high ph.

[exhumed07]

ok I been dealing with high ph since I've owned the tank and I can't seem to drop it at all. it's off the chart at or over 8.8. I'll add seachem acid buffer and drop it down to about 7.4-7.8 and within half an hour it's back up. now I'm wondering if it's my substrate. I've heard crushed coral can raise the ph. is this true? if it is I'm going to slowly take it out and replace it with an inert sand that will not mess with my ph.

 

[Newman]

the sand can raise your pH but mixed SW had a good KH level that will buffer the water well at around 8.1-8.4pH. you should not be getting higher than that at all. are you using RO or DI water to mix with your SW?
and are you sure your test kit is not expired or fouled in any way. anything you know thats leeching into your water? what pH is your newly mixed SW before you add it to the tank?

 

[exhumed07]

tap water, ph is 7.8 freshly mixed. test kit is a month old and exp in 2013

 

[Lotus]

What are your KH and calcium like? Are you adding any supplements?

 

[Newman]

btw you may want to stop using acid buffer, that sounds like your begging for disaster in a marine setup.

idk maybe your tap water could be a problem.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

High pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[exhumed07]

Lotus: I don't have any test kits for kh or calcium. I'm using purple tech for my coraline algae. then red sea marine trace and kent marine strontium & molybdenum. I don't have any hard corals so I don't add any calcium.

newman: I have stopped using the acid buffer as I figure the large swing in ph can't be good. I know it's not good in freshwater and things seem to be magnified in salt.

 

[Lorna]

you adding any kalk? that will raise the ph as will any purple up or other coraline promoter such as purple tech.....

 

[exhumed07]

never heard of kalk. but I plan to get my test kits. my folks got me a gift card to my local sw lfs.

 

[Newman]

its a form of dosing to get alkalinity up and other things to make the water more alkaline. kalkwasser or something like that, you can research it. though since you dont know what it is, youre obviously not using it and its not the problem.

did you figure out how to get your pH back to normal yet? test the KH calcium and magnesium to know where youre at.

 

[exhumed07]

was not able to get the test kits yet. so as of right now I don't know where the kh and calcium sit. been pretty busy with work and everything.