1000 Gallon Build- Here we go- Lots of Pictures

[Socaltoaz]

Temp between 80-81.5

[Socaltoaz]

Ph between 8.5 and 8.6

[Mishri]

your ph is getting pretty high.. it's out of bounds of most people's scale for safe for fish. I'd look at getting it back to 8.2

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.htm

That may not be your problem at all... but it is something, and since it's FOWLR it shouldn't be that high so it could be indicative of something wrong with your water.. you usually need to be dosing things to get ph that high. maybe something wrong with your RO/DI? or salt? Calibrated your refractometer recently? If you are using an apex probe to track your sg or salinity know that they are frequently wrong... and you should use a calibrated refactometer.

[Socaltoaz]

Hmm- ok will work on lowering ph.

[delmo]

A little vinegar doses should work. What's your dkH (alkalinity)?

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[Socaltoaz]

The only thing I can think that might be giving me a high ph is my RODI. I have a pretty kick *** system install for fresh water (supposedly). I check my TDS meters- several of them for redundancy and I have 0 TDS coming out of the system.

However in lieu of elevated ph- this is something I need to reevaluate to bring my ph down a bit.

[karimwassef]

Calibrate your probes and use multiple probes.

[Socaltoaz]

I've had my aquarium water tested and posted then Numbers above. I've also sent it out to a 3rd party for testing as well. My TDS meter reads zero for my fresh water. What else should I test for to ensure my RODI water is truly free of contaminants and not leading to the higher than desired ph. I checked my Apex and ph average has been 8.5

[mike810]

Not sure if your rodi system filters out chloramines but that might be something to look into. Most cities treat their water with this.

[karimwassef]

RODI won't do that unless there's no aeration. Your Apex probes need to be recalibrated. Get new calibration fluids if they're more than 6 months old.

[Socaltoaz]

I've got tons of aeration in the form of a massive protein skimmer. Ok will put recalibrate probes on the list of to do. Ty Karim.

[anbosu]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

RODI won't do that unless there's no aeration. Your Apex probes need to be recalibrated. Get new calibration fluids if they're more than 6 months old.

This is good advice - before you start chasing PH, make sure you actually have an issue.

[RonMidtownStomp]

My gut feeling is that it's not ph, but I'm out of my league a bit with 1000 gallon fish only system. I look forward to the lab test results. I'll be very surprised if they don't show something.

[Ojos22]

+1 on re-calibrating your PH probes. I have 2 PH probes with my APEX and as time goes on the PH keeps creeping higher and higher. I have seen my probes tell me over 9 and when re-calibrated they are back to a normal level. Hanna also sells a PH tester for about $40. I use that when I am not confident the PH probes through the APEX are giving me an accurate reading. Do you have any other PH testing kits? It is never a bad thing to have some cheap kits around to double check. If all of these sources are saying 8.5 then you may have a problem you need to look into.

[dave.m]

Keeping a refractometer or even a cheapo swing-arm hydrometer on hand can tell you pretty quickly when your pH probes are going out of whack.

Dave.M

[mike810]

Just a thought, I know you have you have your sump in your garage. Do you warm up your cars in the garage for extended periods of time? I know I warm up my exotics at least 10 minutes before I take them out. Maybe the fumes from the cars are getting into the tank?

My cousin had a rabbit he kept in his garage decades ago and one day it died, presumably from his mom warming up the car in the garage even with the garage door open.

[Socaltoaz]

Originally Posted by RonMidtownStomp

My gut feeling is that it's not ph, but I'm out of my league a bit with 1000 gallon fish only system. I look forward to the lab test results. I'll be very surprised if they don't show something.

Have sent in water samples to Aqua Medic. Will get results in the next few days

Originally Posted by Ojos22

+1 on re-calibrating your PH probes. I have 2 PH probes with my APEX and as time goes on the PH keeps creeping higher and higher. I have seen my probes tell me over 9 and when re-calibrated they are back to a normal level. Hanna also sells a PH tester for about $40. I use that when I am not confident the PH probes through the APEX are giving me an accurate reading. Do you have any other PH testing kits? It is never a bad thing to have some cheap kits around to double check. If all of these sources are saying 8.5 then you may have a problem you need to look into.

Ill post the results from the Aqua Medic Testing

Originally Posted by dave.m

Keeping a refractometer or even a cheapo swing-arm hydrometer on hand can tell you pretty quickly when your pH probes are going out of whack.

Dave.M

Yes. I have a refractometer.

Originally Posted by mike810

Just a thought, I know you have you have your sump in your garage. Do you warm up your cars in the garage for extended periods of time? I know I warm up my exotics at least 10 minutes before I take them out. Maybe the fumes from the cars are getting into the tank?

My cousin had a rabbit he kept in his garage decades ago and one day it died, presumably from his mom warming up the car in the garage even with the garage door open.

I do not. After starting the cars, I idle outside and then warm up there.

[whyamisofly]

Originally Posted by Socaltoaz

Have sent in water samples to Aqua Medic. Will get results in the next few days


Ill post the results from the Aqua Medic Testing

I'm 10 minutes from Aqua Medic, want me to stop in and get your results?!

[Socaltoaz]

Originally Posted by whyamisofly

I'm 10 minutes from Aqua Medic, want me to stop in and get your results?!

sure! why the hell not. lol

[Socaltoaz]

Almost had a heart attack last night. I cleaned out all my media reactors and put in fresh carbon. Did a water change, cleaned the skimmer etc. I have 2 Royal Exclusive pumps running my media reactors. The pumps sit in the sump. so since Ive been having these issues, I figured, why not crank up the reactor pumps a bit and get more flow going through the carbon in the reactors. Big mistake!

I cranked up both pumps to 34 watts of power thinking this is a good thing. I wake up in the morning and check my apex and holy crap-- the temp in the tank is up to 83.5 degrees and rising. ***??? I panicked and couldn't figure out what was going on- until I realized that the pumps were running hotter and acting as a heater. I turned the pumps back down and we are not stable at 80.3 degrees. In the summer my tank runs anywhere between 80-81.5 The fans kick on at 81.5 and start cooling.

Anyways- still waiting on water test results. No harm done to the fish as far as I can tell- but didnt realize that 2 pumps would cause this much issue. Atleast in the wintertime I now have a built in heater in the sump.

[karimwassef]

I regularly run to 84F. Accelerates coral growth rate. I shut down the lights above that until the tank cools under 83F and repeat.

Reminds me of the thunderstorms in the tropics.. it gets dark for a bit while things cool down, then the sun shines again. No harm.

[RonMidtownStomp]

How could two 34W reactor pumps warm 1000 gallons of water?

1 btu is the amount of energy to warm 1 gallon of water 1F. To maintain 1000 gallons at 3 degrees more than equilibrium should require about 900 watts, unless I don't understand the way the equation works.

[Socaltoaz]

Originally Posted by RonMidtownStomp

How could two 34W reactor pumps warm 1000 gallons of water?

1 btu is the amount of energy to warm 1 gallon of water 1F. To maintain 1000 gallons at 3 degrees more than equilibrium should require about 900 watts, unless I don't understand the way the equation works.

Which is exactly why I was shocked as well. Didnt think that would make a difference and all of a sudden when I cranked the power down, temp is back to 80.

Im at a loss myself.

[RonMidtownStomp]

Are you sure one of those pumps isn't drawing way more power than it's supposed to/has a problem? Do you have a Kill a watt ($20 power draw measuring device) you can put in front of them to measure?

[Socaltoaz]

Originally Posted by RonMidtownStomp

Are you sure one of those pumps isn't drawing way more power than it's supposed to/has a problem? Do you have a Kill a watt ($20 power draw measuring device) you can put in front of them to measure?

Very possible. I dont have that device but will see if I can get around to checking. Regardless, temp is stable now and the only change was to lower the power on the pumps.