I think the single most important lesson I’ve learned in reef keeping is treat the tank and not the numbers. Case in point, even laboratory results for humans have errors. Don’t get me wrong, we need measurements to be objective, but be sure you rule out other issues before you do anything to your seemingly stable tank. Ph probes do go bad. I noticed a precipitous drop in my pH over a week. I tried recalibrating with no success. I purchased a new probe and calibrated it. Even prior to the new probe, my dKh was 9.4. My pH said 7.28. This is possible with elevated CO2, but that was not an issue as nothing has changed and I have a CO2 scrubber. Had it been the old me, I would have probably chased the numbers. Automation is nice, but these probes do have a shelf-life. Check with at least 2 methods before you do anything to your tank that you can’t undo. Furthermore, everything should be slowly while documenting changes to dial everything in just right. Remember adding new coral, dependent on type may slightly change your needed dosing of Ca+ and Mg+. Keep an eye on dKh stability as it will tell you a lot.
Treat the tank and not the numbers
- Thread starter wellrn2002
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