Kongor88 Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Hey guysSo I'm having a little bit of a problem. I saw my pH has been dropping and I didn't really think anything of it since the tank has been running a little hotter since its summer and from what I've read higher temps bring the pH down a little (I raise my temp up from 77 to 79 or 79.5 during the summer so its stable and doesn't fluctuate at night and stays within a 2 degree change since the tank could hit 81 degrees during the day but its slowly and takes all day to reach that mark)Looking at my apex my pH used to be 8.3 during the day and 8.1 during the night since I can remember, but all of a sudden in the past week it goes down to 7.7 and maybe his 8.0 during the day and yesterday my protein skimmer started going crazy and overflowing with water with the gate valve all the way open..this is when I started to really suspect a problem since I usually don't chase numbers.I changed out 15 gallons of water and after an hour or so started the skimmer and it didn't overflow anymore but is definitely a little higher then usual. pH stayed the same to my surprise after 15 gallons of Tropic Martin salt @ 1.025 salinity so that should have been around 8.3pH.I woke up today to two bleached corals and most of my SPS and LPS are closed also my cleaner shrimp died and the other one isnt looking too great.1.026 79.6 F0 ammonia0 niriite5-10 nirate0.02 p04current pH is 7.87. alk is 10dHK calcium 450ppm mag is 1350-1400 ppmI am about to do another 15 gallon change unless someone states otherwise. (75 gallon tank with 20 gallons in sump)The only thing I can think of that was out of place was that the algae on my glass looked dead (was white when I scrapped it not greenish hue) since someone used some algae killer when I was gone this week.. API one with proper dosage atleast....maybe the die-off made the ph drop??? I have the skimmer going, and a terta whisper 300 airpump feeding my algae scrubber so i dont not believe aeration to be the issue.If anyone has some ideas that would be greatThanks for the help! Link to comment
Kongor88 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Failed to mention my first causality was a sea hare, I saw him alive before the lights went out saturday and found him dead in ball the sunday morning. Took him out asap, gave him a smell wasn't too rancid so I think he died maybe an hour or so before. No CUC was touching him. I ran carbon in case he released toxins but none of my wildlife was stressed at that point so I figured it was OK, this was about 4 days ago could this be the problem? Link to comment
Steensj2004 Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Hey guys So I'm having a little bit of a problem. I saw my pH has been dropping and I didn't really think anything of it since the tank has been running a little hotter since its summer and from what I've read higher temps bring the pH down a little (I raise my temp up from 77 to 79 or 79.5 during the summer so its stable and doesn't fluctuate at night and stays within a 2 degree change since the tank could hit 81 degrees during the day but its slowly and takes all day to reach that mark) Looking at my apex my pH used to be 8.3 during the day and 8.1 during the night since I can remember, but all of a sudden in the past week it goes down to 7.7 and maybe his 8.0 during the day and yesterday my protein skimmer started going crazy and overflowing with water with the gate valve all the way open..this is when I started to really suspect a problem since I usually don't chase numbers. I changed out 15 gallons of water and after an hour or so started the skimmer and it didn't overflow anymore but is definitely a little higher then usual. pH stayed the same to my surprise after 15 gallons of Tropic Martin salt @ 1.025 salinity so that should have been around 8.3pH. I woke up today to two bleached corals and most of my SPS and LPS are closed also my cleaner shrimp died and the other one isnt looking too great. 1.026 79.6 F 0 ammonia 0 niriite 5-10 nirate 0.02 p04 current pH is 7.87. alk is 10dHK calcium 450ppm mag is 1350-1400 ppm I am about to do another 15 gallon change unless someone states otherwise. (75 gallon tank with 20 gallons in sump) The only thing I can think of that was out of place was that the algae on my glass looked dead (was white when I scrapped it not greenish hue) since someone used some algae killer when I was gone this week.. API one with proper dosage atleast....maybe the die-off made the ph drop??? I have the skimmer going, and a terta whisper 300 airpump feeding my algae scrubber so i dont not believe aeration to be the issue. If anyone has some ideas that would be great Thanks for the help! Have you calibrated your PH probe recently? My probe is reading 76-7.7 and my actual PH is at a steady 8.23 all day. I checked it with two know good PH testers and Salifert PH test. I calibrate mine and it is out of call nearly instantly. I'm going to need a new PH probe, you may need to calibrate. I calibrated mine every two weeks. Also, if it ever dried out it will get messed up as well(also could be dirty, clean with a vinegar/ ro solution and a toothbrush, then rinse well).GL Link to comment
Kongor88 Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 Yes I have, like I said I dont chase numbers so i didnt sweat it that it was off. I also recalibrated a couple months ago But once i started seeing bleaching I knew something was off...I actually tried another probe since I had a replacement just in case one broke. Link to comment
malady Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 hey kongor, I know your sump is in the basement do you ehave any carbon dioxide meters? Try opening up your windows for a bit. The only thing I can think of right now is carbon dioxide (but I doubt it) but Ill get back to you If I think of something else. Here is a helpful article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php Link to comment
Tenor Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Did you add any supplement to boot alk? I though Tropic Marine is very low ALK 6.5-7dkh. With skimmer running you should have sufficient oxygen to keep ph stable with 10dkh?? Salinity has no control to ph but the hardness (dkh) will control it. Link to comment
Admonition Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Did you ever figure it out? I'm having similar problems. My tank has been reading 7.8 by API for weeks no matter what I do, and my newly installed apex is showing a 7.6 low and 7.8 high. I use the same Tropic marine pro salt as you too, and even if I add it at a pH of 8.2 my pH stays static per my apex and API Link to comment
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