Stable ph

[Viperdragon]

I have been thinking of going the route that Chris Meckley does at aci with using kalkwasser to maintain stable ph in my system. If anyone is doing this what system do you use to watch you ph. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have been thinking of going the route that Chris Meckley does at aci with using kalkwasser to maintain stable ph in my system. If anyone is doing this what system do you use to watch you ph. Thanks

We have some extensive threads discussing the idea of dosing kalkwasser (or other hydroxide source) based on pH alone and not alk. It's an idea that fails to raise pH very much in some situations (high CO2 environments or low evaporation settings, typically), and which results in excessive alk in others (low alk demand aquaria).

One cannot extrapolate one experience into other scenarios without recognizing the important potential differences.

Can you describe a bit more about your system and what you hope to accomplish with it?

 

[Viperdragon]

I have a 80 gallon mixed reef and everything seems happy with what I am doing currently. But the colors on some of the corals have seem to have faded or are not at bright as I first got them and groth is ok. I do weekly 10 percent water changes with aquaforest salt. And I use kalkwasser.to maintain alk and cal dosed at night. I have no clue what my ph ranges and wondering what others use to monitor there's. I have a red sea kit but it's hard for me to tell the difference in colors on it. I think it is one number and wife thinks it is different.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have a 80 gallon mixed reef and everything seems happy with what I am doing currently. But the colors on some of the corals have seem to have faded or are not at bright as I first got them and groth is ok. I do weekly 10 percent water changes with aquaforest salt. And I use kalkwasser.to maintain alk and cal dosed at night. I have no clue what my ph ranges and wondering what others use to monitor there's. I have a red sea kit but it's hard for me to tell the difference in colors on it. I think it is one number and wife thinks it is different.

FWIW, color generally is not impacted to a big extent by pH, while hard coral growth is.

I definitely would not dose any hydroxide product without monitoring pH and alk, at least until you know how your tank responds. A pH meter is far better than a kit, and a meter with two point calibration is needed, IMO. There are many suitable brands.

 

[Viperdragon]

I test tank weekly to make sure things stay stable.

 

[Sleeepy]

I run Hydros to monitor pH and everything else as run my equipment but I dose kalk based on Alkalinity consumption. I dose on the hour, every hour. The higher pH is just a positive bi-product for me. To me, alkalinity stability is such an important thing beyond most other parameters. I can't monitor my Alk with Hydros (although it is capable, I am not spending $800 to watch it) I just test alk twice a week and adjust dosing accordingly. This keeps my Alk in the 8.0-8.3 range all the time.

You should also consider running a CO2 scrubber off of your skimmer. That is more of my pH control.