Question about ATI Essentials Pro

jimsreef

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If I dose ATI Esentials Pro will it help my ph. My PH has been 7.9 daytime and goes to 7.6 at night. Tank been up since Dec. 2nd 2021. My alk is 8.0 now. Directions on ATI says to make sure Alk is between 7 and 8 before beginning dosing. What if I wanted to run a little higher alk so to help with the PH. I have 3 LPS some softies and some calcium absorbing macroalgae in the tank at the moment all looking good. I want to be able to have some SPS Acros in the tank in the near future is why I am trying to get everything right before hand. Jim
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Then you likely won’t be needing much and won’t get much pH boost. I would not pick it for that purpose. The effect will be quite small and it’s not the best at boosting pH per unit of alk added anyway.

I’d look to other methods to boost pH, such as more fresh air to the room or outside air to a skimmer inlet.
 
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jimsreef

jimsreef

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Only thing I been putting in the tank is a little phyto feast and feeding the fish just started BRS reef chili yesterday.
 
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jimsreef

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Ran airline to skimmer outside this morning. My ph high yesterday was 7.8 and 5 oclock this morning was 7.5.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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That sounds like test error, at least in part.

I’d suggest trying the aeration test in this article:



The Aeration Test

Some of the possible causes of low pH listed above require an effort to diagnose. Problems 3 and 4 are quite common, and here is a way to distinguish them. Remove a cup of tank water and measure its pH. Then aerate it for an hour with an airstone using outside air. Its pH should rise if it is unusually low for the measured alkalinity (Figure 2). Then repeat the same experiment on a new cup of water using inside air. If its pH also rises, then the aquarium’s pH will rise simply with more aeration because it is only the aquarium that contains excess carbon dioxide. If the pH does not rise in the cup (or rises very little) when aerating with indoor air, then that air likely contains excess CO2, and more aeration with that same air will not solve the low pH problem (although aeration with fresher air should). Be careful implementing this test if the outside aeration test results in a large temperature change (more than 5°C or 10°F), because such changes alone impact pH measurements.
 
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jimsreef

jimsreef

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I don't understand. I have the skimmer drawing fresh air from outside like you suggested. I have no windows that I can open in the tank room. My ph has been 7.5 to 7.8 average for quite a while now. So I ran the airline from skimmer to outside the house this morning to see what happens with the ph. If that doesn't help then I will have to try something else.
 

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I don't understand. I have the skimmer drawing fresh air from outside like you suggested. I have no windows that I can open in the tank room. My ph has been 7.5 to 7.8 average for quite a while now. So I ran the airline from skimmer to outside the house this morning to see what happens with the ph. If that doesn't help then I will have to try something else.
Do the outside aeration test as outlined above and then test it. if you are still getting low readings then that will confirm that your readings are off. which would mean that your ph isn't as low as your test would indicate.

If you do the aeration test and the readings are fine (higher ph) then it is just a matter of getting more fresh air to your tank.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I don't understand. I have the skimmer drawing fresh air from outside like you suggested. I have no windows that I can open in the tank room. My ph has been 7.5 to 7.8 average for quite a while now. So I ran the airline from skimmer to outside the house this morning to see what happens with the ph. If that doesn't help then I will have to try something else.

The reason for suggesting ther aeration test is to see if you need fresher air, just more aeration, or have a test issue.
 
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jimsreef

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I done the aeriation test on the tank water outside with an airstone for an hour and ph with the same pinpoint tester was 8.01
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I done the aeriation test on the tank water outside with an airstone for an hour and ph with the same pinpoint tester was 8.01

that suggests the true pH may be a bit higher than you are measuring.

what was the pH when the water was removed from the tank?
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Ok, And did you also do an indoor aeration test?

The tank either needs more aeration, or fresher air for aeration. The indoor test will tell you.

Outdoor air to a skimmer is fighting against tank top aeration with high CO2 air in many reef tanks, which can limit how effective it is.
 
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jimsreef

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Ok I done the inside test with new water that was 7.86 when I took it out aeriated it for one hour inside and ph was 7.75
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Ok I done the inside test with new water that was 7.86 when I took it out aeriated it for one hour inside and ph was 7.75

OK, so your home air has elevated CO2. More aeration will hurt, not help raise pH, unless it is with low CO2 air, such as from outside or scrubbed air.

More fresh air to the room will help, as will high pH alk additives and more photosynthesis to use up CO2.
 
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jimsreef

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I added fresh air with an airline to the skimmer this morning and my ph is still reading 7.86 . Does it take a few days to level out?
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I added fresh air with an airline to the skimmer this morning and my ph is still reading 7.86 . Does it take a few days to level out?

One day is usually about all it takes. 7.86 is ok.
 
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jimsreef

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ph is 7.6 this morning I wouldn’t be able to have sps corals would I with ph range that low. I need to raise the ph so what other options do I have?
 
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