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very low pH after new tank setup?


barrman

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I finally stocked my 12 gallon nano cube on wednesday with about 12lbs of fiji pink arag-alive sand, and about 14lbs of cured live rock.

 

my baseline pH for the water was 8.2 (using reef crystals salt mix) but I noticed that almost immediately after I added the lr and ls that the pH began dropping. it's now stabilized at around 7.7.

 

I know its VERY early and as of yesterday, my cycle hadnt even started yet, but i'm curious as to what might cause such a large drop in pH?

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My guess would be a combination of low alkalinity and things starting to die off messing with the water's chemistry. Have you tested the alkalinity? Not that you really need to yet. The only thing I would check now is Ammonia. When it hits 0, start testing nitrites, and when those are 0, start testing pH, nitrates, alk, and calcium. Then if you're pH is still that low, then you can start worrying.

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My guess would be a combination of low alkalinity and things starting to die off messing with the water's chemistry. Have you tested the alkalinity? Not that you really need to yet. The only thing I would check now is Ammonia. When it hits 0, start testing nitrites, and when those are 0, start testing pH, nitrates, alk, and calcium. Then if you're pH is still that low, then you can start worrying.

 

ok cool... i havent tested alk yet. calcium was a little low at around 350, but i dont have a base line to compare it with from before i added the lr and ls. i'll probably toss in a piece of shrimp today to help with the initial cycle.

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