pH??

[lickyricky]

I started my new aquarium 3 days ago. The pH is at about 7.5. Should it be at 8.0-8.3? will it raise naturally or do I need to buffer it? if so what is the best product to accomplish this?

 

[Loki]

What is your salinity? It should be higher. I don't think it will raise on its own. Someone else with a better understanding will be able to answer.

 

[ironworker]

We need more info. What are calcium magnesium and alkalinity at. They will all affect ph

 

[lickyricky]

We need more info. What are calcium magnesium and alkalinity at. They will all affect ph

I just started the tank and did not buy any test kits for calcium magnesium and alkalinity yet b/c I was hoping to hold off till I get some more cash flow.

 

[Pkunk35]

I started my new aquarium 3 days ago. The pH is at about 7.5. Should it be at 8.0-8.3? will it raise naturally or do I need to buffer it? if so what is the best product to accomplish this?

Did you use a salt mix? If you mixed it to proper salinity then most mixes will give you the proper pH. What's your salt mix and salinity at? Anything else in the tank at all?

 

[ritter6788]

To me, buffers to raise ph are a waste of money and you are more likely to drive alkalinity too high which is worse than a slightly low ph. It may be as simple as increasing aeration.

An experiment you can try is take a sample of your water outside and aerate it with an air stone. Test ph of the sample and see if it increases. If so then you need to improve aeration in your tank or let more fresh air in the house.

 

[Ace25]

When I moved from a house to an apartment I had low pH issues. Took me a few days to figure out the cause, which ended up being me closing the windows at night. When I closed up the apartment, pH would drop to 7.5-7.6, when I left the windows open it never dropped below 7.9 at night. First couple days I tried the airstone method and saw no difference, but that was because the air pump was pulling air from the room, which was high in CO2 when the windows were closed.

I agree with ritter6788, buffers usually end up doing much more harm than good when trying to use them for the purpose of raising pH.

 

[lickyricky]

When I moved from a house to an apartment I had low pH issues. Took me a few days to figure out the cause, which ended up being me closing the windows at night. When I closed up the apartment, pH would drop to 7.5-7.6, when I left the windows open it never dropped below 7.9 at night. First couple days I tried the airstone method and saw no difference, but that was because the air pump was pulling air from the room, which was high in CO2 when the windows were closed.

I agree with ritter6788, buffers usually end up doing much more harm than good when trying to use them for the purpose of raising pH.

That would be great if I didnt live in Florida where its always 95 degrees and 100% humid

 

[lickyricky]

Did you use a salt mix? If you mixed it to proper salinity then most mixes will give you the proper pH. What's your salt mix and salinity at? Anything else in the tank at all?

No, I used pre mixed salt water from my LFS

 

[ritter6788]

That would be great if I didnt live in Florida where its always 95 degrees and 100% humid

I'm in Texas and its always 100 degrees and humid. :)

 

[lickyricky]

okay, just bought a refractometer....my salinity is 30 ppt and specific gravity is 1.023

 

[Ace25]

add more salt.. I keep mine at 35ppt, or 1.026. Mix the salt with some top off water though, don't just toss salt in the tank.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

3 days is nothing in this hobby, don't think you can even assume anything within 2 weeks of running a tank. Too many changes are happening. Any buffers are a temporary solution like ritter6788 says. Lighting, aeration, chemistry affect ph. Hit the books :) read some more here from Randy
Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[lickyricky]

3 days is nothing in this hobby, don't think you can even assume anything within 2 weeks of running a tank. Too many changes are happening. Any buffers are a temporary solution like ritter6788 says. Lighting, aeration, chemistry affect ph. Hit the books :) read some more here from Randy
Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

thanks for the read!! great info

 

[lickyricky]

When I moved from a house to an apartment I had low pH issues. Took me a few days to figure out the cause, which ended up being me closing the windows at night. When I closed up the apartment, pH would drop to 7.5-7.6, when I left the windows open it never dropped below 7.9 at night. First couple days I tried the airstone method and saw no difference, but that was because the air pump was pulling air from the room, which was high in CO2 when the windows were closed.

I agree with ritter6788, buffers usually end up doing much more harm than good when trying to use them for the purpose of raising pH.

should I add an aerator to my biocube? would putting the pump just outside the window help bring air in from outside?

 

[ritter6788]

should I add an aerator to my biocube?

How about a skimmer?

 

[lickyricky]

How about a skimmer?

I do not want to add a skimmer just yet. I just ready an article someone else suggested. Going to try that...I currently have a cup of water outside with an aerator in it...going to see if that raised the pH and then will repeat but inside to see if that has the same effect, if it does then I know my tank just needs more air. If it gets higher outside then I know I have too much CO2 in my house.