Water parameters: Temp 78.2, Salt 1.025, Alk 8.3, Calcium 460, Nitire 0, Nitrate 0, Ammonia 0.12*, Mag 1220......pH 7.66. Tank is new...start up cycle was in Feb.
Ammonia is detectable i think b/c i have a bit of cyano i am treating and is visibly dying off. Other than during the set up cycle i never had detectable Ammonia. Yet i have been chasing the pH forever. I decided not to use Chemi-Clean for the Cyano b/c it really beats down on other live stock in my experience. I am using a 14 day system called "Dr Tims Waste-away and re-fresh". In essence it is a slurry of bacteria and such that will out compete with the Cyano. It is working well and my corals show no signs what-so-ever of stress unlike when i used to use Chemi-clean. The cyano has turned brown and is thinning out from the sand bed...so i am pretty sure this is why i have a bit of ammonia...so i am ok with it for now. So, my problem....pH........ I cannot get it increased. I am not dosing 2-part or Kalkwasser at all yet since my loss of Alk and Calcium is not significant. It is slowly falling but that is because i have very small amounts of coral...but the falling of Alk/Cal tells me the corals are up taking it and i am getting calcification to grow. My Duncan started 2 months ago with 5 heads....it now has 4 other new offshoots that are growing to new heads. I ran a hose outside the window and direct into the skimmer pump...pH went up a touch...it was obvious when we did an RV trip that CO2 build up from us being in the house all day was contributing to a lower pH...... So, i got a CO2 scrubber and have that hooked up direct to the skimmer....yeah...the media is changing purple and that means it is scrubbing CO2 out of the air before entering the skimmer chamber...but pH is actually declining still. So, i next i am gonna recirculate the air from inside the skimmer cup to the input of the CO2 scrubber to make the air as oxygen rich as i can..... I do have saltwater specific LEDs lights over the sump that goes on when the main tank lights go off. Main tank lights start on at 0900 and ramp up to their full spectrum and intensity at 1045......ramp down starts at 2000 and lights off at 2200. Sump lights on at 2200 and off at 0900.
I am using the APEX pH probe that gets calibrated a every 2 months. I also used the API high range pH test kit which generally shows a bit higher than the pH probe but that test does not seem to be over 8.0. CO2 scrubber is from BRS and i do keep some water in the bottom of the chamber that does not touch the media.
I know water changes can help bring it up a touch...as well as Kalkwasser. But with the slow uptake of Alk/Cal....i dont see the Kalkwasser being dosed enough to ramp up the pH to at least 8.0
Ammonia is detectable i think b/c i have a bit of cyano i am treating and is visibly dying off. Other than during the set up cycle i never had detectable Ammonia. Yet i have been chasing the pH forever. I decided not to use Chemi-Clean for the Cyano b/c it really beats down on other live stock in my experience. I am using a 14 day system called "Dr Tims Waste-away and re-fresh". In essence it is a slurry of bacteria and such that will out compete with the Cyano. It is working well and my corals show no signs what-so-ever of stress unlike when i used to use Chemi-clean. The cyano has turned brown and is thinning out from the sand bed...so i am pretty sure this is why i have a bit of ammonia...so i am ok with it for now. So, my problem....pH........ I cannot get it increased. I am not dosing 2-part or Kalkwasser at all yet since my loss of Alk and Calcium is not significant. It is slowly falling but that is because i have very small amounts of coral...but the falling of Alk/Cal tells me the corals are up taking it and i am getting calcification to grow. My Duncan started 2 months ago with 5 heads....it now has 4 other new offshoots that are growing to new heads. I ran a hose outside the window and direct into the skimmer pump...pH went up a touch...it was obvious when we did an RV trip that CO2 build up from us being in the house all day was contributing to a lower pH...... So, i got a CO2 scrubber and have that hooked up direct to the skimmer....yeah...the media is changing purple and that means it is scrubbing CO2 out of the air before entering the skimmer chamber...but pH is actually declining still. So, i next i am gonna recirculate the air from inside the skimmer cup to the input of the CO2 scrubber to make the air as oxygen rich as i can..... I do have saltwater specific LEDs lights over the sump that goes on when the main tank lights go off. Main tank lights start on at 0900 and ramp up to their full spectrum and intensity at 1045......ramp down starts at 2000 and lights off at 2200. Sump lights on at 2200 and off at 0900.
I am using the APEX pH probe that gets calibrated a every 2 months. I also used the API high range pH test kit which generally shows a bit higher than the pH probe but that test does not seem to be over 8.0. CO2 scrubber is from BRS and i do keep some water in the bottom of the chamber that does not touch the media.
I know water changes can help bring it up a touch...as well as Kalkwasser. But with the slow uptake of Alk/Cal....i dont see the Kalkwasser being dosed enough to ramp up the pH to at least 8.0
