Super simple nonscientific PH experiment

[Battlecorals]

So I'll confess I have never really chased PH, in fact, I'm sure my probe is not even accurate at all right now, but I can't deny the annual uptick in growth I seem to see once windows get opened, and I can even leave them open all night. I'm really feeling that the slightly elevated trend in ph is the catalyst for the improved growth.

So I thought id try something. Nothing new at all, and I've been down this road before down in the basement but never really concluded any real benefit.

I'm talking about pulling outside air into my skimmer in an effort to help keep the ph trend a little higher, into the fall and winter months to come when the room is a lot more sealed up. So I went ahead and built a little air filter out of a repurposed pellet reactor. I've always been paranoid about things like dust and pollen and smoke and whatever getting sucked into the skimmer, which is one of the main reasons I never liked the idea. But I am going to keep this set up till further notice. I'll commit and put a pipe through the actual wall if I am confident that it's helping but for now it's just running to my closest window.

Anyway. wondering if anyone has really seen any benefit to outside air or more specifically pinpointed higher PH to obvious better growth.

I'll certainly share any results, good or bad as things progress. Suppose I should get a new probe so I can see what my actual PH is. lol. anyway. Here's the little setup I put together.

 

[Joedubyk]

1000000000% higher pH is like crack to corals. My trident will actually show less consumption when my pH goes down. I have been saying for months that higher pH is the least talked about method of getting much better coral growth.

 

[Johniejumbo]

I have been curious about this tactic as well. I’ll be interested to know if you notice a benefit.

 

[dragon99]

Filtering the outside air can't hurt, but keep in mind indoor air quality is often worse:

The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality | US EPA

While pollutant levels from individual sources may not pose a significant health risk by themselves, most homes have more than one source that contributes to indoor air pollution.

www.epa.gov

In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.

 

[mtdaly85]

I’ve noticed the same, Adam. This spring, I’ve see. An uptick in coral growth with the windows open! Apex says the pH is between 8.15 and 8.45

 

[hart24601]

With your business in the house might consider an ERV air exchanger too. Outside air to skimmer is good, but fresh air in the house is great! I installed one a couple of years ago after noticing low ph in reef and getting a co2 monitor and seeing it at 1,000 to 1,500.

 

[JPergamo]

I 100% notice better growth with higher PH over the years. I will probably always drip kalk into my systems forever for this reason as part of my dosing regimen.

 

[Battlecorals]

With your business in the house might consider an ERV air exchanger too. Outside air to skimmer is good, but fresh air in the house is great! I installed one a couple of years ago after noticing low ph in reef and getting a co2 monitor and seeing it at 1,000 to 1,500.

I actually have 2 of them running 24/7 roughly 400 cfm. I was actually considering one of the commercial units and kick it up to 800

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

I think my higher PH has helped me be successful in coral growth. My PH has always been on the higher side and i believe it is do to my large plant collection which surrounds my tanks It is usually around 8.2 all winter and now with the windows open all the time it tops 8.4. I've also noticed a larger alk and cal consumption with the raised PH.

 

[hart24601]

I actually have 2 of them running 24/7 roughly 400 cfm. I was actually considering one of the commercial units and kick it up to 800

Nice! Do you monitor household co2? With that much exchange and if you get 800 cfm you might not see crazy results without outside airline.

 

[Heabel7]

pH has to be huge. Opened my windows for a week and my alk dropped from 8.7 to 8.1. Growth was noticeable on a couple of my sps daily. Closed everything up had some family over for a 3 day weekend (8 people in my small home). Alk shot up to 8.9 and seen zero growth. Trying to figure out how to get a line outside. Given I’m in a townhome and my tank is not on an exterior wall I need to do some serious planning and modifications to get a line outside. There is also a BRS investigates that shows significantly more growth with higher PH.

 

[BighohoReef]

No one is suggesting a summer grow out competition based on this? My PH has been hovering around 8.05 - 8.11.. got it to 8.24 on one of the hot days. I’ve been wondering if this would help with coral growth. Happy to share results as the weather gets better.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

I live in a downtown high-rise condo so its hard to open my windows and not have lots of dust and noise come in (not to mention the windows only open a few inches... I put up a DIY CO2 scrubber and have seen my pH rise from 8.0 max on a good day, to 8.3. The nice thing is when I do open my windows, the pH stays the same, but I get more life out of my CO2 media.

The SPS in my tank are new, so it might be hard to say if it makes them grow faster, but from what I have heard from others, there is very little downside other than about $5 a month for CO2 media.

 

[Battlecorals]

I am 100% convinced that a little fresh air goes a LONG way when it comes to health and vigor of sps. I honestly never used to pay attention to PH going back many years, and always ran on the low side, 7.6ish every night and not seeing any higher than 7.8 in the day.

But since I've boosted it, literally all of my sps have "woke up". Groth and coloration are as good as I have ever experienced. I honestly think some of the rapid growth I experienced in some of my first setups at my parent's house, when I didn't have a clue how to really keep acros, was due to higher Ph. Although I never measured it. But I swear I've been chasing that vitality for over a decade now. lol and I think I've finally found it again.

I did go one step further and install a commercial-sized ventilator as well, which has made most of the difference I'm sure. as opposed to the outside air to the skimmer.

Anyway, seems like old hat kind of info here. But if you are seeing limited growth in your sps and have lower ph readings then I'd consider any means possible of raising your PH. Starting with as much fresh air as you can introduce.

 

[ajjw0828]

I am 100% convinced that a little fresh air goes a LONG way when it comes to health and vigor of sps. I honestly never used to pay attention to PH going back many years, and always ran on the low side, 7.6ish every night and not seeing any higher than 7.8 in the day.

But since I've boosted it, literally all of my sps have "woke up". Groth and coloration are as good as I have ever experienced. I honestly think some of the rapid growth I experienced in some of my first setups at my parent's house, when I didn't have a clue how to really keep acros, was due to higher Ph. Although I never measured it. But I swear I've been chasing that vitality for over a decade now. lol and I think I've finally found it again.

I did go one step further and install a commercial-sized ventilator as well, which has made most of the difference I'm sure. as opposed to the outside air to the skimmer.

Anyway, seems like old hat kind of info here. But if you are seeing limited growth in your sps and have lower ph readings then I'd consider any means possible of raising your PH. Starting with as much fresh air as you can introduce.

Just wondering if you run any reverse lighting schedule to help balance pH swings or if you don't think its worth it?

 

[EMeyer]

What's always missing for me in these discussions of pH is evidence of the growth effects themselves. Its plausible that increased pH can benefit corals, but not self-evident.

I'll also point out that natural reefs cycle daily from roughly 7.8 to about 8.1, rather than maintaining steady high pH. Which raises questions for me about the desirability of maintaining high stable pH in our aquariums.

But regardless of expectations - I'd love to read a controlled aquarium experiment on coral growth in different pH. There's been lots of research showing that for *some* corals, lowering pH below 'natural' levels reduces growth. But I've seen little research showing a benefit of increased pH (above 'natural' levels). Anyone know of a study on this?

 

[SoAg Reefer]

I agree 100% with Adam on this. No I dont have a scientific research paper to prove it but when my ph is in the 8.3-8.4+ range versus when its time to switch out CO2 scrubber media and it drops to 7.9-8.0 you can tell the difference. Growth improves, PE improves, Color improves.... Things dont look bad at 7.9ph but there is a noticeable difference over 8.3. There can be all the studies in the world, my proof is in my tank. When i make changes and how the inhabitants react. For me, higher PH = happier acros

 

[NeSsyAqua]

Dang yall run some low ph

 

[SoAg Reefer]

Gotten to 8.5 never 8.74 lol

 

[DC Reefer]

I see better growth and coloration with higher PH. I have been using a CO2 scrubber the last couple of months and with windows open my low is about 8.2 and my high is 8.4. My ALK consumption is up about 50% ( running flow through the CA reactor 50% higher than when the PH range was 7.9-8.1).

On another tank I have the skimmer air line running through my HVAC room fresh Air vent and it keeps it between 8.1 and 8.2 and my ALK take up increased in this tank also. Prior to pulling outside air (at least partially) it was peaking just under 8.0.

BTW - Adam has some really nice frags, great shipping and customer service also - highly recommended.