Chemipure- effect on params

[RockinSmall]

I've been running chemipure in all my systems for over a year now. I recently read a thread where someone mentioned that it "drastically lowers ph." I was curious if a lof of folks have experienced this. My 75 gallon has had low low ph and i wonder if this is the direct cause. i've been dosing baked baking soda to compensate. Perhaps i should remove the chemipure.

[Deleted User 6]

i've never heard this before. i thought it just removed nitrates, phosphates, and silicates.

[BigBad82]

how low has your ph been before dosing?

[Deleted User 6]

for the baking soda, how does it affect your Alk?

[Austin]

Chemi-CLEAN lowers pH, not Chemipure. Chemi-clean is a red slime remover product. You'll be ok.

[StevieT]

Chemi pure will not lower PH. Route the other cause

[RockinSmall]

Awe! I must have misread! Shucks! ph was around 6. my alk and ph are now around 8 with the baked baking soda.

[BigBad82]

6! wow! I wonder why it's that low? Does everything seem fine in your tank?

[StevieT]

6?............

 

You may want to use a different test kit to determine if that was true

[bird]

agree about trying a different test kit. I have found that test kits can vary greatly brand to brand.

 

No problems with chemipur in the past with ph on this end.

 

Did find that phosguard will lower ph. At least it did while I tried it about 3 times before and each time same effect.

[lakshwadeep]

+1 to getting a different test. What brand/model are you using? A pH of 6 is acidic, and you would probably observe any calcium carbonate based things (i.e. hard corals, live rock, aragonite/calcite sand) starting to dissolve.

[RockinSmall]

Yea, i had several API test kits tell me 6 and my ph was 8.4. corals browned out. ive been adding the baked baking soda and the color has nearly fully come back within 2 weeks

 

[lakshwadeep]

Are you sure you were using an API saltwater pH test kit? They don't show values below 7.4... Look here to see the color charts of various API test kits (some of which can be different between FW and SW).

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Downloads.html

[RockinSmall]

my api test was 7.8, not 8.4... whoops.... my ac3 usually said a lil lower.... its now getting up around 8.1-8.2 so it is getting better

 

the alk when from light purple to blue at 6 drops with api test kit, it is also better now

 

but not yet perfect

[lakshwadeep]

6 dKH is actually not too bad for alkalinity, which is not the same as pH. Also, anything above 7.8 for pH is not low. This is a good list of the recommended ranges for various water parameters.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

[MikeTR]

+1 ^^

 

I'd bet if you can get your alk up to 9-10 and hold it there your pH will rise on its own to 8.0-8.1. If it doesn't you need more surface agitation or you are dealing with an excess indoor CO2 issue which can be fixed by running an airline from outside to your skimmer, opening a window, or dosing kalk to bind it. The first 2 are preferred. Note that when you start to increase your alk, the organisms in your tank will start to calcify at a greater rate and that may further reduce your alk and calcium. So you may need to increase the dosage again and may even need to break the dosage into morning/evening so you're not drastically effecting params or creating a spike in the pH.

[RockinSmall]

all good stuff. Yea, the calcium is definitely getting used up. I can literally see the growth over 2-3 days on some things!

 

I am thinking of just switching to kalk in my ato.

 

the tank is in a basement that has basically no real window. the co2 is a lil high b/c theres little air movement. i have a fan on in the room at all times.

 

 

If i change to limewater, is there any precautions i should take in order to switch safely. i will stop the baked baking soda and just go directly to limewater???

[MikeTR]

Use Mrs. wages pickling lime (same stuff, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper) Just start slow.. one drip every couple seconds and increase as needed. If it were me I would be testing a few times a day to see how it's effecting things. I would like to start a kalk drip also but it scares the crap outta me. I honestly dont see how people add it to their top offs and not drastically change the params, unless their ATO is really sensitive.