PH no go up!

[lighteningthes]

As everyone here already knows I had morons at the fish store so my tank water is kinda screwy. I test my water 2-3x's a day and my ph is always around 7.8. I tried a baking soda drip to try and raise it and saw little difference. I used 1 teaspon for my 75g tank. For giggles I tested my tap water, this is water from the tap to my mix bucket. Salinity and temp are correct for what I have in my actual tank, but it is 7.4!!! I added 4 TABLESPOONS to my 50g mix and it is still 7.4. Obviously my tap water sucks and I need to raise the PH before adding it to my tank. Does anyone have any more suggestions?

 

[bang guy]

Yes, I have a suggestion, stop adding baking soda unless your alkalinity is low, Everytime you raise alkalinity your water parameters will get further and further from ideal. What is your alkalinity level now? You can actually cause a tank crash by raising it too high.
Do you have livestock in the tank? If not I would just do a 100% water change to get everything back in line.
What's your Calcium level?

 

[lighteningthes]

The one test kit I don't have is calcium!! Here are water readings for my DT
nitrates 20
nitrites almost 0
ammonia 0
alk is low about 180 ppm
ph 7.8 to near 8
My fresh tank of mixed water
ph 7.4
alk is like 300! So yeah, the alk is too high in my mix water but the PH is soooo low.
A 100% water change is not possible since the tank is stocked. Besides, water right out of my tap that is mixed with salt is 7.4 ph.

 

[sepulatian]

The PH in saltwater is low for many reasons. There is no need to add a buffer, unless you know what is going on within the tank. Low PH can be caused by low oxygen level, too many dissolved organics (no skimmer, or a malfunctioning one), the time of day that you test...Many things. They can all be corrected without adding anything. Your PH is 7.8.....why are you messing with it? Stability is more important than numbers. Be sure you have great flow and do water changes. You will be good to go.

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by lighteningthes
http:///forum/post/2746851
The one test kit I don't have is calcium!! Here are water readings for my DT
nitrates 20
nitrites almost 0
ammonia 0
alk is low about 180 ppm
ph 7.8 to near 8
My fresh tank of mixed water
ph 7.4
alk is like 300! So yeah, the alk is too high in my mix water but the PH is soooo low.
A 100% water change is not possible since the tank is stocked. Besides, water right out of my tap that is mixed with salt is 7.4 ph.
It takes some time for most salt-mixes to change the PH in the bucket.
One would need to know what your Calcium level is like Bang Guy was saying and if you added anything more than what you have said. I would bet your calcium is low now…

 

[lighteningthes]

No other additions to water, just the soda. I will pick up a calcium kit this weekend. For flow I have two 70g powerheads, one 50g powerhead and two 70g powerfilters so I am guessing I have sufficient flow.
The PH test of the water from the tap was done a day after it was mixed. In fact I test it everyday as well, it has been mixed for 6 days now.

 

[geoj]

That makes me think possible bad salt-mix batch. Why because my RO/DI water is 7 pH I mix salt in and 24h later it is 8.x pH. So if you make a new saltwater batch and it dose not balance the pH I would think salt-mix before water as the prob. My tap water is 8 ph and I get a mix of 8.x cant remember the exact pH but it was within range.

 

[lighteningthes]

I will take some plain jane tap water, dechlorinate it and test it. I used 3 different packages of salts and all the finished products end in the medium to high 7.x group. Our first tank was Red Sea, then I bought a pale of Instant Ocean so I wonder if my water just really sucks!!

 

[geoj]

I use Red Sea Coral Pro now; the comparison test was on Kent sea salt.
You are mixing 1/2 cup of salt per gal and get a 1.024-1.026sg and a pH of 7.4?
Have you tried a salt for R/O water?
I have not seen your SG if it is low I would think not enough salt/gal.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2746930
The PH in saltwater is low for many reasons. There is no need to add a buffer, unless you know what is going on within the tank. Low PH can be caused by low oxygen level, too many dissolved organics (no skimmer, or a malfunctioning one), the time of day that you test...Many things. They can all be corrected without adding anything. Your PH is 7.8.....why are you messing with it? Stability is more important than numbers. Be sure you have great flow and do water changes. You will be good to go.
The stability issue stated by sepulatian is right on the money, IMO. This applies not only to PH; but SG, temp, nitrates etc. Its easy to get hung up on attaining "ideal" parameters that we often end up drastically and suddenly changing water conditions. Tanks can handle a wider range of water parameters than we often think; but sudden changes are very dangerous.

 

[aztec reef]

Light, do a 60% water change and lay off the soda.. And quit singleling out parameters..

 

[geoj]

This could be, but lighteningthes has said that new 3 day old mixed salt water with no additions is pH 7.4-7.8 correct me if I am wrong.

 

[lighteningthes]

That is correct, before I started adding the soda it was 7.4-7.8 after having mixed 3 if not 4 days.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by lighteningthes
http:///forum/post/2747905
That is correct, before I started adding the soda it was 7.4-7.8 after having mixed 3 if not 4 days.
I'd have to say something is wrong with your tap water. Time to purchase an RO filter IMO.

 

[geoj]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2747923
I'd have to say something is wrong with your tap water. Time to purchase an RO filter IMO.
I agree, if you are mixing correctly and you think the salt mix is good try some distilled water and if it comes out good you may want to buy a R/O DI system

 

[tomato clown]

How old is the testing equipment? and what kind is it?
I had a batch of API go bad 2 months after I bought it always telling me that I had an ammonia level of 2.0+

 

[lighteningthes]

I use three different test methods, API, Jungle strips and a third that I can't remember off the top of my head but is a liquid test. At this point it may not matter, we had an ich outbreak last week and so far one of my banner fish has lost most of its color and is COVERED in spots with cloudy eyes and I have one tang that is sitting in the corner with white spots panting. I would like to thank the three pet stores that were idiots and said a tank could be setup and stocked in one day.

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by lighteningthes http:///forum/post/2748160
I use three different test methods, API, Jungle strips and a third that I can't remember off the top of my head but is a liquid test. At this point it may not matter, we had an ich outbreak last week and so far one of my banner fish has lost most of its color and is COVERED in spots with cloudy eyes and I have one tang that is sitting in the corner with white spots panting. I would like to thank the three pet stores that were idiots and said a tank could be setup and stocked in one day.
It's vital that you get on the ich ASAP.Ich can, and often will, wipe out your entire fish population. The idiot lfs you mentioned will probably try to sell you a miracle cure; but IMO, only copper or hypo works. I'd post your problem, with as much detail as possible (pics help a lot) on the disease section of this forum. Some lfs deserve to be sued because of the damage their advice causes; but they often just repeat the outlandish claims of the companies they sell for. Here's a thread to get you started;
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/127007/faqs-fish-diseases-treatments-quarantine-health-info

 

[lighteningthes]

We started the hypo last night, I have the water down to 1.018 or so, we will do a small change again tonight. I need to get a refrac to make sure i get it low enough, so I will take lowering it slowly