pH Problems!
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Sadielynn
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How are you preping your water are you aging it and reairating it before use ?
Also is your tank open or closed top ... Try opening a window and blowing a fan on it with the top off (if you have a top ) ... When you are testing are the lites on or off it will be higher with lights on when photosynthisis is happening ...
Also depending on how old the tank is it can take up to a year to compleatly stabilize however some swing is normal with the cycle of the lights
Also is your tank open or closed top ... Try opening a window and blowing a fan on it with the top off (if you have a top ) ... When you are testing are the lites on or off it will be higher with lights on when photosynthisis is happening ...
Also depending on how old the tank is it can take up to a year to compleatly stabilize however some swing is normal with the cycle of the lights
Thanks for the reply. I mix the SW fresh (Seachem salt) for 24 hours before use, and my tank is open-top, with a powerhead agitating the surface a good bit.
I always test at around 10pm, when the lights have been on for around 6/7 hours.
I'm going to do a couple of waterchanges this week, to see if it highers it up a bit. I don't want to add buffer if at all possible.
It was stable for weeks before I added the corals to be honest! Strange eh....
I always test at around 10pm, when the lights have been on for around 6/7 hours.
I'm going to do a couple of waterchanges this week, to see if it highers it up a bit. I don't want to add buffer if at all possible.
It was stable for weeks before I added the corals to be honest! Strange eh....
lando
Aquarium Advice Addict
Water changes are your best option at this point. You can also try another test kit just for verification. Good luck.
It's a digital pH meter I use, and I've also tested with my Seachem kit and they return the same reading.
I have to top up (with RO) about a litre every day or two (35L tank), could that be adding to the problem (with the low pH of the normal RO)?
I have to top up (with RO) about a litre every day or two (35L tank), could that be adding to the problem (with the low pH of the normal RO)?
Sadielynn
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RO naturally has a lower ph how long are you priming it . By priming it I mean airating it before use usually it is a good thing to heat it u p to temp and throw a power head in overnight to airate it
As it's just for topups and only 1L at a time, I just keep the RO in a bottle, get it up to room temp (which is just about tank temp) and poor it straight in. I don't actually aerate it before use as it's not in a bucket or anything...
Sadielynn
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try tossin an air stone in to see if that helps
That would mean constantly having a bucket of RO water aerating for my daily topups, which I'm trying to avoid...I can do that if absolutely neccessary though.
Do you really think the 1L of RO I add every 2 days (35L tank) will be causing my pH to be low?
Do you really think the 1L of RO I add every 2 days (35L tank) will be causing my pH to be low?
Sadielynn
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could be since the tank is only 9 gallons that is a bit of a small system so it could be ...
Well, I've done a 25% waterchange, and now (a day after) my pH is about 8.1 at the same time (10:30pm). I want it at 8.3.
Can I add some good quality buffer to help keep my pH up? Constantly aerating my topup water really isn't an option...
Can I add some good quality buffer to help keep my pH up? Constantly aerating my topup water really isn't an option...
Sadielynn
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You can dose however , dose slightly less than needed and watch for your PH to effect your Alk on the other side of the coin and cause it to rise to dangerous levels (I am not 100% tho)alk/ph article
Seachem's Liquid Marine Buffer looks good:-
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/L_MarineBuffer.html
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/L_MarineBuffer.html
Sadielynn
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dosing you will need to preform more frequent testing on your alk and your PH .. Almost to the tune of daily ... I have never needed to dose except when I was just starting I used just plain baking powder (IF YOU USE IT DO SO WITH GREAT CAUTION) and I forget the caculation that I used . But it was not alot ...
Okies...well my pH appears to be 7.9-8.05 at the mo, maybe I'll leave it before I rush into using buffer, and just keep an eye on it over the next few days/weeks, and do some more PWCs? See if I can sort if out naturally?
Sadielynn
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8.0 is not that bad really , your tank is young yet and can take upwards to a year to compleatly stablize . However the key here is to minimize your swing ...Remember that with the cycle of the lights you will see a change higher with the lights on and lower after lights out for a couple hours
It seems stable, at around 8.1 at the same time (11pm) each day, I'll test in the morning tomorrow to see what the swing is like.
What about using the Seachem buffer only in the fresh RO top-up water? To see if that improves things? As opposed to dosing the tank directly?
What about using the Seachem buffer only in the fresh RO top-up water? To see if that improves things? As opposed to dosing the tank directly?
roka64
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Personally, stability is better than "perfect". 8 is a good number. I tried the buffering and it was a pain. I simply adjusted my phs for more surface ripple and removed the cover and things evened out.
Well, it's now been 9 days since I noticed my low pH, and it's been steadily going down since. Today/yesterday it has been at 7.9-just pushing 8.0, which I'm really not happy about.
It is fairly stable, but not 100%, and I'd feel much happier if it was fully stable AND at 8.2/8.3. I've done 2 PWCs this week, tried putting a second powerhead at the other end of the tank pointing at the surface, aerating my topup water (which I don't use much now anyway as I now have a (ventilated) lid on my tank after an escape attempt, causing more problems!), and nothing improves it.
So, I'm going to use Seachem's Liquid Marine Buffer, which looks like a good product. I'll add it to a cup of tank water and add it to my tank daily, until 8.3 is reached. Then monitor pH/alkalinity closely. I'll then hopefully only need to dose my new PWC water each 2 weeks, for it to stay stable at 8.3.
Wish me luck!
It is fairly stable, but not 100%, and I'd feel much happier if it was fully stable AND at 8.2/8.3. I've done 2 PWCs this week, tried putting a second powerhead at the other end of the tank pointing at the surface, aerating my topup water (which I don't use much now anyway as I now have a (ventilated) lid on my tank after an escape attempt, causing more problems!), and nothing improves it.
So, I'm going to use Seachem's Liquid Marine Buffer, which looks like a good product. I'll add it to a cup of tank water and add it to my tank daily, until 8.3 is reached. Then monitor pH/alkalinity closely. I'll then hopefully only need to dose my new PWC water each 2 weeks, for it to stay stable at 8.3.
Wish me luck!
