PH won't go up, stays at 7.6-7.8

[FreeEnergyReefer]

what the heck. So your tank gave u the first hint...that's awesome. God bless the reef keepers! Yea thx I think i got it figured if not guess I'll be going mad scientist on that butt

 

[ludnix]

Sounds like u had a bad experience,hope I dont come to that conclusion

Hopefully this explains it further: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/iron-levels-in-reef-tank.305528/#post-3744431

 

[Pistol Peet]

i know that my levels of ph increased once I put a n ATO on my tank. Not sure if there is a connection there or not. Hop this helps... sorry if it was mentioned in your post above that you have one. as I don't remember. My refuge also helped a great deal. I know there is a connection there..

 

[Tankkeepers]

Do you have a fuge setup if so do you run the lights with the regular lights or reverse if you do have a fuge and running them with the rest kf the tank try a reverse photo cycle as that may help on drops when the lights go out and by always running a light it help to keep that from happening also when do you test for it light on or off if on try testing ph about an hour before the lights come on and see how low its getting at night your ph may not be fully recovering after the night cycle just another thought

 

[jaxteller007]

My pH is in the same range, at least according to my Neptune probe. I need to re-calibrate and it see if its still accurate i guess. I will say that its measured this level for close to a year and the fish and few coral we have all seem to be thriving and happy. What do you think @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

i know that my levels of ph increased once I put a n ATO on my tank. Not sure if there is a connection there or not. Hop this helps... sorry if it was mentioned in your post above that you have one. as I don't remember. My refuge also helped a great deal. I know there is a connection there..

There isn't a connection between an ATO and higher pH, unless you put high pH additives into the ATO.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My pH is in the same range, at least according to my Neptune probe. I need to re-calibrate and it see if its still accurate i guess. I will say that its measured this level for close to a year and the fish and few coral we have all seem to be thriving and happy. What do you think @Randy Holmes-Farley

IMO, that is either inaccurate, or very low and I'd try to raise it. I do not like to see pH below 7.8 routinely.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounds like u had a bad experience,hope I dont come to that conclusion

Not any sort of experience with it. I can read the specs and see it is not useful. +/- 0.05 ppm? Seriously? Useless.

Can you detect 0.01 ppm? No? Not useful, unless you plan to follow the crazy overdose plan that Red Sea recommends for iron.

Here's my comment on it from my ICP article, which tests iron way, way lower than your kit:

My Triton Testing Results: By Randy Holmes-Farley - REEFEDITION

Recently, Triton GmbH in Germany has initiated a method of testing many ions at once for a single price. In the US, that service is coordinated by Unique Corals. For $49 they will send you a couple of tubes to collect a tank water sample, and a prepaid mailer to send the sample back to them...

www.reefedition.com

Iron (Fe). The natural iron level varies a lot with depth, but surface seawater may have only 0.006 µg/L. The Triton LOD = 0.3 µg/L. I dose iron, and when I dose it I boost iron to roughly 1-2 µg/L, which would be detectable. This sample was taken more than a week after the last iron dosing, and none was detected as it gets depleted in the meanwhile. I’ve not yet seen a Triton test result for a real aquarium sample that had detectable iron, but that doesn’t mean these tanks are necessarily deficient. Iron is also a case where the form is critical, and ICP cannot distinguish form. Binding to organic matter, for example, can alter the bioavailability of iron.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

And yes I know its carbon menoxid but since our air was full of carbon tank had truble getting rid of any more carbon in the air as it was already bound

Not sure what that means, but carbon monoxide is toxic to fish too.

 

[jaxteller007]

IMO, that is either inaccurate, or very low and I'd try to raise it. I do not like to see pH below 7.8 routinely.

I have some test strips I'll use this morning and see if they read different. Was also planning a trip to our bigger LFS today so I'll take a water sample and see what they say. I've dosed kalk before in my old tank so if it really is that low I'll see if i can pick some up and start that.
Would it be weird to be really that low but yet all the livestock seemingly doing well? Granted we only have fish and 3 relatively hardy coral (Duncan, Kenya tree and Pandora zoa). The tree and pandora are recent additions, but the Duncan has been in there since day 1 and has exploded in growth.

 

[jaxteller007]

IMO, that is either inaccurate, or very low and I'd try to raise it. I do not like to see pH below 7.8 routinely.

Not the best pics just now since the lights haven't been on long and I used my phone but here's how every one is looking this morning.

 

[Madonia]

Carbon dioxide, which is naturally in the atmosphere (and your home) dissolves into your tank water, just as it does seawater. Water and carbon dioxide combine to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), a weak acid that breaks (or “dissociates”) into hydrogen ions (H+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-).

Most commonly, increased dissolved CO2 levels are directly correlated to decreased surface agitation. Add a power head to the tanks surface. Also open the windows. A refugium can help as well. Obviously open the windows to help ventilate your home.

this should help raise the PH. I would consider using kalk, as it’s often utilized to raise both alkalinity and PH.

 

[jaxteller007]

Carbon dioxide, which is naturally in the atmosphere (and your home) dissolves into your tank water, just as it does seawater. Water and carbon dioxide combine to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), a weak acid that breaks (or “dissociates”) into hydrogen ions (H+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-).

Most commonly, increased dissolved CO2 levels are directly correlated to decreased surface agitation. Add a power head to the tanks surface. Also open the windows. A refugium can help as well. Obviously open the windows to help ventilate your home.

this should help raise the PH. I would consider using kalk, as it’s often utilized to raise both alkalinity and PH.

We have pretty good surface agitation, at least in my opinion. I'll see if i can get a good video of it. Try to open windows when we can. Definitely going to test our water different ways today and see what happens. Possibly get some kalk to dose as well.

 

[Madonia]

Try finding space for a refugium. This should, in combo with the others, help raise pH above 8

 

[Adamantium]

I ran my skimmer air intake out a window and it took me from about 7.8 to a consistent 8.1. Just a thought (that I'm sure has been mentioned).

 

[Madonia]

I have some test strips I'll use this morning and see if they read different. Was also planning a trip to our bigger LFS today so I'll take a water sample and see what they say. I've dosed kalk before in my old tank so if it really is that low I'll see if i can pick some up and start that.
Would it be weird to be really that low but yet all the livestock seemingly doing well? Granted we only have fish and 3 relatively hardy coral (Duncan, Kenya tree and Pandora zoa). The tree and pandora are recent additions, but the Duncan has been in there since day 1 and has exploded in growth.

Coral’s skeletal density is directly sensitive to changes in seawater carbonate ion concentration and thus, water acidification. You’d be much more likely to see stony corals health decline as a result of low PH as opposed to your soft corals.

 

[vlad2spinn]

They won't unless it is a jungle. Way too much CO2 for them to absorb.

Agree, I researched it once and found that it takes several large trees to offset CO2 production of one person.

 

[jaxteller007]

So i just used 3 different tests (4 if you count my Apex), all with water fresh out the tank.
Apex (haven't re-calibrated it yet) 7.66
API strips (i'm not great at reading the color differences) - 7.0 to 7.5
Tetra strips (same issue) - 7.4 to 7.8
API liquid kit (same issue plus old kit) - 7.8 to 8.0
All of these are older test kits (except the Apex) and I'm not great at reading the colors. I set a cup of water outside to see what the difference is after an hour.

 

[jaxteller007]

@Randy Holmes-Farley @Madonia maybe my surface agitation isn't as good as I thought. Here's a quick video, excuse the "dirty" water.. had just recently feed and stirred up some crap as well.

https://youtu.be/k-FETV9P4Bk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Most commonly, increased dissolved CO2 levels are directly correlated to decreased surface agitation.

I'm not sure that is true. IME, it is more often due to elevated CO2 in the home air than inadequate aeration of a reef tank, and when that is true, more aeration alone can lower the pH.