Raising ph

[harleyguy]

Apparently my ph probe was either bad or calibrated wrong, because today (after some time of poor coral growth) I re-calibrated and manually checked my ph and it's low... extremely low (7.67)... I need to raise my ph what should I do...

 

[mockery]

Do it slowly. Mix some pH buffer and top off water and pour it into the sump, then repeat in a hour or so.

 

[harleyguy]

I assume pickling lime will work... What do I need to do??? mix it with some RO water and then add it to the sump???

 

[mockery]

Yes pickling lime will work but it has a pH of 12 some be very careful not to overdose.
Best things I would do would be to mix a table spoon to 3 or 4 cups of RO water and slowly add it to your sump.

 

[harleyguy]

Thanks... I'll do that... After that what do I need to do to maintain my pH where it should be (8.3)?

 

[demifelix]

Just do it slowly. If you don't use a sump and have to add directly into the tank you can add several drops a a time, wait for sometimes, check test the pH, and repeat. Make sure you test your pH with your lights on for at least 2 hours since your pH will always be lower at night.

 

[mockery]

There are a couple was to maintain pH. A kalk reactor is one, BRS 2 part dosing and mixing pH buffer into your top of container will work as well.

 

[harleyguy]

Mockery;499638 wrote: There are a couple was to maintain pH. A kalk reactor is one, BRS 2 part dosing and mixing pH buffer into your top of container will work as well.

I think for me the best option is the kalk reactor... I am running a Ca reactor and I top off directly from my Ro/Di...

I'm on my way to the store for some lime...

Thanks,

Shane

 

[mockery]

Good luck. And remember better to do to little then to much!!

 

[weaglereefer]

ares;499669 wrote: double check your double check... I thought the sand in a salt water tank buffered it over 7.6... unless youve been purposely lowering the PH due to prior measurements, there is no reason it would be that low.

I mean, Ive never seen a tank under 7.9 without something else going on.

My pH starts dipping below 7.8 when my kalk is used up. It's all I can do to keep the pH above 8.1 when I have new kalk in the reactor. This is with the skimmer drawing air in from outside (through floss and carbon for contaminants) and a 10hr light cycle with a fuge on a reverse cycle.

 

[mockery]

I believe that he has a calcium reactor. That is suppressing the pH. But yes it is very low now that you mention.

 

[weaglereefer]

Yup, it'd be nice if mine stayed that high...

I don't currently have a calcium reactor hooked up, but I believe the OP does.

Do have Caribsea "special grade" reef sand.

I thought the Octopus recirc 150 skimmer would provide enough oxygen in the water, but is there a way to add more? I've been looking at CO2 scrubbers lately as another option.

 

[harleyguy]

I use the SeaChem Pearl Beach sand and I have a Ca Reactor. With the lights on for about 2 hours the pH is 7.74. Here are some other readings:
Ca 470
KH 9.5 dKH
MG 987.5
Alk 5.5 meq/l

I'm going to mix up a gallon of Lime water and hook it into my auto top off. I'm also doing a 15% water change right now. The next fix, is me getting a Kalk reactor...

I think a lot of this problem if my Ca reactor... I have the Korillan 1500 and it's extremely hard to set up and I'm sure I don't have it right... yet...

 

[weaglereefer]

Well your Mg is low, at least 300ppm low. You typically want it to be 3x whatever your calcium level is for the calcium to be available to be used by the corals.

Do you have any Mg buffer you could raise it with? It might also help with the pH.

 

[harleyguy]

I put Mag in with my Ca reactor media... I need to add a little media, so I'll go ahead and add more Mag than "normal"

 

[weaglereefer]

You using those mag chips or what? Where do you purchase them at?

 

[harleyguy]

I did a water change and hooked up a 1 gal top off of lime water. I have it controlled so that it only tops off 15 minutes an hour so it should be a gradual rise. After the water change it went to 7.81 and since the new top off it has gone to 7.90, so it's heading in the right direction...

 

[harleyguy]

au01st;499778 wrote: You using those mag chips or what? Where do you purchase them at?

I am running the ZEOVit system, and they sell Mag media called ZEOmag (it's pure Magnesium Granulate). I got mine from Chris at Einstein Aquatics.