with one solution. It has been around for a long time. I have a kalk stirrer but its not necessary but beneficial. You can either use a doser or ato or both.

 

[TTipsyDragon]

You will have to calculate the dosage to see if you can rid of alk red sea, but simply kalkwasser raises all ph, alk and ca levels with one solution. It has been around for a long time. I have a kalk stirrer but its not necessary but beneficial. You can either use a doser or ato or both.

Ooooo I do like a good wombo combo I'll have to do some research into that! I got like no room in my sump but maybe I can stack something on top of my ATO reservoir. The remaining question for me is why is my alk dosing not making pH rise, everywhere I read online they are one of the same idk how I'm able to raise my alk and have my pH go down, like I discovered something new . How does kalk raise pH but red sea alk does not?

 

[sayurasem]

It is winter and ph tends to be lower during the season because of less air circulation (increase of CO2).

Things to consider around the house that produce CO2 are cooking with an open flame, central house heater that burns fuel, and unvented fire place. I don’t have any data for the things I mention affects one’s aquarium ph, but they do increase CO2 in an enclosed area.

 

[TTipsyDragon]

It is winter and ph tends to be lower during the season because of less air circulation (increase of CO2).

Things to consider around the house that produce CO2 are cooking with an open flame, central house heater that burns fuel, and unvented fire place. I don’t have any data for the things I mention affects one’s aquarium ph, but they do increase CO2 in an enclosed area.

I live in Florida with a electric stove and mini splits for heating and cooling. Got single pane windows and lots of cracks with airflow in the house. I normally roll my sliding pool deck doors open which is in the same room as the tank

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Tank is only a month old hope she's not out of calibration already. I did just wiped down the probes though to see if that helps

A month is not an unusually long time to recalibrate. Good chem labs do it for every experiment and not less than once a day.

 

[sayurasem]

Ooooo I do like a good wombo combo I'll have to do some research into that! I got like no room in my sump but maybe I can stack something on top of my ATO reservoir. The remaining question for me is why is my alk dosing not making pH rise, everywhere I read online they are one of the same idk how I'm able to raise my alk and have my pH go down, like I discovered something new . How does kalk raise pH but red sea alk does not?

One thing to consider is high CO2 in your house. I am dosing Red Sea Foundation B, kalkwasser, and running refugium light only during the night to keep my ph stable at 8.0. Without these efforts my ph dips to 7.7 according to salifert test kit at night (6 hours after lights off, 6 hours before light turns on).

 

[Psyduck]

Ooooo I do like a good wombo combo I'll have to do some research into that! I got like no room in my sump but maybe I can stack something on top of my ATO reservoir. The remaining question for me is why is my alk dosing not making pH rise, everywhere I read online they are one of the same idk how I'm able to raise my alk and have my pH go down, like I discovered something new . How does kalk raise pH but red sea alk does not?

“When kalkwasser is added to saltwater, the hydroxide ions (OH-) in the solution react with the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the water, forming bicarbonate (HCO3-).”

“While high alkalinity generally correlates with a higher pH, they are not the same thing. A high pH does not necessarily mean high alkalinity, and vice versa.”

 

[TTipsyDragon]

One thing to consider is high CO2 in your house. I am dosing Red Sea Foundation B, kalkwasser, and running refugium light only during the night to keep my ph stable at 8.0. Without these efforts my ph dips to 7.7 according to salifert test kit at night (6 hours after lights off, 6 hours before light turns on).

I don't know if this is considered high but it's about 400ppm of CO2 in my house