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pH and dKH issues


Najay343

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Long story short, today I decided to start using my BRS 2 part dosing. Been messing with the temp a little since I felt it was a little too cool for the 2 baby clown fish I just added. Mixed up in the three jugs and after a few hours before adding I tested the dKH to find it was already at 12. So I skipped on adding the soda ash. I used the BRS calculator and I said my tank was about 18 gallons and dosed it 3/4 of the calcium suggestion and 4/5 of the magnesium suggestion. After I got home a few hours later I noticed 3 snails where on their backs. Still alive but very sluggish to move. More sluggish than a typical snail lol. Anyway, tested the calcium and found it is at 500ppm and the dKH is at 13. Ph is at 7.9-8.0 when typically at 8.1-8.2 only other stat is Nitrate is at 5 from 0. Assuming that is from the new fish.

 

My question is how do I bump up the pH although it's not too bad and bump down the dKh. I do not think those played a factor in my snail issue. There are margarita snails and I may have gotten too many and feel they may be starving and also they don't do the best in warmer reef tanks. I'll pick them up some dry seaweed tomorrow. Also I did add a air-stone in my sump as I read co2 could play in the pH. Any advice wanted! Thanks :)

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If you want to increase your pH you need to decrease the amount of CO2 in the ambient air or add a CO2 scrubber to your tank. Dkh will drop naturally over time. pH of 7.9-8.0 is perfectly normal. Good water movement at the surface is also necessary for good gas exchange if you do not have a sump or skimmer.

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If you want to increase your pH you need to decrease the amount of CO2 in the ambient air or add a CO2 scrubber to your tank. Dkh will drop naturally over time. pH of 7.9-8.0 is perfectly normal

Thank you. I'm not too worried about the pH level. It just drops from 8.2 to 7.9 within 12 hours which is what gets me and I thought it was cuz of a low Dkh but that is actually on the too high end. But I did just add a air store and if that doesn't change it within 24 hours I'll extend a part of the hose outside or something.

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Do not attempt to change your pH through chemical means - ever. If your other parameters are in check, your pH will be fine. Also, unless you are measuring your pH with a calibrated pH probe, throw your readings out the window because they are wrong. Unless your pH is below 7.6 during the day (measured with a good probe), there is no need to change a thing if everything else is in check - and even then you should never add chemicals to change your pH.

 

Under no circumstances, other than your pH being wildly off the charts (up or down) should you do anything to correct it - and even then you should only attempt to correct it IF your other parameters are exactly where they are supposed to be.

 

Also, you should not be dosing anything unless you have a need for it. By that, I mean if your corals are consuming calcium and alkalinity faster than you are replacing it with water changes, then, and only then should you dose anything at all - and only dose exactly waht you need to replace teh calcium and alkalinity used up.

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