calcium is 540. ph is only 7.4, help!

[puffer32]

It will have to wait, i did the 5 gal change before you suggested to take 5 gal outside, and the ph is now 8.0. I will test it tomorrow and if its low again i will do the outside test, please check back for results tomorrow, and thanks so much, i really think its because of air circulation, i will try keeping the door into the closet open all the time and see if that helps to.

 

[puffer32]

if its low tomorrow i will do your first suggestion first then try the air pump, will need a long extension cord to get it outside from the closet though.

 

[reefnut]

Somethings not right... no way will a 5g water change pull a 75g tank from 7.4 to 8.0.
Test again tomorrow and let us know...

 

[matty0h_52]

with a CAL of 540 and a ALK of 215.....that doesnt sound right. you shure your doing the test corerectly. What test you useing? I agree with ReefNut here something else isnt right!

high CAL....high ALK....low PH.....MAG u have no test for......
I use oceanic and all i do is add ALK buffer to the water change and that with throw my salt to the 450 range and bring my ALK back up. interesting...i would even try a different test. take it to the LFS to have it tested

 

[thomas712]

Originally Posted by ReefNut
Somethings not right... no way will a 5g water change pull a 75g tank from 7.4 to 8.0.
Test again tomorrow and let us know...
Agreed, also see if you can have your LFS test for pH and compare, that is just to wild a difference.

 

[puffer32]

Used another test, no name brand, gives same reading, its more like 7.8 then 8.0, but both tests show exaxt shade in color, so i believe the first test is accurate, so the water change, plus the 2 gal top off i did brought my ph up to 7.8. I will test tomorrow and if its down again i will take 5 gal outside and run a ph in it for 30 mins and test again, will post results. thanks guys

 

[ctgretzky9]

I'll venture an educated guess here....you arent circulating your mixed water for more than 24 hrs maybe? PROPER water changes are important to the alk/pH relationship.
Do not add buffers to raise pH, buffers PROTECT pH. That is all. Raising pH is done by doing proper water changes, having good circulation and air to water surface agitaion, and fresh air to exchange within the room.
Once you get to your proper levels, use a good buffer like 2 part b-ionic in proper doses.
Your high calcium may be due to the salt mix...some like oceanic? i think it is have very high Calcium levels, and some are low (instant ocean.)
I prefer using a low calcium mix and using b-ionic to raise and keep it, seems to work for me.

 

[puffer32]

Looks like ph is around 8.0 now. I hope it continues to rise. I will get some kalk this weekend and start dripping it. Thanks for all the help ***)

 

[puffer32]

Originally Posted by ctgretzky9
I'll venture an educated guess here....you arent circulating your mixed water for more than 24 hrs maybe? PROPER water changes are important to the alk/pH relationship.
Do not add buffers to raise pH, buffers PROTECT pH. That is all. Raising pH is done by doing proper water changes, having good circulation and air to water surface agitaion, and fresh air to exchange within the room.
Once you get to your proper levels, use a good buffer like 2 part b-ionic in proper doses.
Your high calcium may be due to the salt mix...some like oceanic? i think it is have very high Calcium levels, and some are low (instant ocean.)
I prefer using a low calcium mix and using b-ionic to raise and keep it, seems to work for me.
I usually arrate water for at least 20 hrs, and use instant ocean to keep my calc down, but its always been on the high side since cycling last yr.

 

[ctgretzky9]

That wouldnt account for high calcium anyway, just poor pH/alk if not mixed correctly. What additives do you use? Some buffers can throw calcium off.
IO is usually very low in calcium, so I am wondering why you could have such high calcium. It must be in something you are adding.
You aerate? Do you circulate it as well with a powerhead for those 20+ hours?

 

[puffer32]

I use a maxi 1200 in a bucket with 10-15 gal of RO water. I only add kent esential elements when doing a water change, 2 1/2 caps.

 

[puffer32]

BTW, I have had calc tested at lfs and they always come up with high cal also.

 

[reefnut]

Just curious but what is the essential element for?? The salt should have all of the trace elements needed... outside of sometimes needing a ca/alk/mag adjustment.

 

[puffer32]

Bottle says- mineral supplement. replaces biologically important trace minerals which are used by marine fish and inv removed through protein skimming, ozone and especially carbon filtration. Designed for fish only and reef tanks.Does not contain detrmental heavy metal phosphates, nitrates,silicates, gluconates or other sugars. Does not promote undesirable algae growth.
The reason i started using it is because i did my set up with distilled water. couldn't get RO water then, and i wanted to replace some of the desirable minerals distilled doesn't have. I now use RO, so i guess adding this isn't important (if it ever was :notsure: )

 

[reefnut]

I don't see much harm in adding it but I don't see much benefit either. Even with distilled water the salt has the elements needed... IMO these types of additives are not needed...

 

[puffer32]

I don't see the point in adding it myself, you see all these bottles in the lfs and they tell you to get this additive for this coral, and this additive for that coral, my goodness if you add all they tell you to add, your tank would be full of junk

. I do have some iodine i have used when acclaimating zoos, but besides the trace elements, which i won't use again, (wasn't planning on restocking anyhow), but i didn't want to waste it, but doubted it was neccesary myself. Thanks for all the help, i will test my ph daily and post if it changes again. Gonna put in a refuguim as soon as we figure out how to build one :notsure: Hopefully the plants will help keep my ph up and i plan to start dripping kalk now that i have corals, just nervous about raising my already high calc, hopefully it won't

 

[ctgretzky9]

hmmm....second time I have heard about people using this, and having high calcium...deja vu, but don't know from where...
Anyone good at chemistry? Could the Kent's product be locking up or doing something to keep the calcium from being absorbed properly if it is added during a water change? Almost like a precipitation event?
Curious...