Raisinh PH??

[MT79]

I am using a seachem marine basic test kit. My ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all 0. My alkalinity is 4 meg/l. My PH is at a constant 8.0. How should I raise my PH? 8.2 would be great. (I don't have a calcium test kit, but alk. is fairly stable) Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Travis]

MT,
According to Robert Fenner from "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" you can raise your PH by adding baking soda to buffer the water. I have used this technique successfully, however it is of the utmost importance to start with very little and work your way up. Baking soda is a pretty powerful buffer and will raise your PH drastically if you are not careful. My suggestion is start with 1/4 of a teaspoon per 20 gallons. Whereas you are at an 8.0 now it wont take much...so maybe even less per gallon. Good luck
Travis

 

[reefrunner69]

better method would be to use a mixture of baking soda and washing soda.

6 parts Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and 1 part Arm & Hammer Washing soda. Mix well and add one table spoon of the mix to RO, RO/DI or Distilled water per 25 gal of tank water to raise DKH 1.0. Again always check pH and Alk.

Baking soda alone will raise the PH too quickly and too high.

Before adding this to the tank, you might simply try opening a window in the room and see if that helps.

 

[MT79]

I did recently add an acrylic top to stop water splashing onto the light fixture I'll try more water/air exposure before adding anything. thnx

 

[perezbob]

My PH was all over from 7.3 to 8.3 during the initial cycle. I'm now on week 6 and it has stabilized considerably between 8.2 and 8.3. With the help of others in this forum I have learned some very useful tips.

1. Air circulation over the water helps a lot. Ever wondered what is the CO2 level inside your house ? Try opening a window for a few hours. High CO2 = low PH.

2. Use a high quality PH test kit. Probably the problem is not as big as you think. Some LFS will do PH testing for free. Compare those results with yours at home.

3. Timing. PH is usually higher after the lights go off. Lower in the morning.

4. Stick to a regular water change (20% once a month) schedule using high quality water (RO) and salt. pre mix 24 hrs before. I did my first water change on week 5 and the results were impresive. PH got higher, Nitrates went down, ammonia went down, nitrite went down, CO2 went down, KH went higher.

5. Do more frequent PH testing and keep a log (probably daily), take notes and any observations in your tank until the problem is solved. Seat back and analyze the data, where the lights on ? Window open ? last water change ? Alkalinity ? CO2 ? try to correlate everything and look for a pattern.

6. IMO adding a PH buffer should be your last resource

7. I found this article to be very useful in learning about PH,
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2002/chem.htm


Hope this helps,
Norberto

 

[MT79]

Thnx Norberto, the article was very informative. I think I've got the "combo" of things I've been doing lately that would,could, effect it. ie. keeping the door where the gas water heater is, open, covering the tank top, etc. I'm getting there