PH SWING

[tjbrownie]

I’ve been dealing with a more serious drop in PH during the night lately, through the day it gets up to 7.8 but drops as low as 7.5 during the night and it’s really concerning me. I need some guidance to what I should do.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Unless you have a super tight home with very high CO2 levels, I suspect the whole pH range has drifted downward due to a testing issue.

 

[tjbrownie]

Unless you have a super tight home with very high CO2 levels, I suspect the whole pH range has drifted downward due to a testing issue.

I suspect that also- but may it be because the tank is located in my room?

 

[Dburr1014]

What are you doing now for the ph?

IE: fresh air to skimmer, Kalk dosing, ect...

 

[tjbrownie]

What are you doing now for the ph?

IE: fresh air to skimmer, Kalk dosing, ect...

I’ve never had problems until now so nothing at all really

 

[Dburr1014]

I’ve never had problems until now so nothing at all really

First thing that's pretty cheap is an airline for skimmer to outside. Even if it's out a window to test it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If nothing changed between Feb 10 and 14, including less fresh air to the room, then I think calibration drift is most likely for that transition.

 

[bushdoc]

I would start from calibrating the probe, unless it was just done. Then aerate sample of DT water for an hour , outside and see what's pH looks like.
Clearly you have usual diurnal pH shifts related to CO2 production/consumption. What is dKH?

 

[arking_mark]

A 0.3 pH swing from day/night is not uncommon and nothing to worry about.

For reference, natural reefs have been shown to have as much as 0.1 swings.

In our closed systems, they are subject to indoor CO2 levels which can normally swing from 400 to 1200 based on many factors. At night with everyone home and the house sealed, the CO2 will naturally go up...on nice days with the windows open the CO2 will naturally go down.