Is there any way to higher the ph without effecting the kh?

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Is there any way to higher the ph without effecting the kh? The water i am using is too low in ph (prob about 7.4). When i try to raise the ph (using baking soda or the kh raiser), the kh gets wayyyy too high. Is there something to buy that only raises the ph? My tank is also a bit low. It does have a glass lid which i try to keep open mostly and it has an open sump.

 

[ccCapt]

The low pH is probably caused, in your case, by an accumulation of co2 because of the glass tops. What is your current alk level?

This article should help.
Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
"Buffers alone are not generally a good method as they raise pH little, and result in excessive alkalinity. Unfortunately, the labels on many commercial buffers are written in ways that convince aquarists that the pH will be fine if they just add some buffer. More often than not, the pH is not improved for more than a day, and the alkalinity rises beyond desired limits.
Two other useful methods include growing macroalgae that absorb some CO[SIZE=-1]2[/SIZE] from the water as they grow (often lit on a reverse light cycle to the main tank to provide the maximum pH rise when the main tank is at its pH minimum), and aerating the water with fresh air."

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

View attachment 23614

This is the glass top, like i said its open like this probably about 90 percent of the time, the only reason it would be closed is if another family member decided to close it. Would this still cause the ph problem even though its only about 2/3 covered? I do have some chaeto algae in my sump.

I do not think the main tank is the problem i think its my ro/di water which is very low in ph before i even put it in the tank. I will be doing some more testing today since i still have not done the water change due to this ph and kh problem.

oh and the kh in the tank is about 9 drops if i remember correctly so 161.1 ppm KH. Keep in mind that this is after i added some kh raiser to the main tank

i guess theres not much i can do for the problem. Thanks for the article though i skimmed over it and will read it in more detail now

 

[thincat]

Your RO/DI is not your problem. It's pure water so it should be around neutral and you are only adding it to makeup for evaporation. When you use it for PWC's you mix it with your saltmix and bring everything up to what your tank water should be, SG, PH, KH, Temp. and so on.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

okay but even with the freshly mixed water the ph is still very low...like 7.4 or lower ( my test only goes as low as 7.4) can the ph raise once it is in the tank? im using H2Ocean pro salt. Those results are from my tests last night i am currently mixing up some new water and ill do the test again

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

also i just tested both of my main tanks (my 28 gal nano and 40 gal hex) and they are both only about 7.8 for ph

 

[thincat]

7.8 is okay as long as it's stable. You can slowly raise it using baking soda but that's only a temp. solution to your problem. Check the list on of ingredients on the salt to see what it's PH is for that mix. Don't raise the ph in the tank do it to the pwc water and do it slowly, What animal(fish corals) do you have in your tank? Do you have lots of coralline algae in your tank?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

D-D H20
Temperature - 26c
Salinity - 35ppt
pH (Salifert) - 8.60
pH (Pinpoint) - 8.90
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Phosphate P - 0ppm
Potassium - 370ppm
Strontium - 4ppm
Calcium - 415ppm
Magnesium - 1350ppm
Alkalinity - 8.1Dkh

(Got that off of another older chat comparing salts)

The tank im worried about it the seahorse 40 gallon. It is newer so does not have much coralline in it. There are 3 seahorses, one pipefish, one firefish, 5 hermits, one golden coral banded shrimp, ..think thats it. No corals since my new lighting has not come in yet. This tank has the sump with the cheato algae.

How does the coralline effect the ph?

The reason im so worried is the seahorses, i've read that they are very sensitive to ph levels and water changes should have ph levels the same. Also ph should be 8.2-8.4 for them.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

im going to test the mixed water now for ph. Does the baking soda also raise the kh?

okay so mixed is only about a 7.6

 

[thincat]

The ph of the salt mixed water is 7.6? Yes, baking soda will raise PH. Now you can use baked baking soda but I kind of forget if it's the baked(350 degree for 40 mins) or the unbaked that raises PH.

 

[thincat]

Okay, here is a Quote from ccCapt on another site:" Baking it( baking soda) drives out the extra co2, so instead of being sodium bicarbonate, it's sodium carbonate. It also has the affect of slightly raising the pH where unbaked baking soda, because of the extra co2, will slightly lower the pH."

 

[thincat]

But remember that it also raises KH.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

yes the new salt mixed water is 7.6. Okay so using baked baking soda will slightly raise the ph but also the kh then?

 

[ccCapt]

You alk at 161 ppm is fine. It's not high at all (161ppm = 3.2 meq/l = 9 dKH), but still, don't use buffers to raise your pH. 7.8 is OK. It's on the low end, but still OK.

Try this.
What do you mix your new water in? Can you take that container outside and let it mix overnight in the fresh air? Test the pH. I bet it's alot higher than 7.8. Basically, the reason for your sort of low pH is too much co2 in the water. That higher co2 level is probably from the glass top PLUS high co2 levels in your house. It's pretty normal in cold weather climates where houses are closed up during the winter that there is a higher co2 accumulation, which will cause the low pH.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

okay well i went ahead and did the water change so ill just keep an eye on it and hope the ph doesnt drop any lower. Thanks for all the feedback guys..and ill try the outside thing next time perhaps..there was no way i was carrying that big bucket of water upstairs and outside lol but i did open my window to my room if that helps

 

[cmor1701d]

No else asked so I will.
What time of day are you checking your pH?
The pH tested just before lights on will be the lowest reading for the day. The test done just before lights off will be the highest reading for the day. Test the pH at the same time every day for comparison.

I use the baked baking soda (1 hour + at 350 +) as an additive, and yes it is designed to raise Alk and also raises pH temporarily. Now that my Alk is stable my pH ranges from 8.12 - 8.25 (I have a pH monitor and check before I leave for work and just after lights out). I have turned off my Alk drip for now.

RODI water has ZERO buffereing capacity and probably a low pH until it has mixed with some fresh air for a while. RODI should then be mixed with salt miz to a SG of ~1.025. Let that mix overnite with a power head and then test the pH and Alk of the new sw.

You may need to buffer your salt before adding it to the tank.

Which salt mix are you using?

 

[thincat]

Over all, remember to do it slowly.I know it's Paranoid, but remember that the ocean is just sooooo bigggg. hahha

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

im using H2Ocean pro salt and i tested it throughout the day haha but after the lights had been on for a few hours. I am going to test it again now since i did the water change last night. I believe my kh is stable at about 9 or 10 dKH so i dont think i will add anything to temporarily up the ph. I have, however, slightly increased the current on my tank so that might help...i cant increase it too much since it is a seahorse tank

I will let you all know what test results i get...also the lights have been on for about 9 hours

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

alright test results:

ph about 8.0 maybe even 8.2! hard to tell with the color card. I think increasing the current probably helped alot...i noticed today before i increased the current that the top wasnt draining properly and there was a layer of junk (oils n such) floating on the top of the water. I got that all fixed up now with the current change.

kh about 7 or 8 dkh...this went down from about 9. is this probably due to the water change? should i add a kh raiser or just leave it be?

Thanks!

 

[thincat]

You're doing great. Just look for a stable level and keep it that way. Stablity is what you are looking for.