Raise pH - how to ?

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

Hi Forum,

My pH is 6,85, my KH is 8,6 dKH acc. to salifert test set..
Any suggestions, on how to raise it ??
I have a red sea reefer 170..

My Kessil 360W program:

if you need more info, please tell

jsker · Apr 6, 2016

Air stone in the water, or bring you air in from outside (fresh air) if you have a skimmer

sc50964 · Apr 6, 2016

How do you measure your ph? How big is the tank and how are you circulating water? Do you have a sump and is there a skimmer?

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

sc50964 said:
How do you measure your ph? How big is the tank and how are you circulating water? Do you have a sump and is there a skimmer?

I mearsure my pH via Apex pH Probe ..
I just calibrated the probe, and this is what it shows..
When i do a Salifert pH test, it gives me the same result..

I have 2x MP10 in my tank, and a Nyos quantum 120 in my sump..

Tank dimensions:
60 x 50 x 50 cm or 24,5 x 20 x 20 inch

(it's not possible for me, to get air from outside via the skimmer)

Apex Dashboard:

McMullen · Apr 6, 2016

Open doors/Windows to let in fresh air. Co2 and pH have an inverse relationship, when Co2 is high, pH must be low. If your house is well aerated then your problem is gas exchange within you tank. You need to break surface tension. Skimmers do this well typically. You can position powerheads or wavemakers so that they churn the top of the water, or return lines.

You can also check out the massive ongoing thread on "micro-bubbles," though at this point You likely have a simply problem with a simple solution.

sc50964 · Apr 6, 2016

With a ph that low, your livestock, if there is any, must be extremely stressed. How long have you had the tank, and has it always been this low? If there is a lack of water flow and gas exchange, ph would drop but that doesn't sound like the case unless you barely run the mp10s.

eg8r210 · Apr 6, 2016

Are you dosing two part? Maybe you could lower that dose and start adding kalk. Use the kalk to get your ph up and then supplement your cal/alk needs with two part.

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

sc50964 said:
With a ph that low, your livestock, if there is any, must be extremely stressed. How long have you had the tank, and has it always been this low? If there is a lack of water flow and gas exchange, ph would drop but that doesn't sound like the case unless you barely run the mp10s.

There is a livestock, and yes the corals seem a bit stressed, some look fine tho..
The tanks has been running since start January, my fish and corals came from my old tank..
I was told i ran my pumps too high, my current settings on pump =
1 on lagoon @ 10%
1 on Reef Crest @ 40%

They are both placed on the backside of the tank, 5 cm from the top water level.

I don't dose anything, i change 15 liter water every sunday ..

I will dose soon tho, got the machine ready, just need to fix some other stuff first..

McMullen · Apr 6, 2016

Kimkjaer, could you share if you've opened doors/Windows? It could take a couple hours or longer depending on home.

Are you getting "good" break in water surface tension? Churn that water for a few hours and see if that helps.

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

McMullen said:
Kimkjaer, could you share if you've opened doors/Windows? It could take a couple hours or longer depending on home.

Are you getting "good" break in water surface tension? Churn that water for a few hours and see if that helps.

I will be home in 3 hours, i will open windows and turn up the pumps and then give a update..

Chris Adams · Apr 6, 2016

So when you calibrated in 7 then 10 solution did the reading come up close? I would be double checking with different kit and have someone else check that # is pretty low.
Is that the high mark of day? Looks like 1:30PM which means your PH is dropping at night to low 6 maybe high mid 5.. I do not buy that.
The probe was running in other tank and you just moved over or was the probe sitting out dry for a bit?

I deal with low PH issues and utilize a CO2 pellet scrubber along with kalk to help maintain 8.0 to 8.3 range. I also do have protein skimmer airline in window.

Yes opening windows up does help with the PH but are you willing to leave windows open 7x24?

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

Chris Adams said:
So when you calibrated in 7 then 10 solution did the reading come up close? I would be double checking with different kit and have someone else check that # is pretty low.
Is that the high mark of day? Looks like 1:30PM which means your PH is dropping at night to low 6 maybe high mid 5.. I do not buy that.
The probe was running in other tank and you just moved over or was the probe sitting out dry for a bit?

I deal with low PH issues and utilize a CO2 pellet scrubber along with kalk to help maintain 8.0 to 8.3 range. I also do have protein skimmer airline in window.

Yes opening windows up does help with the PH but are you willing to leave windows open 7x24?

Yes i calubrated in 7 then the 10 solution..
I double checked with the Salifert pH testkit, but it looked the same, i can do the test again, when i get home, and put up a picture result ..
The probe was brand new when i putted it in the tank, still had the water down in the bottom of the probe..

No i am not willing/able to have windows open 24/7 ..
There must be another solution, perhaps i should make a new calibration ??

Anyways will put up salifert test result, in a couple of hours..

Thanks for all the feedback, really appreciated

sc50964 · Apr 6, 2016

A ph that's below 7 is just excessively low, especially for a reef tank. Improving gas exchange will help but I suspect the real culprit is something else. What do you use to top off the tank everyday? What salt mix do you use? I know you already have verified the ph reading via two sources but I still suggest to have it tested by a LFS.

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

sc50964 said:
A ph that's below 7 is just excessively low, especially for a reef tank. Improving gas exchange will help but I suspect the real culprit is something else. What do you use to top off the tank everyday? What salt mix do you use? I know you already have verified the ph reading via two sources but I still suggest to have it tested by a LFS.

I top off Ro-water.
I use Blue Treasure SPS Salt atm. but i will go back to Red Sea Pro salt, when the BT is used..
I don't like it..

After i calibrated the Probe a week ago, the pH has only been raising slowly, not dropping ..
Look at this log:

Chris Adams · Apr 6, 2016

personally I would re-calibrate again and verify you get close to 7, rinse the probe in ro/di then do the 10
Also Randy Farley article if not already read is a must read in my opinion
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

Chris Adams said:
personally I would re-calibrate again and verify you get close to 7, rinse the probe in ro/di then do the 10
Also Randy Farley article if not already read is a must read in my opinion
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

Thanks, ill read that..

My Favia Dragon Eye - my Lobophylias, Euphyllia Divisia and a scolymia bleeding apple is looking bad - the rest of the corals seem to be fine ..

NeptuneGarden · Apr 6, 2016

ph is a combination of KH and Co2.
You must degas your water with fresh air aeration.

you dont necessarily have to leave a window open if you can supply the airpump with fresh air or use a Co2 scrubber compound on the inlet of your air pumps or skimmer air intake
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-color-changing-medical-grade-co2-absorbent.html

See table. numbers in the center of chart are CO2 ppm and the scales at the top and sides correspond to KH and pH.
in order to get to the wanted 8pH for a reeftank pretty much ALL Co2 must be degassed from your water column.

sc50964 · Apr 6, 2016

With my own reef tank, I use aqua vitro balance when ph is the only thing that's too low. You may want to look into that.

Kimkjaer · Apr 6, 2016

I am not able to buy stuff from US, because i live in Denmark..
Will cost way to much in fee's ..

Bonus info - my No3 is between 45-50 which also is really high..
I'm trying to get it down, by massive water changes..