Low PH problem

[Quacka]

I have a PH issue that I couldn’t solved for the past 3 months. My tank is currently flucating between 7.7 to 7.9. My tank has been running for about 6 months but I never paid attention to my PH closely until I got the Apex 3 months ago.

I have a 4 foot 100 gallon tank with sump AquaOne 400 series 1. I have about 10 fishes, 10 LPS, two SPS. I dont use the lid so it’s open top.

Sump I got chaeto reactor, bio pellet reactor and slimmer. MP40 and Jebao RW8 rummingnmaximum speed. MP40 running Towards the top breaking water surface.

I dose seachem fusion 1 and 2 until about 2 weeks ago. Temporary just dosing aqaforest calcium as I haven’t decide which program to go on get.

Calcium 470, Alk 11, mag 1350, nitrate 5, phos 0.1

I do Water change once every 2 weeks using aquaforest salt. I even tried red sea coral pro with same result.

I tried taking the water outside for 30 minutes. Test the Ph and it is 8.1 when it is 7.8 inside the tank. It’s in the front living room so oxygen shouldn’t be an issue as it’s open space in a big house.

Tried using seachem buffer, it raises the PH by 0.1 then decreases again after a few hours.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[nereefpat]

Don't add any "buffer". It just raises alk. As you have seen, CO2 is to blame.

7.8 is perfectly acceptable. Most of us don't measure or worry about pH.

[bertoni]

That pH level is normal for a tank in a house. The buildup of carbon dioxide drops the pH a bit for most setups. The "buffer" products work by consuming carbon dioxide from the water column (more or less) and adding alkalinity, so the effect is very temporary. Aeration brings the pH back down fairly quickly. I'd just ignore the pH. As long as the alkalinity is in the 7-11 dKH range, the tank likely will be fine.

[Quacka]

some Of my corals and anemone are not doing well. I been dosing Red Sea energy, some is better but some such as my gold torches are not extending out that much. Tried moving the torch to different part with varied light intensity and flow but still not extending out. I have 6 heads but down to only 5 now so not sure of the reason. I thought it might be the PH as I cannot get it to go up.

[bertoni]

Honestly, I expect that the problem is not the pH. A lot of Tanks of the month have run in that general range, around 7.8. Phosphate at 0.1 ppm is high enough that it might cause problems. Personally, I'd start there, and possibly check the feeding and lighting. Did the corals do well for a while in the tank? What kind of lighting does the tank have? LED doesn't seem to fade over time, but bulbs do.

[Quacka]

Maybe it might be related to light. I had maxspect razor 180w and then swapped it for two hydras 52 non HD. Running it 12inch from the surface at around 40% for whites.

[Eric The Clown]

I speak from experience on this matter. I had the similar situation with low Ph. I read quite a bit of information on dosing Kalkwasser. I have been doing this now for over a month and a half. My Ph maintains itself between 8.0 - 8.1 consistently. The benefit is the raising of the Ph while the main purpose of Kalkwasser is to properly maintain stable levels of alkalinity and calcium. The product is super affordable and can be simply slow dripped in at night. Slow and steady drip using a homemade gravity drip will make a huge difference. Do some research and you will see from the experts in the field how beneficial it is for a tank.

[Quacka]

I contemplating of using this as well. I have a doser coming so I might be able to use this with an air stone to keep it consistently mixed

[Eric The Clown]

There are specific instructions on the preparation of the Kalkwasser mix as well as how to dose it. For example, once the solution is prepared it does not get continually stirred unless used in a kalkwaser stirring reactor. You will read that those reactors are not highly recommended. Use a simple homemade gravity drip for a month while following the preparation instructions. If you notice a difference and want to continue using it, it can be used in an ATO. The volume of the Kalkwasser solution MUST match how much evaporation your tank has daily. If you lose 2 qts. a day to evaporation you will add 2 pts. per day of solution.

[josephxsxn]

My tank started to experience very low PH down to 7.5 PH one morning even with Kalk dosing, normal range was 7.6-7.9. After some simple aeration tests showed that the water would go to 8.2 PH. I bought two large air stones from the hydroponics store and placed them in a covered area of my sump. PH has never been below 8.0 at night now with Kalk dosing to a high of 8.2, and without Kalk bottoms out at 7.9 PH (if my ATO water is just plain RO.)

I would definitely take a 500ml sample and aerate it with a small airstone outside for 1 hour and remeasure its PH.. If that drops then do the same thing with a new sample indoors, aerate for 1 hour and check the PH. In my tests it easily showed that my problem was not so much my indoor air but a lack of surface agitation to get the proper gas exchange.

I agree with others, I didn't show many real problems with Low PH from gas exchange. My tank slowed up greatly once when I didn't do a WC for a while (few months,) after just a small 5% change everything radically started growing again... I am not sure what your WC schedule is like, and its typically the horse that is beat dead, but always worth the mention

[bertoni]

Kalk is cheap to use, and it might help. In a lot of cases, though, the aeration rate of the tank is high enough that the effect is minimal. I don't have any useful statistics on the subject, though.

[nycman]

Originally Posted by Eric The Clown

There are specific instructions on the preparation of the Kalkwasser mix as well as how to dose it. For example, once the solution is prepared it does not get continually stirred unless used in a kalkwaser stirring reactor. You will read that those reactors are not highly recommended. Use a simple homemade gravity drip for a month while following the preparation instructions. If you notice a difference and want to continue using it, it can be used in an ATO. The volume of the Kalkwasser solution MUST match how much evaporation your tank has daily. If you lose 2 qts. a day to evaporation you will add 2 pts. per day of solution.

+1! I had low PH problems while dosing Kalk in my ATO. I removed the powerhead in the ATO container and PH increased materially. That was the only change - removal of continuous mixing.

[hkgar]

NSW is 7.5 and the corals all do fine. It ain't your PH. I feel sorry for PH, it gets blamed for almost everything and it is just along for the ride.

[rvareef]

Originally Posted by Quacka

some Of my corals and anemone are not doing well. I been dosing Red Sea energy, some is better but some such as my gold torches are not extending out that much. Tried moving the torch to different part with varied light intensity and flow but still not extending out. I have 6 heads but down to only 5 now so not sure of the reason. I thought it might be the PH as I cannot get it to go up.

quit dosing rse and buffer, your corals should improve, you can also set your refuge on a reverse light cycle to come on at night when your pH normally drops, kalk can be great too, but start small, too much can stress/kill your corals

[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by hkgar

NSW is 7.5 and the corals all do fine. It ain't your PH. I feel sorry for PH, it gets blamed for almost everything and it is just along for the ride.

Good point!
Glad someone pointed that out.

Hobbist are all reading/hearing that corals grow faster in PH of 8.3.
I still have seen not one report that supports this thinking.

I am getting bored of the same PH question three times a day.