new2saltwater Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Hi All, Im having trouble maintaining my ph for more than a day. I check it about the same time of day. usually reads 7.8-8.0 with a dkh of 6-7. I can add Seachem ph buffer and bring it to 8.2 but in a day or two it will be back to 7.8. I dont think i should be having to put that much buffer in my tank. Is there maybe a better product for ph? Or is there something else im doing wrong? 100 gallon display 38 gallon sump about 3" of sand bed 180 lbs of live rock was using reef crystals but recently switched to kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I think your dkh is a little low, should be between 7 and 11, I like to keep mine arround 10 so if it drops a little between testing the corals don't suffer, plus, you will save allot of headake if you don't pay to much attention to the ph, test it to make sure it isn't way out of whack but 7.8 isn't to bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I wouldn't stress the PH number too much. Alk yes, ph not so much. I have a similar size system with a kalk reactor on my topoff. I dose 5-10 drops each morning of Kent Alk buffer to keep dkh above 8, this also helps the ph. Without dosing the Kent, my dkh would hang at 6-7 and my ph would swing from 7.6-8.2 daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2saltwater Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 before i bought the bottle of seachem ph buffer i was using kent super dkh. It worked well at keeping my dkh up where it should be but didnt do much for the ph, maybe ill switch back to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 +1 on not to be concerned with the PH. Out of curiosity are you using a Calcium reactor-lower PH is common with that type of set up. I run a Ca reactor and see swings in a 24 hour period of 7.85-8.2 (in the summer when fresh air comes in) I've seen it as low as 7.65-7.95 in the winter. I haved dosed Kalk and PH buffer etc to try and maintain PH and it was a waste of time and money, my corals never looked better or worse during all that-it was my wallet that looked bad. IMO forget about the PH and target stable KH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I don't check my pH all that often. Chasing perfect pH numbers is usually what leads to disasters. I pay the most attention to Alk, Calc and Mag. If all three are in check, you can pretty much guarantee your pH is reasonable. Kh is the one I have to manage on my 10g. Have you considered adding something in your ATO water to help keep your Alk up? Also, what are your calc and mag levels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I don't check my pH all that often. Chasing perfect pH numbers is usually what leads to disasters. I pay the most attention to Alk, Calc and Mag. If all three are in check, you can pretty much guarantee your pH is reasonable. Kh is the one I have to manage on my 10g. Have you considered adding something in your ATO water to help keep your Alk up? Also, what are your calc and mag levels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2saltwater Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 +1 on not to be concerned with the PH. Out of curiosity are you using a Calcium reactor-lower PH is common with that type of set up. I run a Ca reactor and see swings in a 24 hour period of 7.85-8.2 (in the summer when fresh air comes in) I've seen it as low as 7.65-7.95 in the winter. I haved dosed Kalk and PH buffer etc to try and maintain PH and it was a waste of time and money, my corals never looked better or worse during all that-it was my wallet that looked bad. IMO forget about the PH and target stable KH no calcium reactor on this tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2saltwater Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 I don't check my pH all that often. Chasing perfect pH numbers is usually what leads to disasters. I pay the most attention to Alk, Calc and Mag. If all three are in check, you can pretty much guarantee your pH is reasonable. Kh is the one I have to manage on my 10g. Have you considered adding something in your ATO water to help keep your Alk up? Also, what are your calc and mag levels? My calcium i dose to keep around 425. My mag stays about at 1300. So i need to get my alk up? Shouldnt it be closer to 9 then to the 6 i usually test at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandoftiki Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 My calcium i dose to keep around 425. My mag stays about at 1300. So i need to get my alk up? Shouldnt it be closer to 9 then to the 6 i usually test at? Yeah, I'd be keeping at the very least above 8, and ideally around 10 for good coral growth. I think if you get your alk up and have calc and mag at those levels, your pH should come into line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2saltwater Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 what is everone using to dose alk? Like i said, i had some success with kent super dkh but stopped using it cause it didnt seem to effect my ph. the seachem raises the ph but doesnt seem to effect alk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I spent a lot of time chasing the perfect ph and it never was as I wanted or as "the pros" were suggesting. Then the ph on my tank went up to where I like it. It is now pretty much stable at 8.5. It goes slightly down during the night, but not much, say to 8.3 or so. To be honest I didn't know how I did it at first. I then realized that a lot of little upgrades to the system design and management, on top of some well established rocks made the difference. Most of all, you need to provide the room where your tank sits with fresh air from outside. Then you need a way to mechanically mix oxygen and water of your tank: skimmer intake, surface skimming, sump turnover and so on. Or you can just stir the water with a stick if you have the time and patience Then you need to keep your water clean and well balanced (chemically). The chemical balance ca be obtained in various ways, the most popular nowadays being one of the following or a mix of them: ca reactors, limewater, dosing chemicals in a liquid solution, more frequent changes with buffered water. This is the point: the way you chose to keep the chemical balance will affect your ph. All of the above solutions comes with a trick to correct the ph fluctuation that they introduce. You just need to know which one to use and how and it will work wonders. Keep in mind that on top of that the Water change should always provide a solution that is buffered in order to match your ph goal. Always check your test (compare with a friend) or calibrate your probes (at least monthly). I hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2saltwater Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 Thank you everyone for all the good info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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