ph level

[MERCTECH]

mt ph level is down 7.4. can some one please explain.

 

[Devilishturtles]

What kind of test kit are you using? Are you sure you did not look at or use the reagants for a FW tank?

Give us more info on your tank, and we'll likely be able to help more.

 

[Hara]

how is the surface aeration? Is the water oxygenating well? Does the tank have a lid that you keep closed? If so, open it up, make sure that there is good surface movement going on.

 

[MERCTECH]

no lid, movement is good. i am using the saltwater master test kit from aquariums pharmaceuticals

readings are now 8.0 b/c i used aquariums pharma. proper ph 8.2 in the tank

salinity=1.023
ammonia=0.0
nitrite=0.0
nitrate=0.0

 

[cmor1701d]

Let your tank finish cycling before you start adding chemicals to it. There are many chemical reactions taking place in a new tank.

Wait, just saw your readings. All 3 are at zero? How long has this tank been set up? How long did it take to cycle?

Did you do a 25% PWC after the cycle completed?

 

[MERCTECH]

3 weeks in. saw the spike in readings. no water change. 40 pds of live sand, 10 pds from lfs, and 5 pds from the wild in 30 feet of water.

 

[lando]

Ph in a cycling tank is not much of a concern. Once the tank cycles and you do a large water change the Ph should stabalize a bit. The buffer in the SW mix will help out. As long as there is no livestock in the tank right now you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Hara]

adding chemicals such as ph up are not going to fix the problem. It will also kill tank inhabitants if you do it after you have fish etc in the tank. Ph should be raised quite slowly, over days, not hours or minutes. Are you using ro water in your salt mix? If not, it may be that the water source is exceptionally low in ph and the salt mix does not have enough buffer in it to compensate. Incidently, what is the salt mix?