Does Higher Ph Cause Low Alk and Cal?

NaClH2ODave · 08/23/2019, 10:15 AM

After finally getting my Alkalinity up to 9.5 and my Calcium up to about 450 (with weeks of high doses of 2-part, then backing down), I changed the media in my CO2 scrubber. Ph went from 7.7 up to 8.0 after about 12 hours. Alkalinity dropped to 8.9 over the same time period and calcium dropped slightly. Is there a correlation between Ph and the two?

ohashimz · 08/23/2019, 10:56 AM

Yes, during high ph coral growth calcification is faster which lead to higher alk and ca consumption. So alk drop.

bertoni · 08/23/2019, 03:03 PM

Right, higher pH will encourage growth.

That pH level is unlikely to cause any problems, being well within normal parameters, so I suspect that you're just seeing the result of more growth.

08/23/2019, 10:15 AM	#1
NaClH2ODave Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Upland, CA Posts: 101	Does Higher Ph Cause Low Alk and Cal? After finally getting my Alkalinity up to 9.5 and my Calcium up to about 450 (with weeks of high doses of 2-part, then backing down), I changed the media in my CO2 scrubber. Ph went from 7.7 up to 8.0 after about 12 hours. Alkalinity dropped to 8.9 over the same time period and calcium dropped slightly. Is there a correlation between Ph and the two?

08/23/2019, 03:03 PM	#3
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Right, higher pH will encourage growth. That pH level is unlikely to cause any problems, being well within normal parameters, so I suspect that you're just seeing the result of more growth. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/23/2019, 10:56 AM	#2
ohashimz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 276	Yes, during high ph coral growth calcification is faster which lead to higher alk and ca consumption. So alk drop.