Low PH in Reef Tank

[MarkhamDave]

I have been out of town for sometme. Others have been feeding my 90 gal tank but changed 1/3 of water this weekend, first time in 2 months. Te chem test sows the NO3 elevated to 160 but I will keep changing the water now ever week to get tat down.
The cocern is that the PH has droped to 7.4.
What is the fastest way to raise this to the mid- 8's.

I lost a Clown that I have had for almost 2 years and the corals look sad.

Any advice?

 

[thincat]

You should not try any fast change of PH . Just do your PWC and that should correct your problem.

 

[bavass]

I would probably do them twice a week to get the NO3 down. That should get your ph in line aswell.

 

[melosu58]

Moving this to the SW reef general discussion.

 

[ccCapt]

Heavy water changes are needed to drop those nitrates. The pH is probably wrong. Either a testing error or bad test kit. Everything in your tank would be dead if the pH was actually 7.4.

 

[cmor1701d]

Are you using a liquid test kit for pH or a pH probe?
Liquid kits measure pH as being higher than a probe. If you are using a liquid kit, take a sample to the lfs to measure and pick up a new kit if necessary.

I agree with just doing pwc's to get the parameters back in line. If you can manage it try doing 2 30% PWC's a week for 1 - 2 weeks. Even a single 25% PWC done once a week will get you back in good shape in a month (close to 100% change).

 

[MarkhamDave]

I tested everything twice but with test strips. I will get proper testing equipment and change the water (30%) again this week. I have had the RO going all weekend so I have enough water to both change and top up. I will post the next test results.
Thanks for the advice and input.
MarkhamDave