Low pH

[skydive]

I'm almost certain the opening of a window worked in raising it some so what should I do? I can't leave it open all the time because it's getting cold here at night and I'm out of town 5 days a week.

 

It stays between 8.1 and 7.9 and I left the window open part of the day and right now its at 8.2 with the lights being off for the past 3 hours. I have an AC 110 fuge on a reversed photoperiod if that's relevant.

[The Propagator]

What size tank ?

Is there a skimmer on it ?

[fellbeast]

I finally stabilized my PH.. I open the window everyday for fresh air. How long has your tank been setup? My PH was at 7.8 for the longest time. Your PH will fluctuate a lil, and as long as it doesn't go below 7.8 your ok. What's your alkalinity?

+1 skimmer? I use Pura complete which gets rid of organics and such, because I don't have a skimmer. I think that helped also, to stabilize my PH.

[w1dude]

use a air pump and air stone and run it at night or for a couple hours at a time... Works for me

[Phixion]

Check you alk level. I discovered that my low pH was caused by a super low alk level of 4.8dKh in my 30g tank!! My pH then was 7.51 by night and 7.8 by day. WAY too low, but I haven't had a single casualty odd enough during that fisaco which went on quite a while. Now my pH is at a higher more stable level these days. Getting the alk and pH up even helped kill off the GHA I had infesting my tank.

[skydive]

I'm still having the same problem but it's gotten cold outside and opening a window is not an option anymore.

 

46g

pH 8.0 (lights been on 6 hours)

KH 10

Ca 450

Nitrate 0

 

I do have a skimmer and good surface agitation but it's not really exchanging gas like it should if the room is also high in carbon dioxide. If I used an air pump wouldn't the pump have to be outside?

[annamarie421]

What are you using to test your pH? If you have a probe, has it been calibrated recently, or is it getting old? Have you considered dripping kalk at night? That would certainly help you keep your pH up.

[vangvace]

how close is the tank to a window? Running the an airline to the skimmer from the window should get you to pH happiness.

[skydive]

I use a probe (calibrated last month) and API, both have the same readings.

 

I forgot to mention that I work out of town 1-2 weeks at a time so anything I do has to be automatic and last at-least a week. No way to drip kalk at night.

 

vangvace - The window is 3' away and the skimmer is a Remora Pro, a spray induction skimmer that doesn't use airlines.

 

Do you know of an air pump that's like the Aqualifter with an inlet and outlet? If there even is one, it'll probably work if I run the airline outside>pump>airstone because I would rather not have an air pump sitting outside in the freezing cold with a power cord and airline coming through the window.

[dilbert]

I got all my marine tanks in the same room. Two tanks with a distance of a few inches showed a completely different behaviour.

 

One slightly overstocked tank without skimmer had a constantly dropping ph while the other skimmer-less tank hadn't.

 

A dropping ph means that acids are accumulating. Normally, it's CO2. There are different ways of getting the CO2 out of your tank as tell the former postings.

 

If you would have a second tank (an independant, disconnected one) in your room you could tell easily if it's only or mostly CO2 in the surrounding air.

[bdare]

As long as your Ph doesn't drop below 7.8 you are fine. I wouldn't worry about it...

[Phixion]

My pH seems to be higher when I'm gone for a day or longer. Then when I'm home and breathing (CO2 generation) is when the pH seems to drop...

[skydive]

Do you think if I got a few plants it would make a difference?

[bdare]

Do you think if I got a few plants it would make a difference?

 

Could help. This is why people run fuges with macro algae on a reverse lighting schedule. The plants give off oxygen which helps maintain Ph.

[skydive]

Since it was a bit warmer today I cracked the window by the tank and within 30 minutes the pH went from 8.05 to 8.2. I went ahead and put an air pump outside bringing in fresh air to the tank. So far the lights have been off and the window closed for 2 hours and the pH is 8.13

 

I'll keep the air going all night and see what it is at 5am

 

Edit: Good morning, the pH is 7.94 and it's usually 7.7 to 7.8 at this time of day. Appears to be working, I might have to leave that air pump out there from now on, we'll see.