huh? my ph is way up

[bobothefish]

My ph shot up to 7.8. Only things I did were added coraline stimulate yesterday. I added a handfull of cheatomorpha 2 days ago and I possibly stuck my hand in the tank after washing dishes. I added 5 gallons of ro water I got from the local water filter company. where I met a fellow aquarist and reassured me that the water there was fine. I checked the total dissolved solids and they were at 6ppm.
Another concern I have is I just added some mangrove about an hour ago that I picked myself from the local mangrove forest and put it in the overflow box. I kind of smelt that die off odor you get when curing LR so I hosed the roots with pressure hose water the patted dry them. Should I remove as to not start a cycle?
BTW my nitrates are high (40)to hence the cheato and mangrove just added.
Should I take action now and get some ph down? Or wait and see what happens. The last test I did was on the 15th of sept and everything was fine.

 

[SHARPiE]

Is this a FOWLR Tank? I though marine pH had to be @ 8.2?

 

[bobothefish]

oops did I say shot up? I meant shot down but still outside the realm of acceptable. and yes FOWLR

 

[thincat]

7.8 is still okay. Try and wait before adding anything. Mangroves take a long time before you will notice anything. How many gallons is your tank and how old is it? also how many fish do you have?
40 nitrate is high and you should do a PWC to bring that down. That will also help bring your PH up also..........

 

[melosu58]

What is your PH right before the lights go out in the evening?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...Only things I did were added coraline stimulate yesterday. ...

What did you add, and how much?

 

[bobothefish]

thincat: 55 gal., I have sailfin tang and a chromi. my tanks is about 6 months old and a good cuc. Also I let some nori on a clip on for about a day. you think that will so anything?

Melousu 58: Ill have to check tonight. As far as lights go I just got 4bulb fixture with 2 10k daylight and 2460 nm actinic hight output.

kurt nelson: I added coraline stimulate i drop per gal. so 55 drops.

 

[Zer0]

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so i guess i will.

A stable pH is better than one that may go from 7.x-8.x in a day or so. My pH still won't go over 7.9, but it stays at a constant now at 7.8. It's been like that for a while, and nothing in my tank is doing bad. Everything is healthy including the coral. However, i do remember someone saying that pointing a powerhead or two at the surface, or keeping the water surface moving a great deal, will help with the release of dissolved oxygen or something, and will raid the pH. Not sure if it was dissolved oxygen, but i know the powerhead thing has been stated before. Just tryin to give a few more ideas.

 

[bobothefish]

Ill try it thank you.
When I do a water change is it necessary to get RO water that has 0 PPM of dissolved solids? Because mine was 7 ppm.

 

[thincat]

Pointing a PH to the surface helps to release CO2 which helps raise PH. As far as your Nitrates, With that small of a bioload I can only see overfeeding to account for a high Nitrate level. Do good size PWC's and that should help reduce it.

 

[Zer0]

bobo.. Yeah, the TDS meter SHOULD read zero, after going the unit. That's the whole point of the ro/di unit. They are supposed to filter out 99.9% of everything in the water being filtered through it.

TC, thanks for the backup. See, i knew that i heard the PH thing from somewhere, but i just didn't remember where, or if it was correct. So thanks for closure.

 

[thincat]

You're welcome........Bobo, what is your TDS going into your Ro/DI unit?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

bobo.. Yeah, the TDS meter SHOULD read zero, after going the unit. That's the whole point of the ro/di unit. They are supposed to filter out 99.9% of everything in the water being filtered through it. ...

If bobo only has RO (and not DI), then 7ppm TDS is totally reasonable (and probably expected) coming out. It's the DI stage that will take out the remaining crud and knock the TDS to 0.

Bobo... if you do indeed have a RO/DI, then check your DI resin - it's probably needing replacement.

 

[InfernoST]

I don't think he has an RO/DI unit, he stated he got the 5 gallons of RO from the local water company. As everyone said you have to get the nitrates down. The thing about your PH going down can be from the coralline stimulater you used, in order to stimulate the growth, the stimulates usually contain high concentrations of calcium, strontium and magnesium which is all good except when you raise your calcium level your alkalinity tends to drop with the end result being a lower PH. Alkalinity is the natural buffer for your PH, when the alk is maintained between 7- 12 your PH will remain stable and usually at the proper levels but if it's out of that range your PH usually fluctuates drastically. Usually when calcium is dosed it's usually done with a 2 part product with the first part being the calcium additive and the second an ALK stabilizer to compensate for the ALK drop caused by the calcium additive. If you can test your ALK level (KH test kit), I like to keep mine at a minimum of 8 preferably 9.

 

[thincat]

Great, I like the way you explained that.

 

[InfernoST]

Great, I like the way you explained that.