ph problems

[victor626nj]

hey guys i just put up my 12 gal ap last week and all my par. are at 0 my salinaty is at 1.026 temp at 78 steady but my ph is at 7.8 . i dont have anything in the back chamber or any suppliments in the tank.i am useing reef crystals and yes it will be a reef. how can i bring it up to were it needs to be,and can i do it with out any buffers,and if i do need to use a buffer what is the best kind. thanks in advance

 

[wbholwell]

What's your dKH? Chances are that it's low- if so, you'll need to use buffer to bring it up.

 

[victor626nj]

dont really know i have a med high low test kit from red sea i guess its in the low med

 

[wbholwell]

Sounds like it's low, but you should really go out and buy a good carbonate hardness test kit. They're not that much

 

[theplatypus]

When are you testing?

 

[victor626nj]

theplatypus;36198 wrote: When are you testing?

i just tested it

 

[rgzfly]

Use seachem reef buffer and buy some reef builder as well. Its not uncommon to have a ph of 7.8, it can be easily raised with reef buffer. But while your at it add some reef builder to raise your alkalinity as well. I use reef advantage calcium also. Just mix in your top off water and alternate days with each. You shouldn't have any problems raising your ph with reef buffer. And no, I don't work for seachem. I've used alot of products out there and find theirs to be superior. In a short time you'll notice a good amount of coralline algae start to grow.
Richard

 

[showtime305]

<span style="color: black;">Seachem does make great products. I'm currently using their reef salt and several additives. My tank is fairly young also, so I'm still dosing buffer at least every other day to maintain the proper pH and Alkalinity levels. Depending on what type of corals you are attempting to keep, you may begin see your tank mature to a point where you don't need to add buffer around 6 months or more. Younger and especially smaller tanks are usually unstable in the first few months.</span>

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Agreed, seachem is the best products on the market unless you make your own two-part. I have used them for about 10 years and never have a problem keeping my PH at 8.1 at night and 8.3 at noon. I am just fixing to switch to 2-part but believe me, I will always have seachem around to fine adjust while I learn how to use the 2-part.

 

[cameron]

Whoa... buffer should be the last resort. First, open a window and increase flow to make sure it isn't lack of oxygen. Second test your Mag and Alk levels to see what you need to raise. If it is just pH, you can dose Part One of Two Part or kalkwasser. Use recommened doses until your levels get where you want. Make sure you are dosing some mag and it is at a good level. Low mag can prevent pretty much any pH raising chemical to fail. If the above doesn't work, then look to buffer.

 

[victor626nj]

ok here are my par.
salinity 1.026
ammonia

 

[victor626nj]

sorry nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0.4
alkalinity 175 ppm
calcium 375mg/l
ph 7.8
temp.77.5

 

[wbholwell]

Ok, your dKH seems okay- follow Cameron's advice.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ya test your mag...

 

[victor626nj]

i dont have a mag test what other test should i get

 

[cameron]

Your in luck... Sam carries this

http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=sa_magnesium_test&Category_Code=u1&Product_Count=36">http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=sa_magnesium_test&Category_Code=u1&Product_Count=36</a>

and you can just drop by and pick it up so no shipping.

 

[siege]

Has anybody else used InstantOcean salt? My water coming out of the RO/DI seems to be somewhere around 7.0 or 7.2, but once I salt SG up to 1.023, my pH goes up to about 8.4. or 8.6, and I'm having to use a sulphuric-acid based pH Down to get it back down to a reasonable level.

Is this just a bad batch of salt with too many buffers, or has InstantOcean's product quality gone down-hill over the years? I know SeaChem is the good-stuff, but I still have more than half this bucket left and would hate to throw it all out

 

[wbholwell]

IMHO, Instant Ocean & Reef Crystals do not have good quality control. I just switched from RC to Tropic Marin Pro Reef- much better.

 

[victor626nj]

thanks cameron i go to sam just about every other day but that is pretty coasty is there another good one i can get that wont go for that much i just finish spending about 5000 in tools for work so i am kind of on a budget

 

[dakota]

I could never get the Reef Crystals to dissolve well for me. I don't know why. When I used it my pH was chronically low. I guess all the buffering compounds were what was in the powder that just sat on the bottom and never dissoloved. I switched back to Instant Ocean and that helped me a lot.
Also, keep in mind that when the manufacturers boost calcium they usually do it at the expense of something else, and calcium and carbonates are always a trade off when it comes to dissloving. You can only put so much of one or the other into solution.

Is your salt completely dissolving, no powder left over in the container?
What's your calcium testing at?
The only accurate test I have found locally is Seachem's. The other one I tried read 100ppm too high.

What are you using to measure your salinity? I used a hydrometer and then a refractometer that was miscalibrated. My salinity was too low with the hydrometer, not enough salt, not enough buffering compounds.

I can't believe that your pH is that low. Sounds to me like your test kit is bad. Before you do anything to your water chemistry, I would strongly recommend that you make sure your hydrometer or refractometer is measuring correctly, and I would recommend picking up a SeaChem pH & total alkalinity test to compare against the one you have.

My hunch is that your water is pretty good and your testing kits or procedures are the problem. Let's make sure all of that is under control before we start adding things that you might not need.