My pH is low, I keep adding "buffer"

[bird dog]

Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2608739
A reef tank does deplete alk, therefore you may need to supplement. It SHOULD deplete alk and calcium at the same pace. But either way, the "buffer" does have a purpose and it appears you are using it correctly.
You test then add, that's right. But there are other factors to a low pH, so somebody new to the hobby should test before dosing that specific item.
You are not missing anything, your tank seems normal from what you wrote. My last 90 gallon reef depleted 1/4 cup (B-ionic brand) of alk every day!! as well as calcium.

Thank You

 

[bd_hotshot]

I have had high Ph for about a month. my test kit measures to 8.8 and thats the reading I've been getting on my last 3-4 tests. all other parameters are good 0-0-5-calc. 440--phosphates 0 --alk (KH) is 179. I have done two water changes in the last three weeks equal to about 1/2 of my water and have seen no drop in my PH. I recently bought some PH lowr but have yet to use it trying ot figure out why my tank PH is so high. I do use R/O and have tested it prior to adding salt and it comes out in the high 7's. Any suggestions?

 

[siline]

Hi!
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2607360
right, but how does it lower your ph say if it is at 8.6?
First, 8.6 is higher (more alkali) than neutral, or for instance the "ideal" saltwater or reef aquarium.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by bd_hotshot
http:///forum/post/2614924
I have had high Ph for about a month. my test kit measures to 8.8 and thats the reading I've been getting on my last 3-4 tests. all other parameters are good 0-0-5-calc. 440--phosphates 0 --alk (KH) is 179. I have done two water changes in the last three weeks equal to about 1/2 of my water and have seen no drop in my PH. I recently bought some PH lowr but have yet to use it trying ot figure out why my tank PH is so high. I do use R/O and have tested it prior to adding salt and it comes out in the high 7's. Any suggestions?

What additives do you use? Have you tested the PH of your saltwater before you add it to the tank?
Usually High PH is a sign of low waterflow or a malfunctioning skimmer.

 

[bd_hotshot]

Bang....I haven't to this point used any additives. I do have two Hydor Koralia 3's sitting in my DT that I have turned off at the moment since I really don't have anything that demands a lot of turnover which I could turn back on. My return pump from my sump is a Mag 9.5. I also have had issues with my skimmer (Aqua C ev120) in that sometimes it like to start free flowing on me. Do you suggest turning on the HK's along with some more tinkering with my skimmer to help with my high ph? Would love to fix this without any additives. BTW I have a 92 gal bowfront with 30 gal sump which is kept about half full, the sump I mean

. Ty Rich

 

[bd_hotshot]

Also I cannot remember if I have tested the saltwater before adding it to the tank....I have tested the R/O and the tap water. I'll try the saltwater when I get home from work tomorrow.

 

[tomato clown]

I just want to interject here that 3 weeks ago all my tests read within parameters, yet my PH was way off. Didn't think much of it, but just to be sure I bought a new test kit the following day. After running the new tests I seen my nitrates were off the charts (well over 160) yet everything else was fine.
Did the proper water changes and added some temporary "home-made" filtration things and tested my water again. Found my salinity a tad low so 1 more water change to correct it.
Tonight the water is completely within all ranges and the snails are actually doing their jobs as opposed to sitting at the water line barely moving.
In the end PH is more of a fallback that simply says there is an issue somewhere, so start looking.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by bd_hotshot
http:///forum/post/2615731
Do you suggest turning on the HK's along with some more tinkering with my skimmer to help with my high ph? Would love to fix this without any additives.

Additives offer no permanent PH solution in my opinion.
Try turning on the waterflow for 12 hours and see if it lowers the PH. In my experience high PH has been resolved by either waterflow or fixing the skimmer something like 80 out of 80 times.

 

[bd_hotshot]

Copy that Bang....I'll try those things thanks.....Hey Clown...what test kit were you using and what did you change to? I use API master and reef kits. Hoping this isn't a bad test kit issue.

 

[tizzo]

Originally Posted by bd_hotshot
http:///forum/post/2614924
I have had high Ph for about a month. my test kit measures to 8.8 and thats the reading I've been getting on my last 3-4 tests. all other parameters are good 0-0-5-calc. 440--phosphates 0 --alk (KH) is 179. I have done two water changes in the last three weeks equal to about 1/2 of my water and have seen no drop in my PH. I recently bought some PH lowr but have yet to use it trying ot figure out why my tank PH is so high. I do use R/O and have tested it prior to adding salt and it comes out in the high 7's. Any suggestions?

I'm having questions...
YOur alk is 179 ppm??
And your cal is 440??
Those are consistant with each other, but both are higher than I have ever seen any salt mix put out.
Your not adding either of those??
What kinda salt are you using, I'm switching!

 

[tomato clown]

2 of my test kits are API Master Saltwater, 1 was 2 years old, the other I just bought new a few weeks ago.
The 3rd test kit I had was a Marine Lab master kit that was probably 12-18 months old.

 

[bd_hotshot]

I use Red Sea Coral Pro formulated for R/O. At this time I don't have a big calcium demand, but I don't add any additives, just the salt.

 

[prime311]

I mentioned in another thread too, I had the same problem with API test kits. I think they're junk and thats why they sell them for 20$. I've seen other people post here with the same problem, I'm surprised people haven't given up on them already.

 

[tomato clown]

I asked the LFS is they carried the Echo test kits and the guy showed me the supply of chemicals, but didn't know anything about test kits. Where can we look into them?
As well, API is apparantly being packaged together in Mexico and sometimes the chemicals or charts are mixed up with the FW kits.

 

[nereef]

Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/2606431
what i don't understand with buffers is most will raise OR lower your pH to a specific value...how does it raise AND lower??? almost the same question of how does a thermos know to keep something hot or cold...lol.
i may have missed it if someone answered this...so sorry if that is so.
the term "buffer" in sw tank keeping is a marketing term. it's not really a chemical buffer system, but just a way to increase alkalinity.
actualy buffer solutions keep a pH within a certain range. a buffer solution is composed of a weak acid and it's conjugate base. since the conjugate acid and base are in equilibrium, any acid or base added to the system won't change the pH. if you add an acid, the conjugate base in the buffer will be protonated. if you add a base, the base gets eaten up by the hydronium ions. if you were to graph the addition of an acid to a buffer system, the curve would be sigmoidal. the flat part of the curve would be the buffering region, and this would represent the pH at which the buffer keeps the solution.
on to the thermos: hot water in a room will become room temp, as will cold water become room temp. this is still the case in a thermos, the process is just slowed down. the thermos is an insulator. it works by making a barrier for heat transfer between the water and the room.

 

[loopy101]

ok where to beggin!! my tank has been running for about 6 months. my paras are very good! except my ph the last 3 testings have been low i have tested in the am and pm. i guess i got lost in all the post in this thread.i do not have a test kit yet for the ca or phos. all i test for is ammonia.nitrites.nitrates and ph. i do have some of those tests for alk that ya just stick that strip in the water but dont feel that is gonna be actuate so i havent used them yet.
so anyhow all my test come back good. i use water from a spring just out of town. could that be part of the problem with low ph?
what would your guys opions be on for me to do or how to aproach this problem?
thanks in advance!!!!
paul

 

[tizzo]

If your pH is low it could be from any number of reasons. First, what is it??
It would be low in the AM so don't bother testing then anyway. Around 4 or later.
What kind of salt are you using? Some of the more popular ones test low for alk, and or calcium.
Anyway, how are you oxygenating? Do you have a skimmer?
Fuge? We need pretty much an entire description. As I said in the first post, ph is more of a result. If it's low, there's a list of things to test for til you find out why.
The first thing on that list would be, IMO, oxygenation. What powerheads, skimmer, overflow returns etc do you have?