Aquavitro Balance for maintaining Ph?

[sleepyreef]

I finally invested in a Ph monitor. I was using the AP Ph test kit but I swear my tube color never looked like the colors on the card.

Anyway my Ph is in the range of 7.8 at night and 8.0 in the day. So this is the low end for a reef tank so I have been researching ways to maintain a Ph of at least 8.0 at night and 8.2 in the day.

I came across http://www.aquavitro.com/products/balance.html">Aquavitro Balance</a>. I was curious if anyone else has had experience with this to maintain Ph. My other parameters are consistently in the optimal ranges. If I start dosing more Sodium Carbonate my Ph will rise minimally but my KH will skyrocket before I can reach the level I want. I don't want to seesaw my Ph and KH and would like to find a way to maintain it.

Current Levels:

Mag 1480
KH 9.5
Ca 455
Sal 1.026
Ph 7.8-8
Nitrate: not detectable
Phosphate: 0.04

Or if others have a system with the same Ph range and your system runs well with the corals growing, then I may just leave it alone. Stable Ph is better than Ph swings from what I have read.

 

[reefknight]

I have had this same issue for several years, 5 years in fact. When I purchased my home and moved in it was a newly constructed home and sealed / insulated very tightly. I noticed right away that my pH wasn't as high as it had been at the home I was renting, older home (20+yrs). I began chasing the pH value and used about every method out there at the time in hopes of attaining the perfect pH, including purchasing and using the Aqua Vitro products when they first arrived on the market. I tried Balance and 8.4 to no avail. I finally deduced that it was in fact the home and it was trapping CO2 therefore the low pH value.

A quick test to determine if this is your situation; take a container full of water. I use a 32 oz. plastic drink cup, fill it measure the pH right away. Then place the same cup outside for about an hour, then measure again. If your pH value has increased to an acceptable limit, you can deduce that your home too is trapping CO2.

Solutions; there are a couple. Run the airline for your skimmer into your attic space so that it brings in fresh air. Many will tell you to run it outside or to a window, but with pollution what it is, I don't care for that. Another is to construct a CO2 scrubber and connect to the air intake of your skimmer. It uses soda lime to absorb the excess CO2. Je4fy did a DIY version and posted a how to here on the forum.

Personally, I have stopped chasing this value. Mine runs very similar to yours and I still have great growth and coloration. The pH remaining stable is more important to me and for me it works.

GL

 

[sleepyreef]

My Ph value dropped to 7.6 this morning before lights on. I think I have a CO2 issue. I am going to run the CO2 test. I think 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 cats, and a dog in a roughly 1200 sq ft house produces lots of CO2.

Edit: After doing some tests my Ph probe may need to be recalibrated. Do any LFS on the north side sell Ph calibration fluid?

 

[jennm]

I have 7 & 10 fluid here.

Balance can help with the pH too if it's not a CO2 issue.

Jenn

 

[sleepyreef]

I sat my water outside for a couple hours, tested it, and it came back .02 higher. Hrm now I'm confused. Does GFO or carbon reduce Ph?

 

[acroholic]

No need to chase pH numbers IMO. Your parameters are fine.

But, if you are heck bent on upping the pH, you may want to look at a Nilsen Stirrer for your system. Nothing ups your pH like running all your topoff water through Kalk. Has the added benefit of adding calcium to your water, even though your calcium level is fine.

 

[sleepyreef]

Well I stopped by Jenn's and picked up the calibration fluid. When I arrived home and checked the Ph probe's calibration it was only off by .05 on both the 7.0 and 10.0, so I know now that I have a Ph problem. I picked up Aqua Vitro Balance just in case.

So Ph was around 7.7 when I got home with lights on for about 5 hours. I started dosing 10 ml of the balance, Ph rose to 7.8ish. I then waited a while then dosed 10 ml more and Ph went up to 7.9ish. After a total dosage of 40 ml over a few hours my Ph capped at 8.05. I was satisfied and felt like that was enough dosing for the day.

I will have to keep tabs and keep dosing until I can figure out a better solution to the problem. My goal is to not have the Ph drop below 7.8 with lights off. Usually if I have 8.0 with lights on it will only drop 0.2 overnight. I would rather have it range between 8.0 and 8.2 but as long as it stays over 7.8 consistently I am not going to go overboard with dosing.

Arcoholic - really the only number I'm chasing is keeping it over 7.8. When I read the Ph meter at 7.55 this morning I was concerned. It regularly hovers between 7.8 and 8.0. The only thing different that I have done in the past week was add carbon and GFO after taking about a month break from carbon and GFO.

Edit: Beyond the Ph everything else looks fine in my tank. But my RBTA did go on a walkabout today and is currently attached to my back glass. But I'm not sure if that is it's final destination.

 

[ripped tide]

Check your alk before and after adding the gfo

 

[sleepyreef]

Update:

Today my Ph was 7.6 before lights and 7.8 after so I had to add 20ml of the Balance.

Here are my tests from two days ago compared to today. All I have added over the past two days was 60ml Balance.

----8.31 9.02
Sal 1.026 1.026
Mg 1540 1520
Alk 10.2 11
Cal 460 500

 

[ralph atl]

if your ph is truly below 7.8, then I would either:

dose alk using soda ash (as I do)
kalk
Co2 scrubber which is like 45-50 bucks a year

If it is at 7.8 or above, as Dave said, I wouldn't mess with it. I havn't checked PH in years and years.....Corals are exploding and fish are happy....

Alk at 9, Calcium at 450 or above, and mag at 1350....

don't care about ph if all is well!

 

[sleepyreef]

Update:

Ph meter read 7.23 this morning. Arrived home from work, it reads 7.36. I don't understand how it can get so low.
Balance is only a temporary fix. I have open windows, caused a slight increase, but only temporary. I am not sure what to do next.

I don't like knowing my Ph anymore.

 

[jennm]

Are you sure your device is calibrated properly and the probe isn't expired? (They do need to be replaced every couple of years or so).

That pH is scary close to neutral - that doesn't make any sense. Have you tested it with a conventional kit as well?

Jenn

 

[acroholic]

SleepyReef;797292 wrote: Update:

Ph meter read 7.23 this morning. Arrived home from work, it reads 7.36. I don't understand how it can get so low.
Balance is only a temporary fix. I have open windows, caused a slight increase, but only temporary. I am not sure what to do next.

I don't like knowing my Ph anymore.

I wouldn't trust your pH meter any more. One of two things is probably wrong, IMO: you need a new probe, or your meter is defective.

pH monitors/controllers rarely go bad, IMO, so I would look at the probe. If this is a new unit, you may look at warranty replacement.

Your original post stated a pH of 7.8-8.0. Use that as your reference now, and get the probe looked at. The alkalinity, magnesium and calcium levels you just posted are fine, of your tank are inconsistent with a pH of 7.23.

Look at your tank. How does everything seem?

I live in Sandy Springs right off 400, and if you want to swing by with some of your tank water, just PM me. I have brand new pH probes in my in-tank and Calcium Reactor pH meters, and I can check your water with mine to compare with yours.

 

[sleepyreef]

I purchased the Pinpoint Ph monitor about a month ago. Before that I was using API test and never could match up the color.

I have calibrated the probe twice, when I first used it and a couple of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago is off by a negligible amount.

My corals and fish seem to be happy as normal. My anemone and birdsnest have never looked better lol.

 

[ripped tide]

Do you still have any pH regent left? Might as well confirm with a liquid test

 

[sleepyreef]

OK, well my Ph meter is reading 6.88 this morning. My tank inhabitants look OK, so obviously I must have a bad probe. I just purchased my Pinpoint Ph meter about a month ago so I expect a little more for a 100 bucks. I'm sorely disappointed. I expect a continuous reading meter to keep calibration longer than a day. It seems to drop about 0.1 - 0.2 per day.

 

[acroholic]

SleepyReef;797811 wrote: OK, well my Ph meter is reading 6.88 this morning. My tank inhabitants look OK, so obviously I must have a bad probe. I just purchased my Pinpoint Ph meter about a month ago so I expect a little more for a 100 bucks. I'm sorely disappointed. I expect a continuous reading meter to keep calibration longer than a day. It seems to drop about 0.1 - 0.2 per day.

Contact Milwaukee Instruments directly. I used to use their SMS 122 pH controllers, and have had a couple bad probes come in with them in the past. MI has always been very responsive and dealt directly with me. Their contact info:

Milwaukee Instruments, Inc.
2950 Business Park Drive
Rocky Mount, NC 27804 - U.S.A.
Tel.: +1.252.443.3630
Fax: +1.252.443.1937

 

[sleepyreef]

Well it is a Pinpoint Ph monitor made or distributed by American Marine Inc. I contacted Bulk Reef Supply and they pointed me towards American Marine. I tried the email given and on their site but it came back undeliverable. So I will try to call the phone number listed on the website tomorrow.

 

[acroholic]

SleepyReef;798270 wrote: Well it is a Pinpoint Ph monitor made or distributed by American Marine Inc. I contacted Bulk Reef Supply and they pointed me towards American Marine. I tried the email given and on their site but it came back undeliverable. So I will try to call the phone number listed on the website tomorrow.

Oh sorry. You said it was American Marine in another post...brain fart on my part. You shouldn't have any issues with AM either. Good company IME as well. I think the owner's name is Sal.

Just so you know, I bought three Digital Aquatics brand pH replacement probes from Aquarium specialty about three weeks ago, and one of them after calibration was giving me a pH of 3 and after I recalibrated it, it was reading 22. I thought the meter was bad, but when I looked at the tip, the glass bulb the AgCl probe fluid is encased in was completely gone. I found it in the probe cover that it was shipped in, so bad probes are a common occurence. Aquarium Specialty replaced it no issue.