Keeping PH levels constant

[john0087]

Hi all,

I have a hard time keeping my PH above 8.0. It seems to drop every week. All other params are good. I add a ph buffer whenever I test my water and the PH is low, do I need to add the buffere constantly.

I perform a 10% waterchange every other week, but I am going to change this to 5% everyweek. Tank specs are in my signature.

I do add Ca, iodine, and stronyuim (sp?) everytime I do a water change. Also add freshwater every other day for evaporation purposes.

Thanks

 

[flame82]

what are the levels of Calcium and Strotium?

 

[tecwzrd]

How old is the tank? Is it covered tightly? What kind of salt mix do you use? Sometimes not having enough aeration can build up to excessive CO2 levels which can effect oxygen and PH levels.

I wouldn’t dose without first knowing what the levels are. The PWC with a good salt mix should keep your levels constant for the most part but you might have to dose with Ca.

With a new tank (ie: less than 2 months old) you sometimes have to use a PH buffer but older tanks usually don't need buffering.

 

[melosu58]

Do you have Glass tops?

 

[DragonForce]

I use a product called Fiji Gold that keeps my CA at about 480 and my PH 8.1-8.3. Great product, and the best part is that it costs 11.99

 

[Hara]

First of all, you have nothing in your tank that would even begin to require you dosing anything. Doing the water changes with a good salt mix is all you need until you have something in the tank that would begin to delete the calcium. Also, by adding these things, you could be forcing things out of balance yourself.

As others have asked, is your tank covered, if so, uncover it. Do you have water churning the surface for a good gas exchange?

I would strongly suggest that you quit dosing, do the water changes and aerate the water, things should straighten out on their own.