Low PH

[kimura]

Well my tanks been up for 2 1/2 months now, and I've been doing weekly water changes. My test as far as Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, and PH were normal (trace to none). I had my calcium tested and it was in the 350 range. I have only a frag of xenia's and a small rock of mushrooms that RickJG graciouly gave to me during our Nano-reef meeting. My PH is starting to drop more and more. I'm now at 7.8 my intial readings when I first started were 8.2.

I just started to dose w/ B-ionic using the recommended amount (1ml per 4 gallons) will that help with the PH problem?

 

Oh and after the 3rd day of dosing I notice that the coraline algae started to grow on the glass! Don't know if it's the B-ionic tho??? Anyways......dose anyone know if B-ionic will help raise the PH over time?

[Physh1]

The recommended dosage is a starting point which will likely need to be altered to suit your tanks needs.

 

You will want to get a pH, alk, and calium kit. With a lower pH it is likely your alk is too low. An increase in the alk portion of the B-ionic will be needed. TEST FIRST though.

 

It is possible your CA is too high too which may require a small cutback of that portion...

 

Rememer test first....and if you have any ?'s ask....

 

Cameron

[kimura]

Thanks Physh1, I do test the PH but not the Alk and Calc. I'm looking for a good alk and calc test kit right now....any suggestions?

[ross76053]

As Physh1 suggested, do test for Alk & Calc. Dosing with B-Ionic will raise your pH level. I know - I had the same problem...my Calcium (edited from "pH" - too many beers) was around 300 before dosing. X)

 

Ross

[cmoreash]

Dude, your pH is at 300? That's kinda funny to know

[Pikelet]

Seachem make a basic marine pH and Alk kit. It's not too bad. They also do a very nice and accurate Ca test kit. A pH of 7.8 suggests to me that your Alk is very low too. I'm not familiar with B-ionic but, if your testing is correct, you might want to start adding the carbonate part fairly regularly, testing each time, until your pH is up to 8.1. Make sure you measure at the same time each day as pH will tend to dip overnight with the lights off.

 

Its still a very young tank and it can take some time (4-5 months) for it to stabilize up at the 8.3 mark. Also check the date on your testing chemicals. You might want to check the pH of you fresh SW mix too. If it looks good some partial W/C's might be in order

[Dave ESPI]

Pik hit on a good point... how often are U doing W/c and what is yer tank setup like? we cant help without background info.

B- ionic is good stuff I use it exclusively in many tanks. perhaps yer alk is low ? it DOES affect PH ya know.

[Goofnut]

You did state that you do weekly water changes, but what percentage of the water do you change -and how big is the tank?

 

My pH is and always has been around 7.9. I know it's low, but I haven't noticed any severe detrimental effects so far. I'm going to be raising that up a bit, but I've tried to avoid chemical additives as much as possible. My alk has always stayed at around 8 dkh, but my calcium has been variable. It's tough to keep it over 350, let alone over 400. I've recently stared doing larger water changes (with pre-mixed water from the LFS) -hoping that this would allow me to keep the calcium higher without dosing large amounts of "Liquid Calcium".

 

I recommend getting someone else (probably your LFS) to test your pH to verify your readings. Also, larger water changes with slightly higher pH water should help. Just be sure to go slow and not add it all at one time. You want to avoid pH shock to your animals!

[kimura]

Here are my Tank Spec's 12g tank and do 1gallon w/c every week. I have a basic test kit already ie..nitrate,nitrite, ammonia, and PH. I'll be getting the Calcium test kit and Alk test kit this week on payday. My tank seem fine other than the green algae bloom and now red algae slime. I'm also going to bring in a water sample for my LFS to test as well to get another reading.

[spectre]

sounds like low ALk. Once you get your testkit, try to get your Alk up to 10-12DKH that will help stabilize your PH. PH should be around 8.3 at the peak of your light cycle(it will drop .1-.2 at night if running w/o a reverse lit refugium).