Water change question...Please answer!!

eng50

eng50

Member
I mixed water about 1 week ago, these were the values after 24hrs airation...Clean new container...
SG 1.023
ph 8.3
My problem now that I want to do a water change...the ph is 8.0, everything else is fine, do I use the water, or have to make new, or add a buffer?
It is about 30 gal so I would rather not dump it!!
 
N

newreefers

Guest
The ph in your tank drops at night to somewhere around 8.0. When your lights come on the ph rises back up. It may be that this water has a low ph from lack of light. Just a thought.
 
eng50

eng50

Member
I thought that too, just dont want to add 15 gal of 8.0 to 8.3 if its going to cause problems...any thoughts??
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
It's true that the pH of our tankwater rises and falls as the lights are on and off - but that's due to algae/plants, bacteria and fish respiration.
A 30 gallon container of saltwater without any life in it - will not respond to lighting this way.
It's not the light that does it - it's the lifeforms in the tank that either consume or produce CO2 - that causes pH to fluctuate.
eng50,
Did you aerate the 30 gallons of new saltwater for the full week ?
Did you use an airstone or powerhead ?
Does the 30 gallon container have a lid on it, or open top ?
What kind of saltmix and what kind of freshwater ?
Lastly ... what's the pH in your tankwater ?
 
eng50

eng50

Member
Broomer,
I use tropic marine salt, It was aerated for just the 24 hrs in the barrel with a magdrive pump, when I started the post last night, I put the pump back in and ran it and the heater to bring it up to temp and amazingly it was right back to 8.3, at 79 deg!! Could it have been the remixing, or temp?
The tank ph is 8.3
The container is a food grade plastic barrel, with a sealed lid
The fresh was RO water prior to the mix..
The mix was done with a paddle mixer on a drill, instant disolve, no undisolved particles..amazing how well that worked..read it on a post here..
Thanks..I did the water change and everyone seems to be happy, any further input would be appreciated..
Bill
 
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