Hello everyone! I've got 2 reef tanks currently set up a 40-gallon breeder and a 10-gallon Fluval flex that I have upgraded the lighting on. The 40g has been set up for four months while the 10g has been set up since January. Both have had stable chemistry but I'm currently unhappy with my pH and kH levels in the tanks. Every time I test the pH in both tanks it is at 8.0 and the kH is around 11. I dose aquavitro eight.four and aquavitro balance to try and raise the pH to around 8.3-8.4 but, while the pH levels rise after dosing they quickly fall back to 8.0 by the next day. I know that low pH can sometimes be caused by low calcium and magnesium levels, however, when testing these levels I've found that my calcium stays around 400 and my magnesium stays around 1300 with my current dosing schedule.
As far as kH is concerned I also feel that my usual level of 11 is too high given that the typical range of kH for a reef tank, to my knowledge, is between 8-11dkH. I would rather my kH be around 9-10 to have some wiggle room in case something were to cause it to rise or fall. I do water changes weekly, however, even after doing a water change, the kH is still at the same level.
Why is it that I can't seem to get these levels to change? I suppose this isn't a horrible problem to have given that they are stable but I feel that they could be better. I don't like my pH being at the absolute low end of the spectrum and my kH being at the absolute high end of the spectrum since they neither give me any buffer in the event that something goes wrong. Perhaps my logic is flawed, and if so, I would love to be educated more. I've absolutely loved getting into the reefing hobby and would love to learn as much about the chemistry of the water as I can.
As far as kH is concerned I also feel that my usual level of 11 is too high given that the typical range of kH for a reef tank, to my knowledge, is between 8-11dkH. I would rather my kH be around 9-10 to have some wiggle room in case something were to cause it to rise or fall. I do water changes weekly, however, even after doing a water change, the kH is still at the same level.
Why is it that I can't seem to get these levels to change? I suppose this isn't a horrible problem to have given that they are stable but I feel that they could be better. I don't like my pH being at the absolute low end of the spectrum and my kH being at the absolute high end of the spectrum since they neither give me any buffer in the event that something goes wrong. Perhaps my logic is flawed, and if so, I would love to be educated more. I've absolutely loved getting into the reefing hobby and would love to learn as much about the chemistry of the water as I can.