Aquarium PH at 7.2 help!

[Ed3SJ]

I just recently aquired a 55 gallon aquarium. Has a skilter 400, 55lbs of live rock. I have a tomato clown, 2 domino dansles and my ph is at 7.2... i am confused at why my fish are not dead seeing as the ph needs to b at 8.3 anyways.. i have a Ph booster to an 8.3 but it does not tell me how often i should raise the ph till it hits 8.3. So i guess i am asking how gradual should i raise the pH without doing any harm.

btw..i am new to salt, i have only done freshwater,and i got this tank used and has been up and running for about 7 months, so i am already have coraline algae growth and such.. im gonna need alot of pointers! Thanks Guys!!

[tkos]

Your salt mix should keep the pH up. I would consider doing some water changes (start with some daily 10% changes to avoid any bad spikes). I would also avoid pH booster products.

[roka64]

I agree, PWCs should help. You should also add more surface ripple, this will help to balance out and raise your pH. Keep in mind, pH will drop after lights out and rise after lights on, so try to measure it a few hours after lights on. Stability is important, even if it is a little low or a little high.

[Jarred Darque]

Waht is the substrate? I know some people who dont have a crushed coral or argonite substrate, they use things like tahitian black moon sand and they wonder why they have pH problems.

The live rock may not be enough to keep the pH up on its own

[Lance M.]

If your using a test kit I would take a water sample to the lfs and have them test it just to make sure the reading was correct.

I would do a 50% pwc and follow that up in about two days with a 25% pwc.

And like roka said make sure you have enough surface movement for oxygen exchange. Try aiming a powerhead towards the surface of the water and that will help.

[melosu58]

Do you have a glass hood? If you do this could be the problem. Poor gas exchange at the surface causing low PH.

[Agnate80700]

If you dont have a glass hood and you have decent aeration, try opening a window. I know it sounds totally random, but your house might have too high co2 making your pH drop. It was/is my problem.

Also, before you try a PWC, check your alkalinity. If its low, you need to raise it to proper levels. Depending on the salt you have, I know a few salt mixes out there have a base value of something like 2.8 dkH which is way low and that'll make your pH low. Point being: all the PWCs in the world wont help if each one brings your dkH down that low.

[AndyH5512]

I dont think that you have enough water movement with the Skilter, which as stated will affect the gas exchange at the water line. If you have just the Skilter, you may think about getting a powerhead or two and aiming it at the surface to get a water ripple to help the gas exchange. Good luck.

[Kurt_Nelson]

OK... I'm not going to assume anything here, so I'll ask the question: How long has it been since you've done a water change? Have you even done one? Just curious because you mention coming from freshwater, and if you're like the freshwater folks I know "water change" is a foreign concept. Also, what salinity is the tank at right now?

Partial water changes not only take out excess nutrients, but they put back in buffers that will keep the pH from dropping too much.

[Ed3SJ]

alrighty guys.. i am going to do a PWC today.. and re test. My salinity is at 1.022.. and i will get back to this forum after i the PWC. I have no glasshood and my substrate is crushed coral (live sand right?) i have a powerhead, and i will try aiming it to the top.

btw.. i am definitly not one of the freshwater guys thatnever do water changes.. in fact i got a bilge pump system setup in my fresh that allows me to change up to 20 gallons in like 5 minutes... water changes are key to success in my oppinion

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by Ed3SJ

water changes are key to success in my oppinion

[ccCapt]

You should raise that salinity to 1.026 (35ppt). This is what natural sea water is and there is no reason to keep it lower, except to save a few pennies on salt.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by Ed3SJ

btw.. i am definitly not one of the freshwater guys thatnever do water changes.. in fact i got a bilge pump system setup in my fresh that allows me to change up to 20 gallons in like 5 minutes... water changes are key to success in my oppinion

Good to hear! But you never know until you ask!