PH & ALK Levels

[syaeger]

I'm having trouble getting my PH and ALK levels up. Usually my tank tests at a PH of 7.8 and ALK at 3. Any suggestions of suppliments or methods I can do to get my PH and ALK to higher levels?

 

Tank Specs:

20 Gal Glass

Aquatec 5-15 HOB Filter

Penguin 550 PH

Micro Jet PH

100 W Ebo-Jager Heater

Coralife 96 W PC Quad Unit

40 lbs LR

Live Sand/DSB

 

Water Param:

Temp: 80F

SG: 1.024

PH: 7.8

AM: 0

NI: 0

NA: 5

CAL: 400

POS: 0

ALK: 3

 

Livestock:

Astrea Snails

Blue Spotted Linckia Star

Bumble Bee Snails

Crocea Clam

Flying Scallop

Green Chromis

Green Clown Goby

Hermit Crabs

Ocellaris Clownfish

Sand Sifter Star

Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

Turbo Snails

Yellow-Tail Damsel

Yellow Clown Goby

 

Corals:

Scrolling Plate Coral

Torch Coral

[gabbeyshell]

do you dose w/ anything??? i dose my tank w/ b-ionic every 3rd day I- alk balancer, II calcium. i also through in a balance block. this seems to keep my tank right at 8.2.

[Reefer_Buddha]

your alk and calcium are directly related. Your CA level needs to be higher around 450+ last time i checked mine was at 480 and i have coralline all over goin nuts.

 

Your ph is low probably because you dont have enough surface movememnt. Get a powerhead moving the water at the surface then check your ph. Also take some water out and wait a few hours, test it, if its way different than whats in your tank then your tank isnt providing a good gaseous exchange and the c02 is left in the tank.

 

When doin ph tests also remember that it will be different before lights and after lights. The photosynthesis of the plants during your lights on cycle will raise it up it will fall during the lights off period. Once you get your CA level up again youll see a rise in your ALK. Also remember to use quality tests, you can screw your whole tank up from sh*tty brand tests.

[Reefmaniac]

Dose with kalkwasser, or Kent's 2 part calcium buffer. Either of these 2 products will increase your calcium and the alkalinity. Your alk being low, is probably the biggest factor in the low pH...there is nothing to buffer the acidic reactions of the CO2 in the system. You want your alk to be at least 9.

[koolyce]

I have the same prob. My ph is 7.85 the morning and 7.9 the night. It's not a ph prob because I try the test outside and after a couple of hour, my ph still the same. Also my CA is around 400, my AK is 5 meg/L, temp 80.

 

I use seachem salt and distilled water. I really don't have idea why my PH is low like that. When I add buffer (reef buffer), my ph go up and go down in less then 12 hours, like something eat my ph.

 

So if anyone have suggestion, I TAKT IT

 

thanks

[Reefer_Buddha]

koolyce if thats the prob then you need to examine the room your tank is in. Its a possibility that your house/room is not aerated correctly and could be holding in c02 as well. open some windows if there are any near the tank.

[koolyce]

My mistake, I said it's not a ph prob, but I want to said: It's not a CO2 prob.

[alien4fish]

WOW! this is a really good post ...................this is deff. a good read

[Reefer_Buddha]

if your ph is that low then it IS a c02 problem. You need to understand what PH is and how it works. Its keeping more c02 in your tank than you need. Probably from photosynthesis. Id look into raising it. you need to be at least in the 8.2 area

[koolyce]

how you explain that I try with a air pump outside for a couple of hour and my ph never change?

[Reefer_Buddha]

Your ph is low probably because you dont have enough surface movemment. Get a powerhead moving the water at the surface then check your ph.[/b]

[Fant]

There are many more acids then carbonic acid that will lower the pH of a reef tank. Even with extremely vigorous surface aggitation and gas exchange you can have low pH problems. Look at how much you feed.. overall bioload..etc. Of course the ultimate factor there might be your salt, test the pH of freshly mixed/aerated sw and see what happens. You might also want to consider giving somthing other then seachem products a try. They seem to be fairly useless IME. I know others have luck with that line, i simply did not.

[horsehunter]

Five fish in a 20 seems like a lot to me this heavy bioload could be part of your problem.