PH Fluctuations

phishman1 · 11/02/2020, 03:43 PM

I have a newly set up tank, day 9 now, I have live rock, live sand and I added 2 bottles of API quickstart on the advice of my LFS.

I do not have a fish in it, though yesterday I tried a damsel and unfortunately it died, first I thought it might have been because of Ammonia, it was at .025, the testing today I realized more than likely it was because my PH again had dropped, it was 7.4. Immediately I dosed to raise it and now its 8.2.

My question this is about the second or third time the PH has dropped only to have to be raised again, what is causing that?

Now without a fish I will just continue to monitor and do water tests every day till everything looks good cycle wise.

Someone told me that when I feed my angelfish and frontosa brine shrimp to drip in about 3 to 5 brine shrimp into the salt tank to ghost feed it, helping the bacteria?

Does this sound correct?

outssider · 11/02/2020, 04:59 PM

ph is a function of the co2 dissolved in the water. 7.4 sounds low, it should be around 8 unless you have a lot of people/animals in a confined space producing a lot of co2 into the surrounding air. don't dose buffer, it will drive your alkalinity too high.

phishman1 · 11/03/2020, 08:41 AM

Thanks for reply, no the tank is in my man cave, usually just me and the dog, lol. Haven't tested today. Honestly I spent the afternoon looking at youtube videos about cycling a tank and I think I'm falling into the trap of no patience. Couple of the videos I saw said, even with live rock, sand etc., takes a week for ammonia to lower, then second week for nitrate to move around, sometimes up to a month even seeding with biological additions, Dr Tims etc....

Going to have to exercise patience, more than I've had...

Vinny Kreyling · 11/03/2020, 11:22 AM

Man Cave usually suggests a basement. If so there is minimum air movement, a furnace & no open windows. All will contribute to lowering PH in water.

hkgar · 11/03/2020, 03:08 PM

PH will do as it wants. I consider it the brat of the reef tank. When you dose buffers to raise it the increase will be temporary and it will go back down to where it was. You will end up with a high dKH and that can start causing other problems. Do you have a skimmer? If so you might consider using a reactor with soda lime for the airflow entering the skimmer. Soda lime will remove the CO2 from the air.

Timfish · 11/04/2020, 07:36 AM

Patience is a virtue!

This may not be practical but you could try running an airline from the outside. Either an air pump or connect it to the air intake on your skimmer if it has one to see if fresh air helps raie the pH.

11/02/2020, 03:43 PM	#1
phishman1 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Daytona Posts: 62	PH Fluctuations I have a newly set up tank, day 9 now, I have live rock, live sand and I added 2 bottles of API quickstart on the advice of my LFS. I do not have a fish in it, though yesterday I tried a damsel and unfortunately it died, first I thought it might have been because of Ammonia, it was at .025, the testing today I realized more than likely it was because my PH again had dropped, it was 7.4. Immediately I dosed to raise it and now its 8.2. My question this is about the second or third time the PH has dropped only to have to be raised again, what is causing that? Now without a fish I will just continue to monitor and do water tests every day till everything looks good cycle wise. Someone told me that when I feed my angelfish and frontosa brine shrimp to drip in about 3 to 5 brine shrimp into the salt tank to ghost feed it, helping the bacteria? Does this sound correct?

11/02/2020, 04:59 PM	#2
outssider Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Reseda, Ca. Posts: 1,717	ph is a function of the co2 dissolved in the water. 7.4 sounds low, it should be around 8 unless you have a lot of people/animals in a confined space producing a lot of co2 into the surrounding air. don't dose buffer, it will drive your alkalinity too high. __________________ Please don't feed the bears because the bears will become dependent on free handouts and forget how to take care of themselves …... Current Tank Info: 75 Gal. Mixed reef mostly sps

11/03/2020, 11:22 AM	#4
Vinny Kreyling Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 7,206	Man Cave usually suggests a basement. If so there is minimum air movement, a furnace & no open windows. All will contribute to lowering PH in water. __________________ 250 gallon mixed reef, 2 Reefbreeder's Photon V 2, Deepwater BLDC 12, DAS EX-3 Skimmer, MTC mini cal, 2-3/4" Sea Swirls, Aquacontroller & 6 Tunze pumps.

11/03/2020, 03:08 PM	#5
hkgar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Dewitt MI Posts: 5,051	PH will do as it wants. I consider it the brat of the reef tank. When you dose buffers to raise it the increase will be temporary and it will go back down to where it was. You will end up with a high dKH and that can start causing other problems. Do you have a skimmer? If so you might consider using a reactor with soda lime for the airflow entering the skimmer. Soda lime will remove the CO2 from the air. __________________ Gary 180 gallon, 40 gallon sump, 3 250 W MH + 4 80W ATI T5's, MTC MVX 36 Skimmer, Apex controller Aquamaxx T-3 CaRx Current Tank Info: A 2 Barred Rabbitfish, Red Head Salon, Yellow/Purple, McMaster Fairy, Possum, 2 Leopard Wrasses, Kole, & Atlantic Blue Tangs, 2 Percula Clown, 3 PJ and 1 Banggai Cardinalfish , Swallowtail, Bellus and Coral Beauty Angels

11/04/2020, 07:36 AM	#6
Timfish Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,985	Patience is a virtue! This may not be practical but you could try running an airline from the outside. Either an air pump or connect it to the air intake on your skimmer if it has one to see if fresh air helps raie the pH. __________________ "Our crystal clear aquaria come nowhere close to the nutrient loads that swirl around natural reefs" Charles Delbeek

11/03/2020, 08:41 AM	#3
phishman1 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Daytona Posts: 62	Thanks for reply, no the tank is in my man cave, usually just me and the dog, lol. Haven't tested today. Honestly I spent the afternoon looking at youtube videos about cycling a tank and I think I'm falling into the trap of no patience. Couple of the videos I saw said, even with live rock, sand etc., takes a week for ammonia to lower, then second week for nitrate to move around, sometimes up to a month even seeding with biological additions, Dr Tims etc.... Going to have to exercise patience, more than I've had...