Effluent Ph

[WingRider62]

So, I think I may have solved our low Ph problem from the CA reactor.  Every since I installed the reactor I havent been able to get the effluent Ph above 6.1 or so, which was very puzzling.   I had the effluent dumping to a plastic jug which was about 6" deep, then over flowed into the sump. In this platic jug, I had the Ph2 probe measuring effluent Ph. Today my wife had a discussion about the jug being deep enough that the probe wasnt accurately measuring the Ph, which I disagreed with this threory. Anyway, I swapped out the jug with a much smaller glass container.  The Ph immediately started climbing to where it should be and subsequently the Apex turned on the CO2 solenoid and seems to working properly. So, my question is: was it the deeper container affecting the effluent Ph or was it the plastic in the container?

[The ReefBox]

46 minutes ago, WingRider62 said:

So, I think I may have solved our low Ph problem from the CA reactor.  Every since I installed the reactor I havent been able to get the effluent Ph above 6.1 or so, which was very puzzling.   I had the effluent dumping to a plastic jug which was about 6" deep, then over flowed into the sump. In this platic jug, I had the Ph2 probe measuring effluent Ph. Today my wife had a discussion about the jug being deep enough that the probe wasnt accurately measuring the Ph, which I disagreed with this threory. Anyway, I swapped out the jug with a much smaller glass container.  The Ph immediately started climbing to where it should be and subsequently the Apex turned on the CO2 solenoid and seems to working properly. So, my question is: was it the deeper container affecting the effluent Ph or was it the plastic in the container?

I am not an expert by any means but I have a 24" tall reactor and tend to lean towards it not being a depth issue but likely the container and sometimes just bumping the probe helps to get it reading accurately. I would be interested to see if you shake it in the sump water and then place back in plastic jug what it does

[WingRider62]

10 hours ago, Brian67 said:

I am not an expert by any means but I have a 24" tall reactor and tend to lean towards it not being a depth issue but likely the container and sometimes just bumping the probe helps to get it reading accurately. I would be interested to see if you shake it in the sump water and then place back in plastic jug what it does

I had moved the probe around several times over the past several weeks while trying figure it out. Also, the probe is brand new, so Im leaning towards the plastic affecting the Ph.  Anyone else have any thoughts? 

[milesmiles902]

Personally, I feel it is likely depth and the top being of a different pH than the bottom, which isn't unlikely if there is no agitation.

Just to be certain, what is the recycle number on the bottom of the plastic container? It might even say HDPP, HDPE or PP if we are lucky. Ultimately, we might be able to determine if the plastic reacts under that pH.

 

 

[milesmiles902]

11 hours ago, Brian67 said:

I am not an expert by any means but I have a 24" tall reactor and tend to lean towards it not being a depth issue but likely the container and sometimes just bumping the probe helps to get it reading accurately. I would be interested to see if you shake it in the sump water and then place back in plastic jug what it does

Do what Brian said also. See if you get a different pH after you swirl it.

[Bicyclebill]

Could have been lack of agitation and a build up of a surface layer on the ph probe. It's pretty easy to add in a probe port to the piping. I could help with that


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[danlu_gt]

Plastic should not affect pH unless it's releasing/leeching something into the water. If that's the case, I would remove that jug asap. Most likely like what others said, pH is different at different levels. pH monitor should report changes very quickly, what happens when you manually raise it toward the top?

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[WingRider62]

Ive already replace the plastic jug with a smaller glass bottle. Moving the probe towards the top didnt change anything. But, at least its working now.