So much for good pH levels

[jda]

See what it says outdoors.. should be low 400s. Try and keep the indoors as close to that as possible. My tank starts to have the ph lower at about 700 indoors and much more at 800. 800-1000 is the threshold where folks think that humans and pets can start to see some trouble in some cases and new buildings and stuff are supposed to be under this.

Had a dude send me a PM that he was on sleeping and other meds. Got a meter for his tank and his house was over 2500-3000 or something really high (I forget the actual number) - got the number down to 400-500 and all of his health issues went away.

It doesn't matter if it says 412 or 430... it is good enough for this.

 

[Saltyreef]

Air it out in the AM when the temperature is lower.

Just remember that you don't have to warm your house up. The walls, furniture, etc. will all be cooler and the air that you bring in will not move it that much if you do it quickly. Yes, just get a through-breeze for a bit.

I am a huge believer in air quality for humans. There is benefit to lowering co2 in the home even if stuff does not grow in the tank. My Aunt from Miami just visted for a few weeks and slept so much better here that she ordered a meter and has started to air their house out when she got back.

I got this one. Battery is garbage, so get one with the cord and leave it plugged in. We take it on vacation with us and are amazed at how high co2 is in some homes or Hotel rooms. I don't think that NASA would use this, but it is good enough for us.

Thanks for rejogging my mental note of needing to buy combo monoxide & smoke alarms as replacements for my old detectors!

 

[salty joe]

I got one of those battery CO monitors and it's junk. I'll have to check out a corded one.

Are you using kalk for makeup water? You can get immediate pH help right there.

 

[BanZI29]

I got one of those battery CO monitors and it's junk. I'll have to check out a corded one.

Are you using kalk for makeup water? You can get immediate pH help right there.

I am not. I am dosing all for reef. My corals really like that stuff. Not sure if I can dose both.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I am not. I am dosing all for reef. My corals really like that stuff. Not sure if I can dose both.

You can dose both, but low pH is one of the drawbacks to AFR.

 

[BanZI29]

So, kind of a weird question, IF it is not high CO2 that is causing my low pH, and a scrubber and outside tube doesn't help, What if I were to use a bubbler stone with an air pump that is pulling air thru a scrubber? i would put the stone in a back chamber somewhere. what do you all think?

 

[BanZI29]

You can dose both, but low pH is one of the drawbacks to AFR.

wouldn't that run my alk really high though? My alk already runs an average of 13 and calcium averages 450

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So, kind of a weird question, IF it is not high CO2 that is causing my low pH, and a scrubber and outside tube doesn't help, What if I were to use a bubbler stone with an air pump that is pulling air thru a scrubber? i would put the stone in a back chamber somewhere. what do you all think?

If the air in the room that is aerating the tank is normal, and the pH is low (below 8.0), more aeration with that normal air will raise it. Together, alkalinity and CO2 in the water mathematically determine the pH.

I would not bother with a scrubber due to cost if room air is normal.

Bubblers have issues with salt spray in a lot of settings, so be wary of that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

wouldn't that run my alk really high though? My alk already runs an average of 13 and calcium averages 450

Well, obviously you need to adjust the doses so that doesn't happen, but I will also add that the alk demand will rise as the pH rises.

Right now it sounds like you are dosing too much AFR.

 

[BanZI29]

So got the CO2 monitor and ...yea it's a bit high. 1200. According to the instruction booklet, that is "abnormal". What do u all think? Would that cause low pH?

 

[jda]

Beyond a doubt yes.

 

[BanZI29]

This is what it was at 6:30 this morning....how does it go higher when no one is in the room? We do have 3 cats, are they trying to kill us?

 

[salty joe]

I have a CO2 detector similar to yours in that it has a rechargeable battery. It would sometimes climb for no apparent reason, then if I turned it off and back on I'd get a very different number. Although, if I took it outside it would drop so it worked but was squirrelly. I don't trust it.

 

[jda]

The HVAC in your home moves around the air so you don't have to be in a room for the co2 to move up or down.

With the COSys modeling tool, at 1400 co2 the tank pH of 7.841 and 8.061 with photosynthesis boost whereas with co2 at 450 it is 8.263 and 8.483 with photosynthesis bump. These are with stable alk of 9.0. This is just a modeling tool and not a predictor, but you can see how much airborne co2 matter.

I would get a lot of fresh air into your home. Lows are in the mid-70s for the next week so this should be plenty doable.

D-iMac-Pro:~ d$ python3 co2.py 9.0 1400
dKH: 9.0 , Alk: 3240.0
co2: 1400
pH NBS: 7.841
tank pH Est: 8.061
D-iMac-Pro:~ d$ python3 co2.py 9.0 450
dKH: 9.0 , Alk: 3240.0
co2: 450
pH NBS: 8.263
tank pH Est: 8.483

 

[jda]

The air does not move through these units very well. If you move it around or shake it, the number can change. Mine is in the middle of the room where the air flows around/through it pretty well.

 

[BanZI29]

The HVAC in your home moves around the air so you don't have to be in a room for the co2 to move up or down.

With the COSys modeling tool, at 1400 co2 the tank pH of 7.841 and 8.061 with photosynthesis boost whereas with co2 at 450 it is 8.263 and 8.483 with photosynthesis bump. These are with stable alk of 9.0. This is just a modeling tool and not a predictor, but you can see how much airborne co2 matter.

I would get a lot of fresh air into your home. Lows are in the mid-70s for the next week so this should be plenty doable.

D-iMac-Pro:~ d$ python3 co2.py 9.0 1400
dKH: 9.0 , Alk: 3240.0
co2: 1400
pH NBS: 7.841
tank pH Est: 8.061
D-iMac-Pro:~ d$ python3 co2.py 9.0 450
dKH: 9.0 , Alk: 3240.0
co2: 450
pH NBS: 8.263
tank pH Est: 8.483

I will be opening the house tonight when it cools off. it is 90° and 89% humidity where I live.

 

[BanZI29]

The air does not move through these units very well. If you move it around or shake it, the number can change. Mine is in the middle of the room where the air flows around/through it pretty well.

yea I am keeping it near my tank. I think I am going to keep it on the shelf above the tank and see what happens.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I honestly don't know why you are chasing this PH number. 7.9 could mean 7.99999 mean basically 8. Why are we trying to push higher? Acceptable range varies from 7.8 to 8.4. You are well within this range. If you are doing it for kicks just to raise it then sure, have fun but if you are trying to attain higher just because someone said your PH is low then I wouldn't worry with it.

Keep your water agitated at the surface, Keep your skimmer pumping and keep the chemistry of your water stable and everything will be fine.

 

[jda]

I had another person send me a message and their gym has been charting muscle growth since they started to open all of their windows and garage doors and it looks like there is a pretty sizable bump. Who knew that less waste product in our air was a good thing. A local university is turning this into a study. They were at/around 1000-1200 ppm indoors and are now at 410, or so.

Where 5000 ppm was once considered a problem for humans and pets, 1000 ppm now seems to be more recommended to say beneath for long term exposure (homes, schools and offices).

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

See what it says outdoors.. should be low 400s. Try and keep the indoors as close to that as possible. My tank starts to have the ph lower at about 700 indoors and much more at 800. 800-1000 is the threshold where folks think that humans and pets can start to see some trouble in some cases and new buildings and stuff are supposed to be under this.

Had a dude send me a PM that he was on sleeping and other meds. Got a meter for his tank and his house was over 2500-3000 or something really high (I forget the actual number) - got the number down to 400-500 and all of his health issues went away.

It doesn't matter if it says 412 or 430... it is good enough for this.

Ever since I got a PH monitor, and I realized how low my PH was, we started opening the house up for the first time ever.

This last year has been my first days waking up not dead tired.

My health, or at least energy, has improved dramatically with the change of keeping a focus on our indoor air quality beyond filters for dust and allergens.