jneuringer Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Ok, PLEASE help. Both my tanks are being very bad with low PH lately. All other indicators and water stats are good / normal. PH is around 7.8 I keep adding the prescribed amound of Kent 8.3 buffer (and after each dose, the tank goes to normal ph of 8.2 or 8.3, but that doesnt last long, By the next day it's back at 7.8 I've been adding Calc +3 liquid lately to bring the CA levels up to around 400-450 (from 350) because I've been adding corals. There are some (not too much) calurpa in both tanks. What are some general things that would regularly pull the PH down? How do I fix? Thanks P.S. both tanks available LIVE to view at www.neuringer.com/fish.htm Link to comment
EtOH_is_good Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 let me ask what's your calc/alk levels before everyone throws in their $0.02. and you do know about trapped stale air and trying fresh air? Link to comment
jneuringer Posted August 31, 2004 Author Share Posted August 31, 2004 Well, my Calc levels are 375 in one tank (now around 400) and 400 on the other, now 450) and no i don't know about bad air / trapped air. Link to comment
jneuringer Posted August 31, 2004 Author Share Posted August 31, 2004 ALSO, i'll mention I DO have a bag of nitrate sponge in a filter. Link to comment
revance Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 what is the alkalinity of your water? trapped stale air: If your house has been closed up for a long time (no open windows) there will be a buildup of co2 and decrease in oxygen. This high co2 will cause low pH. Try opening a window. If you want to see if this is a problem, remove some water from the tank and set it outside for about 30 minutes. Check the pH of the cup and of the tank and compare. Might also be an imbalance between alk and calc... but we need to know what your alk levels are to know. Link to comment
jneuringer Posted August 31, 2004 Author Share Posted August 31, 2004 according to the red sea test, it's "normal" light blue in the middle of the scale. Link to comment
jneuringer Posted August 31, 2004 Author Share Posted August 31, 2004 as for the air in my house. it's pretty open/loose. Also i tested the O2 level in the tank a bit ago, and as usual, it was at saturation for the salinity and temp. (around 7.5 ppm) Link to comment
jneuringer Posted September 1, 2004 Author Share Posted September 1, 2004 still no help here. what are some other things that can cause ph to drop Link to comment
EtOH_is_good Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 it seems that your problem is too complex for a quick answer. how often are you doing water changes? what's the pH of the new water? i'm thinking that maybe your bioload (organic acids) is sucking up the buffering capacity of your water. may need to add more carbonate than the current dose (go slow, no greater change in pH than 0.2). also try reading this article on calc/alk problems Link to comment
nalbar Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 hmmmm, how about if you took the PH test kit and put it in a drawer and nailed the drawer shut? then just do nice steady water changes with high quality water. judging by your sig you dont have much in your tanks that requires a lot of worry. sometimes the best thing to do is...nothing. nalbar Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.