low PH questions

[gvillenative]

I finally got a test kit and have all good parameters, except for PH, which seems to be locked in a 8.0. If anyone remembers my 65 gal reef has been having some growth problems. How bad is this PH reading? How does low PH affect corals? What is the safest way to bring this up a little?

My other readings were:

460-480 calcium (conflicting results)
7 dkn KH
0 phosphates
0 nitrates
0 ammonia

 

[carey]

That Ph isnt that bad at all, if it were me I would just leave it be and enjoy your tank. It sometimes causes more problems when you start adding buffers and other stuff. My reef runs at about 7.8 to 8.0 and everything is fine.

The other thing you can do is make sure you have a powerhead pointing towards the waters surface, that can help keep ph where it should be.

Good luck!

 

[Jason M]

Your alk is to low. Nsw is like 7.5 but in a tank u want to run higher because it doesn't have the same buffering abilitly as the ocean. I used to have same ph but I uped the alk to 9 and keep of there. If your water doesn't have enough ions to keep the acid content down then ur ph may go even lower. Carbonic ions are what u will have to add to ur tank in the form of alkalinty