Ph level is 7.5

[codywylie]

I just purchased a ph meter and my ph level is a 7.5 and I've heard this is to low.i added some aqua vitro eight four to raise the ph... any other advice??? Or should I not be worried



cody wylie lawrenceville

 

[tcampbell23]

Where in your house is your tank located? What type of skimmer are you running? Do you have an overflow and sump? What's your alkalinity?


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[redstang]

Sorry if this is an insulting question but, did you calibrate the ph meter first? Mine would get to 7.6 on occasion when alk got a little low. I ran my skimmer air input to the garage to bring in more fresh air and kept my alk more stable and never had issues after that.

 

[codywylie]

How do u calibrate a ph meter?

cody wylie lawrenceville

 

[redstang]

codywylie;1069068 wrote: How do u calibrate a ph meter?

cody wylie lawrenceville

Some LFS' sell calibration packets. 7.00 and 10.00 are the ones you want. Your ph meter should have a calibration procedure that you can perform on it. I wouldn't trust it until it's been done. The packets are really cheap. Call around to find a store that carries them.

 

[codywylie]

Ok cool. I have the packets and I used one and I believe it is calibrated now. Now my tank reads 7.8

cody wylie lawrenceville

 

[codywylie]

And my alk is a little low at 125 and is suppose to be over 140. I'm going to be using the eight four for the next few days and see what happens

cody wylie lawrenceville

 

[tcampbell23]

To help increase ph, try opening a door or window near the tank a few minutes a day. Also, what type of salt are you using?


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[bkostuch]

Agree with Trevor here, I had an issue with PH dropping ever so slightly daily, ran an tube from the skimmer to the outside air source and it fixed my issue. Until I was able to run the line I just opened a window in my room and it helped.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

codywylie;1069096 wrote: And my alk is a little low at 125 and is suppose to be over 140. I'm going to be using the eight four for the next few days and see what happens

cody wylie lawrenceville

125? What are you using to measure Alk? I've never heard of a number like that in reference to alkalinity. Normally you're looking at a number like 7 - 14 (dKh).

 

[tcampbell23]

porpoiseaquatics;1069102 wrote: 125? What are you using to measure Alk? I've never heard of a number like that in reference to alkalinity. Normally you're looking at a number like 7 - 14 (dKh).

Yeah he's measuring alk he just doesn't have it converted to the dKh scale


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[codywylie]

tcampbell23;1069103 wrote: Yeah he's measuring alk he just doesn't have it converted to the dKh scale


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It's 7 on the dkh scale

cody wylie lawrenceville

 

[tcampbell23]

pH and alkalinity don't necessarily go in have but I remember when I was having pH issues my alk was low. I dosed my tank solely with the intent of increasing alk and I'm no longer having pH issues.

I'm not saying that dosing alk is the way to regulate pH but in my experience it helped me..


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[saltwaterwannabe]

codywylie;1069077 wrote: Ok cool. I have the packets and I used one and I believe it is calibrated now. Now my tank reads 7.8

cody wylie lawrenceville

There is a site that says you can make the calibration fluid yourself with borax. I have no idea if this is a good idea though. I ended up dunking my meter a couple of days ago so I need to pick up a new one soon.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021015005420/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/2000/feb/bio/default.asp">http://web.archive.org/web/20021015005420/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/2000/feb/bio/default.asp</a>

One of these days I may pull out my fluid chemistry book and calc a couple of different tittmrations for other ph levels

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[jennm]

Barrettrhoades;1069314 wrote: Another thing to think about is the time of day you are testing your pH. It will be the lowest early in the morning before your lights come on. Corals are similar to plants in that the zooanthellae living within them will use up CO2 during the day, and respirate CO2 at night. The nightly respiration will decrease your ph by an average of .2-.3.

Also when your alkalinity is low, pH is buffered less easily so there will be an overall lower pH and greater swings. 7.5 is really low for seawater, 7.7-7.9 is more typical of low pH reeftanks.


And as previous posts have mentioned, always calibrate probes before putting in service. In the case with a pH probe two known pH solutions (usually 7.0 & 10.0 for seawater) are used to create a slope that the pH probe will read. Care must be taken to both wait for the pH to stabilize in each solution, and be sure to rinse the probe with RO water in between solutions to avoid contamination. Once fully calibrated verify the calibration by putting the probe back in both the 7.0 and 10.0 solutions. It should read within .1 Probes are like batteries and they do go bad, so calibration is best when done every 3-6 months. Also it can be helpful to clean probes with a soft brush.

THIS. All of it.

The goal is to reduce of eliminate (if possible) swings. To do this you should see what the pH is before the lights come on, at the midpoint of the photo-period, and at the end of the photo-period. Buffer should help reduce the difference from lowest to highest.

If the tank is solid at 8 or 8.1 I'd call that good. While 8.3 is the target, I'd take a solid reading between 8 and 8.4 that stays put.

Jenn

 

[jennm]

SaltWaterWannabe;1069367 wrote: There is a site that says you can make the calibration fluid yourself with borax. I have no idea if this is a good idea though. I ended up dunking my meter a couple of days ago so I need to pick up a new one soon.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021015005420/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/2000/feb/bio/default.asp">http://web.archive.org/web/20021015005420/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/2000/feb/bio/default.asp</a>

One of these days I may pull out my fluid chemistry book and calc a couple of different tittmrations for other ph levels

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For the $2 or so that 2 packets of calibration solution costs, is it worth messing around with recipes?

 

[tcampbell23]

JennM;1069637 wrote: For the $2 or so that 2 packets of calibration solution costs, is it worth messing around with recipes?

+1


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