PH keeps dropping!

[mujtba]

I will do that Bang.
By morning and night, do you mean LIGHTS on and LIGHTS off?
My xenias do not sprout at ALL! my fish are 100% fine, but my softcorals, which is all i have, seem to not be so healthy.
I though the PH would effect the fish more. Do you think that is what is making my corals not sprout so well?
after I switched to MH, my xenias stopped sprouting how they did. i thought xenias need more lighting... Do you think its lighting, or am i missing a key element for the corals? If so, what do softies need?

 

[bang guy]

How long ago did you get the new lighting?

 

[golfish]

Like Bang said, 7.8 isn't that bad but you need to test your ALK..

 

[mujtba]

i got my lighting about 3 weeks ago. my shrooms dont sprout how they used to. they are lower to the bottom too. im not sure if my lighting messed it all up.. i thought my corals would adjust by now... everyone bragged about MH sayings its steriods for corals.. my whole tank went from beauty to booty within weeks.. i just want it all working with the MH now.. im sure u all know how much $$ MH are...
my calcium is about 120ppm
alk is about 143ppm
PH with lights on are right now 8.4
Where should it all be?
Im putting kent liquid calcium to raise it.. just started few days ago though.
sigh.. what to do..

 

[mujtba]

 

[bang guy]

You're on the right path.
I've never seen Calcium drop that low though. Actually I didn't know it could.
It might be worth while to get a second opinion from another test kit.
If it's accurate then I'm concerned about your Magnesium level so you should also test that.
If Mg is fine then just continue dosing the Calcium.
If Mg is really low then I believe you had a major precipitation event that somehow went unnoticed. A series of water changes will work better at fixing that.
Did you add any dry aragonite sand to your system recently???

 

[ctgretzky9]

Bang...dont mean to hijack the thread, but my parameters are getting better...thank you so much for the advice. I have done a couple of water changes, cleaned out all of my filters and piping (figured it can't hurt anyway), and have dosed a half dose of alk and full of calc. Calc is creeping up to almost 400 now, and I cant beleive alk went down to around 7-ish. PH is a stable 8.3.
I'll get better numbers by tomorrow.
Thanks again!

 

[mujtba]

ill try another calcium test kit. i hate the salifert ones, cuz its like chemistry and hard to do..
i got another test kit which was simpler..
i added arogonite sand about 2 months ago...
:notsure:

 

[the claw]

Another trick is to have lights on in your sump or refugium at night, or reverse what your tanks lights are on for. That helps the ph swings dramatically. Thats assuming you or anyone else suffering from this phenomenon has a sump or refugium.
I think this is also one advantage of having a DSB. The argonite sand helps with the buffering. From a guy who hardly tests for anything these days, I do recommend you get a couple test kits and get on top of that magnesium Calcium thing. That low of a calcium is ......holy moly!

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by mujtba
i added arogonite sand about 2 months ago...
How long have you had this problem?

 

[mujtba]

i think i noticed this since i added my MH. because I know that after i switched from my 55 to a 75G, I added more sand. BUT i still had my PC lighting and things seemed fine. then after a month or so, I got the MH. i dont know if it is cuz of the MH, it all went downhill. but i never heard of that. could be coincidence... :notsure:
maybe something else is messing my tank. BANG, i wish you lived near Philly, PA..

 

[bang guy]

I can't think of a relationship between MH and Calcium.
I do know of a relationship between adding dry aragonite sand and Calcium dropping though.

 

[mujtba]

Bang, tell me this. Will my soft corals, xenias, eventually adapt to new lighting? my whole family is blaming the MH. have you ever heard of MH being so destructive?
do you think its my lighting that is messing the xenias, or is it an element messed up in the tank?

 

[bang guy]

Corals need to be slowly acclimated to brighter lighting.
Shortening the photoperiod might help but I believe it's your water parameters.

 

[mujtba]

does coral vital do anything?

 

[bang guy]

Sure. It helps the fish store when you buy it.

 

[mujtba]

ok so thats out the door..
Bang why dont you come over? i think this can be a real nice challenge for u.

i still dont kno wat to do.
my PH last nite seemed more stable, im guessin its cuz of the kalk..
ill check again 2day.
still lost..

dont even know wat to ask anymore..:sleepy:

 

[bang guy]

$1 per gallon per hour + travel & expenses and I'll come over.

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
$1 per gallon per hour + travel & expenses and I'll come over.
I have 0 gallons of saltwater, and live the next city over.

 

[dskidmore]

Originally posted by mujtba
dont even know wat to ask anymore..:sleepy:
Ok, so I'll ask. Did you get that magnesium test kit yet?
Salfert really is good stuff, as long as the kit isn't too old. The more you run the tests the easier it will become. Eventually you won't even look at the directions anymore.