pH and Alkalinity - Unmasked

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
what ph do you have after aerating your newly mixed saltwater for 24hrs with a powerhead ?
The ph is 7.4 the day I mix , 24 hours and even 48 hours . That is why I am using the Marine buffer . My Alk went down from 16 to 12/13 when switching to RO . I am on a well and tried running my ro right from the well and after our water softener , iron filter , and sulfer filters , doesn`t make a difference .
here's something odd i don't regularlly check for ph on newlly mixed salt, since i been doing everything the same in every waterchange for years i don't see how anything could possible change, without me doing something different..
I don't know what ph i get in my mixed water, i stopped checking after i new it doesn't make a difference..(since parameters have been bonding with each other).. the problem is in your tank NOT IN YOUR NEW SALTMIX, this is another example how new hobbiest fail, cause they try to get the ph, alk, calcium as equal as the DT.,that is a bad practice..just mix your saltwater withing normal range, and just do the waterchange, forget trying to get the perfect parameters on newly mixed salt...
any saltmix is intended to get all parameters within normal range.. how is that hard to understand..

 

[dawman]

Originally Posted by Dawman
here's something odd i don't regularlly check for ph on newlly mixed salt, since i been doing everything the same in every waterchange for years i don't see how anything could possible change, without me doing something different..
I don't know what ph i get in my mixed water, i stopped checking after i new it doesn't make a difference..(since parameters have been bonding with each other).. the problem is in your tank NOT IN YOUR NEW SALTMIX, this is another example how new hobbiest fail, cause they try to get the ph, alk, calcium as equal as the DT.,that is a bad practice..just mix your saltwater withing normal range, and just do the waterchange, forget trying to get the perfect parameters on newly mixed salt...
any saltmix is intended to get all parameters within normal range.. how is that hard to understand..

If I do water changes with removing 8.4 ph water and putting in 7.0 water , won`t that lower my ph in the tank ? I`m still going to have high alk though as after mixing salt it goes up .

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by GeoJ
Water change will not fix Co2 prob. the Co2 is at a level that is related to gas exchange and the local Co2 in the air
Doing a water change will only change Co2 for temp then gas exchange sends it back to what it was... this time frame is short one or two hours
Don’t forget that Co2 changes with temperature and the corals, algae, and microorganisms aerobic respiration (in oxygen out carbon dioxide) so when the light on more Co2
So you need to think is the tanks aerobic respiration the cause or is the air outside the tank?

NO WAY???? that's what my point is.. what if there's no CO2 problem in the first place?? should we do water changes first to see if that fixes the whole problem ..(NOT just C02 exchange)?? now if that waterchange dOES NOT fix the problem then guess what's left to look at? C02 right?
if he starts by trying to fix the C02 problem do you think that is the first and formost accurate thing to do?

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
If I do water changes with removing 8.4 ph water and putting in 7.0 water , won`t that lower my ph in the tank ? I`m still going to have high alk though as after mixing salt it goes up .

Not necesarilly, here's why: It depends on how big and how often the waterchanges are and the ability of your tank on removing C02..when you do waterchanges you're also removing some of the water that you changed last time, did you know that?
forget about numbers, do you know why is not working for you? cause of the practice that you're trying to get the ph the same as DT.. it doesn't work that way.
Look this is the simplest explanation: if you wanna get all technical and keep throwing numbers at me.. i'm done it all sounds like Sweet science to me..

 

[aztec reef]

Kilhullen, forget the numbers of a cycling tank, just watch Ammonia and Nitrites for now(3-4 weeks) by then Ammonia & nitrites should be at 0, and you should have some Nitrates. Now this means your QT is cycled.and you can do a waterchange to get the TRATES down..until this happends then you can move on, on your next step..

 

[hocky]

Originally Posted by estein02
Caught this at a good time. When I tested my water tonight I got a reading of 8.4 for pH and 13.6 dkh for alkalinity (used API for ph and Salifert for dkh). I'm more comfortable with reading the ph results then I am with the dkh, but assuming I test dkh correctly, what do I do to lower it to normal levels. From your post SJimmyH it seems like I have an abundance of CO2. I think this is related, but currently I have glass lids on my tank to help keep the cat out. Could that be causing the elevated dkh levels?

I have about the same levels in my tank, 8.3/4, 13/14dkh. 0amm, 0trite, 5trate, 0phate, 380calc. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, these values do not change. It is an open top 125 with an open top 40g sump. What is the fix for the situation? Even after large water changes, I see similar numbers.

 

[aztec reef]

well then there's a problem Hocky, have you tested the newlly made water??
if the newlly-mixed water has low of everything or everything normal, then there should be a change on parameters in DT with the waterchanges. at least temporary.. like i said it before a hundred times.. it all depends on how large and how often the waterchanges are and the ability of your tank to keep parameters stable..or it's ability to exchange C02 or whatever..

 

[dawman]

Originally Posted by Dawman
Not necesarilly, here's why: It depends on how big and how often the waterchanges are and the ability of your tank on removing C02..when you do waterchanges you're also removing some of the water that you changed last time, did you know that?
forget about numbers, do you know why is not working for you? cause of the practice that you're trying to get the ph the same as DT.. it doesn't work that way.
Look this is the simplest explanation: if you wanna get all technical and keep throwing numbers at me.. i'm done it all sounds like Sweet science to me..

First , I wasn`t "throwing" numbers at you. Second , I will still have a high alk reading . A LFS that is in the same area as me said they found Reef Crystals to work very well with our water . He said they have heard similar problems with customers in the same area with well water . What do you think ?

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
First , I wasn`t "throwing" numbers at you. Second , I will still have a high alk reading . A LFS that is in the same area as me said they found Reef Crystals to work very well with our water . He said they have heard similar problems with customers in the same area with well water . What do you think ?
Dawman, is this right, your tank right now is PH - 8.4 , Alk - 13dkh if so you are ok. Don’t test the top off water just note the amount and the change in the tank water after 24 hours or more.
If your ph is 8.4 your alk should be 13dkh no CO2 prob
I use Seachem Reef Buffer
The amount of buffer you use is a little high but that is ok!!
Your r/o water is good and if you have a high alk like 16dkh no prob add less buffer but keep your PH above 8.0

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by Dawman
First , I wasn`t "throwing" numbers at you. Second , I will still have a high alk reading . A LFS that is in the same area as me said they found Reef Crystals to work very well with our water . He said they have heard similar problems with customers in the same area with well water . What do you think ?
we cannot compare well water with anything cause we all know well water has too may impurities..
reefcrystals would be your best bet imo. mixed with ro/di water, of course.

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by Dawman
Dawman, is this right, your tank right now is PH - 8.4 , Alk - 13dkh if so you are ok. Don’t test the top off water just note the amount and the change in the tank water after 24 hours or more.
If your ph is 8.4 your alk should be 13dkh no CO2 prob
now this sounds like a good idea..

 

[dawman]

Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
we cannot compare well water with anything cause we all know well water has too may impurities.

Actually my well water is cleaner than most city water in my area . My buddy that lives in town , he has already had to change his prefilters three times so far due to they get all rust colored . I`m still on my first set and just now starting to see some coloration . Also the water is purifed from the RO , so there wouldn`t be any impurities .

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by Dawman
Actually my well water is cleaner than most city water in my area . My buddy that lives in town , he has already had to change his prefilters three times so far due to they get all rust colored . I`m still on my first set and just now starting to see some coloration . Also the water is purifed from the RO , so there wouldn`t be any impurities .
If you are using well water, well water is full of disolved minerals and impurities, everybody know this, but if you run it through 4 or 5 stage RO/DI it should be fine.

 

[dawman]

Originally Posted by MiaHeatLvr
If you are using well water, well water is full of disolved minerals and impurities, everybody know this, but if you run it through 4 or 5 stage RO/DI it should be fine.
Not all well water is the same . I know the quality of water coming from my well due to the condition of my prefilter before my RO unit .

 

[dawman]

Well , Reef Crystals worked great . Has a 8.4 ph without adding any buffer and Alk of 11DKH . Amazing what the difference is between the two salts .

 

[ironsnipes]

great thread. was interested in asking ?'s but you all really confused me. with the science talk. new hobbist tank up and running 5 1/2 mon. no problems. added mushies and xenia . since the p.h has been low as well as alk. 55 gal tank 5 gal water change weekly ro/di using kent salt. have added 1 drop lugols iodide every 2 wks and some pro dkh buff to try to bring stuff back in line. water parameters are fine sal.025, nitri0, nitra0,cal500,ph low,alk low, ammon 0 temp 79 -80 using red sea test kits. have done 3 -5 gal water changes in last 3 days is everything ok or have any comments or ideas. my tank and mushies/xenia are doing well growing so i am not to worried but am interested in the topic. any replys would be sick.

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by ironsnipes
great thread. was interested in asking ?'s but you all really confused me. with the science talk. new hobbist tank up and running 5 1/2 mon. no problems. added mushies and xenia . since the p.h has been low as well as alk. 55 gal tank 5 gal water change weekly ro/di using kent salt. have added 1 drop lugols iodide every 2 wks and some pro dkh buff to try to bring stuff back in line. water parameters are fine sal.025, nitri0, nitra0,cal500,ph low,alk low, ammon 0 temp 79 -80 using red sea test kits. have done 3 -5 gal water changes in last 3 days is everything ok or have any comments or ideas. my tank and mushies/xenia are doing well growing so i am not to worried but am interested in the topic. any replys would be sick.

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[mbintraining]

Great article that started this thread need to know more about CO2. I have a closed lid syst and I think this might be my prob though it was fine when the tank was just a few months old struggling w low ph now. MBintraining

 

[nietzsche]

tested mine today and it was:
pH: 7.8
phosphate: 0ppm
calcium: 420ppm
kH: 7dKH
amm: 0ppm
trites: 0ppm
trates: 20ppm
salinity ~37
i don't use a kalkwasser, just regular R/O water for top offs.
i got this from a good reefkeeping article: