Ph woes

[AlexR]

So I’m trying to get growth better...
I’ve been doing by-weekly 10% water changes.
Have a calcium reactor hooked up.

All levels are good except for PH which is around 7.9 and does not go above 8.1. Ph is measured with a ReefAngel controller.

Should I even bother trying to raise ph a bit or will this be ok for good growth?
So far my growth is not great. I have a couple montis which have some noticeable growth, and random polys growing everywhere. But my zoas aren’t growing much.
Everything looks healthy and is opening up very nicely. I just wish I had more growth like I’ve read some people see new zoa polyps every few days.
So far I don’t see any new zoa polyps in over a month.
I have about 8 different zoa frags, a hammer which opens up to a large softball size and has I think 7 branches but no new growth. A frogspawn which is opening nicely but also not growing.


Phosphates undetectable
Nitrates ~2
Calcium 400
Alk 9-10

Running radion xr30 g4 pros.

[AlexR]

Here is 7 days PH.

[mcgyvr]

Your pH is totally fine...You may do more harm trying to adjust it..
Some of the top guys in this hobby have pH levels below yours

[Duc1098]

Open a window. The gas exchange with the oxygen will cause the ph to rise. As oxygen is depleted around the tank the co2 will create a blanket over the tank preventing this exchange causing ph to drop.

This is a guess not knowing where your tank is setup, but it is a likely contributor.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Duc1098

Open a window. The gas exchange with the oxygen will cause the ph to rise. As oxygen is depleted around the tank the co2 will create a blanket over the tank preventing this exchange causing ph to drop.

This is a guess not knowing where your tank is setup, but it is a likely contributor.

I have an air stone with an outside air source going into my refugium. Figured that would help more then opening up windows.

[Duc1098]

You will get more gas exchange at the surface of the water then with an air stone. It’s all about surface area. With a stone you have tiny bubble that float to the surface and dissipate. There is not much surface area involved. You could also try a small fan over the top of your tank to push air of the top of it and not have stagnant air.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Duc1098

You will get more gas exchange at the surface of the water then with an air stone. It’s all about surface area. With a stone you have tiny bubble that float to the surface and dissipate. There is not much surface area involved. You could also try a small fan over the top of your tank to push air of the top of it and not have stagnant air.

Thanks I’ll see if a fan and opening the doors for the stand help some. Opening the windows unfortunately is not an option. It’s way too hot here for that.

[Navig8tr]

Your calcium is a bit low. Your pH actually looks normal for a system running a calcium reactor. If you want to accelerate growth, run elevated levels of calcium and alkalinity. It is a balancing act though as running elevated levels requires more pump/powerhead maintenance as calcium carbonate precipitates faster on the magnetic drives.

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Navig8tr

Your calcium is a bit low. Your pH actually looks normal for a system running a calcium reactor. If you want to accelerate growth, run elevated levels of calcium and alkalinity. It is a balancing act though as running elevated levels requires more pump/powerhead maintenance as calcium carbonate precipitates faster on the magnetic drives.

I change my powerheads every 6 or so months and I have a very overpowered return pump.
I may adjust the drip/bubble count on the reactor to raise it up some.
I have a minimal coral load at the moment and didn’t want to over do it with the reactor yet.

[Uncle99]

My PH is 7.8 -8.1 and I have great growth.
That's assuming that my meter is actually giving me the right number.
No chase

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

My PH is 7.8 -8.1 and I have great growth.
That's assuming that my meter is actually giving me the right number.
No chase

I’m probably just not being patient enough.
It’s only been a couple months since i added the corals. I was struggling at first with them even opening up fully. Found my issue and since then they all look super healthy. And have noticed some growth in the montis.
I’m going away for a week. I think I’ll probably notice more growth when I return then when I look at it every day.

[hkgar]

I can't remember the last time mine was above 7.9

[AlexR]

Thanks for the input. I’ve been keeping reefs for a long time but just recently started caring about PH. Since I got the controller actually.

I’ve just read a PH of 8.1-8.4 is ideal. Looks like that is not accurate?

[mattgumaer]

Like many things, 8.1-8.4 might be 'ideal' but, it seems unlikely that 7.9 is far enough from ideal to be the source of any issues of significance. Further, making modifications to 'chase the numbers' may do more harm than good because stability is considered a key factor to success. If you're growth is not as expected, in my opinion, it's either: 1) being overly optimistic about expected growth; or 2) something other than ph. Other culprits might include: 1) phosphate and nitrates being too low for ideal growth (calcium level seems marginal and sort of out-of-whack with alk); 2) lighting (running just Radions can be tricky); or 3) flow (seemingly often underestimated in terms of importance).

Matt

[Jason05]

It may seem counterintuitive but zoas hammers and frog spawns seem to like a little more nutrients to a point. Some cheap flake food once or twice a week seems to help also my frog and hammer seem to do best when the flow looks like a breeze over a wheat field just kinda rolling but not heavy. Just be patient also reef chili and sod pellets are the only thing I’ve seen them actively eat but reef chili seems to work best


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[AlexR]

I use polyp booster and usually broadcast fees reef roids. Target feeding is better but I just find it too invasive.

[Jason05]

I used Roids for a year or more then found reef chili and have much better coloration


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[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by AlexR

I’m probably just not being patient enough.
It’s only been a couple months since i added the corals. I was struggling at first with them even opening up fully. Found my issue and since then they all look super healthy. And have noticed some growth in the montis.
I’m going away for a week. I think I’ll probably notice more growth when I return then when I look at it every day.

I have corals that sat for 3-6 months and did nothing!
Then, one day, I noticed that some starting growing real fast.
Each requires time to "adjust" itself to the new conditions.
And those conditions must remain absolutely stable and unchanging especially Ali
As an example, I have had a sunset Monti, size of a quarter for 9'months, but only in the last 30 days has it tripled in size

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

I have corals that sat for 3-6 months and did nothing!
Then, one day, I noticed that some starting growing real fast.
Each requires time to "adjust" itself to the new conditions.
And those conditions must remain absolutely stable and unchanging especially Alk

Thank you. Hearing this is encouraging.

[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by AlexR

Thank you. Hearing this is encouraging.

Levels are important but stability is everything!
Now I wish some would slow down...

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

Levels are important but stability is everything!

Now I wish some would slow down...

Absolutely.
It takes a while to get the calcium reactor dialed in correctly. I need to check on it almost daily.
But since adding the calcium reactor my Calcium and Alk did go up and has been pretty stable.

My calcium test may have been off by 10-20. I’ll need to do another test when I get back.
For now I’m just monitoring my tank remotely issuing the controller data.

[AlexR]

So far I’m very happy with the radions.
I’ve been using the coral labs ab+ setting from 9am to 7pm.
Corals are really opening up nicely. Much better then when they were in the store.

I have orange bam bam zoas that looked almost dead in the LFS. In my tank they have fully opened and look amazing. Just not noticing any new polyps.

[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by AlexR

So far I’m very happy with the radions.
I’ve been using the coral labs ab+ setting from 9am to 7pm.
Corals are really opening up nicely. Much better then when they were in the store.

I have orange bam bam zoas that looked almost dead in the LFS. In my tank they have fully opened and look amazing. Just not noticing any new polyps.

I waited about 4 months for some sunny D's, in that time nothing additional.
In the last 4 months 4 polyps now 10.....

It's all about expectations....I now look at growth only every three months or so provided the coral looks healthy.

Shoot for the most stable environment you can make......your going to be real happy.

If I had to pick the most important I would pick:
Light....set and forget
Temp....max 1 degree variance
Alk.....there's not much if this in the water so it can change fast.
Salinity.....ATO is the best!

[AlexR]

Originally Posted by Uncle99

I waited about 4 months for some sunny D's, in that time nothing additional.
In the last 4 months 4 polyps now 10.....

It's all about expectations....I now look at growth only every three months or so provided the coral looks healthy.

Shoot for the most stable environment you can make......your going to be real happy.

If I had to pick the most important I would pick:
Light....set and forget
Temp....max 1 degree variance
Alk.....there's not much if this in the water so it can change fast.
Salinity.....ATO is the best!

A lot of the stability has to do with water volume as well. I have a total of 175g water volume. So I do have just a little room to play.

My temp can variate 3° a day and there is not much I can do about it. Although it usually variates at the same time daily. From 78° to 81° then back down to 78°.

[mattgumaer]

Originally Posted by AlexR

So far I’m very happy with the radions.
I’ve been using the coral labs ab+ setting from 9am to 7pm.
Corals are really opening up nicely. Much better then when they were in the store.

I have orange bam bam zoas that looked almost dead in the LFS. In my tank they have fully opened and look amazing. Just not noticing any new polyps.

FWIW, I run 5 Radion XR30 pros, 3 over a 180 and 2 over a 60 cube (24x24x24). I supplemented the 3 over my 180 with 4 5-foot T5s. Personally, I would not run Radions without either: 1) using more than the recommended number of fixtures (like my running 2 XR30s over my 60 cube) or 2) supplementing with T5s. It has been my experience that it is difficult (impossible?) to get good, even light distribution with just one fixture for every 2 feet of tank space. But, maybe its just me.......Also, mine are gen 2 and gen 3 pros so maybe things work a little different with gen 4s.

Matt