Low pH with Oceanic salt

barry cuda

barry cuda

Member
Just wondering if anybody else has noticed low pH when mixing with Oceanic salt. My tank is full of water made with Oceanic, and I'm consistently measuring pH at 8.0. Looks like I'm going to need to buffer...
My fresh RO tests at 7.4 or just a little under, as 7.4 is as low as my test kit goes. Tapwater is the same. My first thought is to use baking soda to buffer. Is this a good solution?
Thanks!
 
silentshaw

silentshaw

Member
i'm haveing the same problem, i've been adding buffer but it hasn't help yet just added more today will re-test alk and ph tommarow
 
barry cuda

barry cuda

Member
The stored water has been sitting for several days in a mostly-empty 45g Rubbermaid trash can with a PH. I'm not using the venturi on the PH, but it's agitating nicely with lots of turbulence at the surface.
So is 8.0 an acceptable pH for a marine tank? I'd always been under the impression that it needs to be higher, say 8.2 or 8.4. I have no livestock yet (tank is just starting the cycle) so I can do whatever's necessary to get the parameters into line.
 
diddley

diddley

Member
ph will definitely not be stable in a cycling tank. anybody having this problem in an established tank?
 
dburr

dburr

Active Member
PH will flux a little. 8.3 being norm. Day and night will go up and down. As said, a cycling tank will be all over the chart.
 
jambi0n

jambi0n

Member
I checked my tank last night and it was showing 8.2-8.4. I heard that they have some messed up batches out there and if you call them they will send you some new salt or give you some type of voucher to get some from the LFS.
 
me-n-my-fish

me-n-my-fish

Member
Originally Posted by doodle1800
Barry - what kind of calcium readings are you getting with Oceanic?
If it was anything like the jug i tried out, it was off the charts!!
I, and everybody i talk to has had the same problem. low ph and high cal
I am back to using IO now. Problems+high price=me not using it :scared:
 
doodle1800

doodle1800

Active Member
As in my other thread - I'm very concerned with the extreme calcium levels Oceanic gives. I fear that a lot of saltwater hobbyist that use this salt have failures over time, causing us to purchase more livestock as time goes on. Provides of lot of purple color at first, but in the long run slowly kills our corals, at least. I've heard of 700 + levels of calcium using this brand, and in my experience have had the same readings using Oceanic.
 
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