pH low... how to adjust?

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#21
so did u try switching to kent buffers? i use the pH and alk up.
it works great.

i put in a drop or 2 of the kent calcium to help the inverts they molt a lot.
 

TheFool

Large Fish
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#22
OK, ignoring the ongoing alkalinity debatewhich with alk at 9.5 is fairly irrelevant, if you're at 8 in a bucket, and unstable 7.7 to 7.9 in the tank, I would bet it's CO2 in the tank varying with photosynthesis. Do you have a skimmer , or sump? How big tank, how much live rock, how many fishies and so on.....
 

#23
The Fool, the tank is 10g, no sump, no skimmer. As I've mentioned before, there are no fish or inverts(save for hitchhikers) in there yet - tank is cycling. there are 8lbs LR. There is a small amount of cyanno, brown algae is gaining a foothold, and hair algae is growing relatively rampant, but not enough to alter pH, IMO.

I have another idea in my head now - while the tank pH is too high to effectively dissolve aragonite or crushed coral, my RO water has a pH of 6.0... so, in theory at least, adding a pound or two to the bottle(5gal) should raise it a bit.

has anyone else tried anything like this?
 

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TheFool

Large Fish
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#24
No , I odn't think that is the way to go. I think that as you have a tank with cycling live rock, and enough nutrients to cause a couple algae blooms , you 've got plenty of organic acids in there pushing the pH down. Water changes, wait for it to stabilise, clean up....
 

#25
Back from the dead

I'm bringing this back from the dead to see if anyone has any experience on the topic.

After having the tank for a year now, everything is rock stable, bioload is very low, and algae is completely gone, save for purposely cultivated macros(Chaeto, Caulerpa, Halymedia(?? the red algae)), and corals are thriving.

The pH, however, remains low. Alk is still 9.5, yet pH remains at 7.8. I'm starting to dose kalk, but I'm still curious as to the top off water idea...

How would adding crushed coral/aragonite to my pH6.0 topoff water not raise pH? it's the same principle as a calcium reactor, just on a much smaller scale.
 

Lorna

Elite Fish
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#26
you should always adjust your ph and alk of both the top off water and your water change water that way you won't adversely affect the ph in your main display and you will increase it over time.