Would a Constant pH (8.3) be Beneficial to (SPS) Coral Growth?

[Cole.mormon]

Nice

 

[EMeyer]

The pH in reef tanks is frequently far below what happens naturally, and “chasing pH” as you put it would seem to be exactly what you are espousing in maintaining natural levels. Yet you don’t recommend that? Why not?

Low pH in reef tanks? The average on the reefs surveyed above was what, somewhere between 7.9 and 8.0?

If I encountered a tank with an average pH below that I'd be interested in bringing it up, sure! That isnt what I see in my tanks or typically on the forums. I see people (like in this thread) talking about pH levels higher than natural reefs, and wondering how to maintain them at such high levels.

I see people worrying about daily minima in pH that are perfectly natural.

I don't mean to say "dont ever adjust your tank's pH", I guess I would better state my advice as "don't try to impose levels that are higher or more stable than natural reefs"

 

[huckilt]

i have a blue lab ph meter that I test the ph with. Can’t afford an aquarium controller yet to be able to show you a graph. So now that you mention it I could be having swings between readings. But I will take readings and snap a pic with time stamp. I honestly don’t know what keeps the ph at that level if it in fact is as stable as I think. I have a diy algae scrubber with some cheap red/blue leds that I run 7pm to 9am in a wet/dry trickle filter with 7lbs live rock under the bio balls and a hob skimmer that runs 24/7. I was only assuming the brass was the problem since when I noticed the problem and started to look for the culprit I saw the two separate fittings that were turning green and replaced them did multiple 20 gallon water changes on a system just under 50gallons and started seeing improvements. So like I said it was my assumption the fittings were the cause. That was the only change other than water. The fittings had been there for the 7 months the tank has been running. I actually posted a thread here about it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Low pH in reef tanks? The average on the reefs surveyed above was what, somewhere between 7.9 and 8.0?

If I encountered a tank with an average pH below that I'd be interested in bringing it up, sure! That isnt what I see in my tanks or typically on the forums. I see people (like in this thread) talking about pH levels higher than natural reefs, and wondering how to maintain them at such high levels.

I see people worrying about daily minima in pH that are perfectly natural.

I don't mean to say "dont ever adjust your tank's pH", I guess I would better state my advice as "don't try to impose levels that are higher or more stable than natural reefs"

Yes, low pH in reef tanks. pH 7.8 is common. pH 7.7 is not rare, and even 7.6 is encountered due to excess home CO2. That is a big drop compared to normal, and is enough to have researchers very worried for the health of reefs if it should be attained in the wild.

As to the stability, you cannot say that stable pH 8.3 is not going to lead to faster coral growth or even more healthy corals than a tank varying from 7.9 to 8.1. Some experiments suggest higher pH does lead to faster growth. Does the concern that it is not mimicking the ocean make it untrue?

Do you support maintaining nitrate at a natural level of 0.1 ppm? No? Why not? Isn't natural best? Oh man, stop chasing nitrate!!!!