Ph

[FishFreak1961]

Any ideas how to quickly raise the ph in well water? currently at 4 or less
Not good or me or my fishies.

 

[mr_X]

aim a powerhead upwards towards the surface. it will break the surface and allow gas exchange.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Well water would be O2 starved. Mr X likely has the first solution. If that doesn't solve it, you have something else going on...

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

What the water is out of the tap doesn't really matter, does it? What is the pH after you add the salt mix? That's really the number that's important.

 

[Krypt]

When you mix up your water, if the ph is still really low, you can always use some baking soda to bring the ph up to where you want it. Don't add baking soda directly to the DT though, bad things might happen.

 

[FishFreak1961]

PH

I was just worried about using that RO water as my top off water
that has the 4 ph, when I add salt it takes a few days to buffer
up to 8.2 or so by adding buffer every single day I ordered some
ph drops last nite to try and I'll see how that works.
I'm so glad I have been drinking low ph water for 10 years
without knowing it. Hope it isn't eating my insides out.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Are we talking about tap/well water or RO water?

If you're worried about the pH of RO water, don't. Measuring the pH of RO water is about as meaningful as you knowing my shoe size. In other words... it doesn't matter. RO removes nearly all of what pH measures, so what you end up measuring is normally just the left over contaminants in a container or test tube. Any little bit of contamination will throw a pH measurement off one way or another.

Using RO water without buffer for top offs will do just fine. Even tap water without buffer would be fine, from a pH standpoint. But I wouldn't use tap because of the contaminants.

 

[FishFreak1961]

4.0 ph Well water that has run thru an RO unit before salt is introduced.
I have been topping off with that and it hasn't killed them, it may
keep the ph from going way up anyway. Thanks for the info!!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

So are you adding salt to the system after topping off the water, in order to raise the pH?

If you are, you need to stop. Water evaporates, salt does not. If you add salt to raise pH, you raise salinity. As the water evaporates, salinity raises more until you top off.

You may get some salt creep, but it's not enough to drop the salinity in the short term (several months). Use the RO/DI water to replace the evaporated water. If your pH is dropping below 7.6 then you have something else going on that needs to be addressed, such as oxygen exchange or light cycle. I maintain several tanks, each one using the same RO/DI and salt mix, and each one maintains a different pH. If you in the 7.6 to 8.4 range you're generally fine, as long as it doesn't swing all over the place during a normal 24 hour period.

 

[FishFreak1961]

Not adding salt for top offs just the low ph RO water and it hasn't hurt
them at all. I'll just keep at it. When I make salt water it doesn't take
but about a week or so to buffer up to 8 then I do water changes.
What do you do about your salt creep? I have a little bit around my QT
that is unsightly. Main tank not as bad. What is your salt of choice?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Again, RO/DI water essentially has no discernable pH - it is stripped of all ions (if it's de-ionized as in RO/DI, but even RO water is mostly stripped). It by definition won't hurt them. In FW, different story.

As for you salt mixture 'buffering up', it's great that you let the water mix for a week, but all you should really need to do is bring it to room temp and mix in the salt and let it run with a power head for 24 hours, and it should be ready to use. Just thought that might save you some time.

I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals and Sea Salt on the tanks I maintain.

As for creep, you can just remove it or push it back into the sump. As long as it dissolves before getting back into the main tank, and doesn't land on any corals, it's fine. At least, that's my understanding. Correct me if I am wrong. Better to be safe and throw it away if in doubt (like if it's 1/2" thick)