PH & cal trouble

radge69

radge69

Member
I'm having touble getting my PH where it should be. Here are my current readings
PH 7.8 in the morning and 8.0 at night
calcuim 300 - 340
alk - 300 ppm (that's all the higher my test goes)
amonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
I've been dosing B-ionic every few days but can't seem to get the levels to rise. Also have been doing 5 gallon water changes once every two weeks. RO/DI water is the only thing used. 55 gallon tank. Any ideas?
 
timsedwards

timsedwards

Active Member
HI there,
I am useless on Alk so cant really help you there, but can I ask how you put the RO water in? Do you let it mix with the salt for 24 hours or so with a pump? This is best as it gives time for the salt to naturally change the water's pH to 8.2.
Let us know,
All the best,
Tim :cool:
 
radge69

radge69

Member
Yes, I use part A & B in equal amounts. As for letting the water age, I let it age for a couple hours, but I have ran multiple tests now and after a couple hours all levels in the mixed water are perfect with the PH being 8.2. I use IO salt if that makes any difference. Also, I have a 25 gallon tank that do the same things on with perfect levels. The only difference between the two would be that the 55 has a 5" DSB where the 25 only has a 3".
 
barracuda

barracuda

Active Member
I never used E.S.V. B-ionic, but let's see how can i help you.
alk is 300ppm... something wrong with that, 'cause it should be 7-12 dKH or 2.8 - 4.2 meq/l. So probably you posted something wrong. Recheck and post the result for Alk.
Your PH reading is also strange. Usually PH during the day is higher than at night.
Ca is way too low.
What i can recommend you is first of all STOP using b-ionic.
Do a 25% of water change, let it run for few hours and recheck PH, Alk and Ca.
Post us the results.
Do you have Buffers and liquid or turbo calcium additive, or b-ionic only? do you have animals in your tank?
 
radge69

radge69

Member
My alk test is in ppm, strange I know, but that's the way it is. First one I bought. PH is higher during the day. Those values are morning when the lights come on and at night right as they go off. B-ionic is a two part system. First part is the buffer, and the second is the calcuim. Both are liquid.
Animals, coral beauty, 2 perc clowns, springeri dottyback, misc. shrimps and crabs, cynarina coral, Long tentacle plate coral, button polyps, xenia, brown polyps and some small polyps I haven't identified yet.
 
barracuda

barracuda

Active Member
I'm not sure how to convert ppm into meq/l. I'm at work now and only in a 8 hours i'll be home. So, in a meanwhile somebody probably will help you to convert. Anyway i don't use b-ionic, i only can suggest you how to fix situation without b-ionic.
Read my prev post. Your problem is probably Alk, as this parameter affects both Ca and PH.
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Closest number here on this table is 303.6 ppm so in meq/l it would be 6.07 and in dKH it would be 17.0 Thats a bit wacked out
Iv'e had it as high as 15 dKH.
Alkalinity Conversion Table
dKH. meq/l. ppm. CaCO3
0 0 0
0.5 0.18 8.9
1.0 0.36 17.9
1.5 0.54 26.8
2.0 0.71 35.7
2.5 0.89 44.6
3.0 1.07 53.6
3.5 1.25 62.5
4.0 1.43 71.4
4.5 1.61 80.4
5.0 1.79 89.3
5.5 1.96 98.2
6.0 2.14 107.1
6.5 2.32 116.1
7.0 2.50 125.0
7.5 2.68 133.9
8.0 2.86 142.9
8.5 3.04 151.8
9.0 3.21 160.7
9.5 3.39 169.6
10.0 3.57 178.6
10.5 3.75 187.5
11.0 3.93 196.4
11.5 4.11 205.4
12.0 4.29 214.3
12.5 4.46 223.3
13.0 4.64 232.1
13.5 4.82 241.1
14.0 5.00 250.0
14.5 5.18 258.9
15.0 5.36 267.9
15.5 5.54 276.8
16.0 5.71 285.7
16.5 5.89 294.6
17.0 6.07 303.6
17.5 6.25 312.5
18.0 6.43 321.4
18.5 6.61 330.4
19.0 6.79 339.3
19.5 6.96 348.2
20.0 7.14 357.1
20.5 7.32 366.1
21.0 7.50 375.0
21.5 7.68 383.9
22.0 7.86 392.9
22.5 8.04 401.8
23.0 8.21 410.7
23.5 8.39 419.6
24.0 8.57 428.6
24.5 8.75 437.5
25.0 8.93 446.4
 
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