Aeration and PH question

[jjmg125]

Hello everyone. Pretty new to the hobby. I've learned tons from reading @ RC. Perhaps a basic question. I have a 25 g fowlr w/2 small fish. Noticed my PH tends to run a little high. I have been aerating at night for 7 hour duration. I read online that this can help lower ph. I have been consistent with water change each week. Tank running for 3 mos. now. Plenty of pods, etc. Even have a bubble-tip anemone growing well. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Jocko]

What is your pH reading?

Aeration tends to lower pH in the winter for people up north who have their houses all closed up, so there is a relatively higher level of CO2 in the air. That's about it though.

[Sisterlimonpot]

depending on your ph, I wouldn't worry about too high of ph.

I run a ph probe through my ACIII and accidentally left an air hose attached to my sump pump all night. blowing bubbles throughout my tank and the graphs that I have show no change in ph from that night from any other night.

how are you measuring ph? and what is "too high"?

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Jocko

What is your pH reading?

Aeration tends to lower pH in the winter for people up north who have their houses all closed up, so there is a relatively higher level of CO2 in the air. That's about it though.

I think you got that one backwards. CO2 would cause low pH and fresh air would raise it.

I think we need to know what you are considering high pH and how you measured it.

[disc1]

And what about your alkalinity?

[jjmg125]

Thank you all for the information. Been using the "test strips" for testing and matching the colors. PH looks like 8.5 or so. From what I read that is ok. Also looks like I need better a more precise test kit. Thanks again.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by jjmg125

Also looks like I need better a more precise test kit.

You misspelled pH meter.

[Sisterlimonpot]

8.5 is no where near too high. I wouldn't concern yourself with that reading.

[uncleof6]

Originally Posted by jjmg125

Hello everyone. Pretty new to the hobby. I've learned tons from reading @ RC. Perhaps a basic question. I have a 25 g fowlr w/2 small fish. Noticed my PH tends to run a little high. I have been aerating at night for 7 hour duration. I read online that this can help lower ph. I have been consistent with water change each week. Tank running for 3 mos. now. Plenty of pods, etc. Even have a bubble-tip anemone growing well. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by Jocko

What is your pH reading?

Aeration tends to lower pH in the winter for people up north who have their houses all closed up, so there is a relatively higher level of CO2 in the air. That's about it though.

hummmm, blowing AIR bubbles (aeration) around in your tank is not likely to affect the oxygen content, or CO2 content, so there should not be a change in pH. It doesn't work that way. On the other hand, blowing bubbles of CO2 through the tank, would show a dramatic decrease in pH due to the higher solubility of CO2 over oxygen.

[uncleof6]

Considering, that the pH of seawater runs 7.5 - 8.4 with the average varying around 8.2 - 8.3, (various sources.) I would say that a pH of 8.5 is very high.... since it is exponential, I would say about a 100 times higher than your critters are likely to encounter in the wild. Small changes in the pH "numbers" correlate to large changes in the chemistry.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by uncleof6

Considering, that the pH of seawater runs 7.5 - 8.4 with the average varying around 8.2 - 8.3, (various sources.) I would say that a pH of 8.5 is very high.... since it is exponential, I would say about a 100 times higher than your critters are likely to encounter in the wild. Small changes in the pH "numbers" correlate to large changes in the chemistry.

Woah. Way bad math.

pH 9 would be 10 times pH 8. 8.5 is not very high. 8.5 would be approx double the OH- concentration as 8.2. Fortunately, the effects of pH are also working on exponential scales, so double isn't really a very big change.

Where in the world you get 100x? 100x the OH- concentration as pH 8.3 would be pH 10.3.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by uncleof6

hummmm, blowing AIR bubbles (aeration) around in your tank is not likely to affect the oxygen content, or CO2 content, so there should not be a change in pH. It doesn't work that way. On the other hand, blowing bubbles of CO2 through the tank, would show a dramatic decrease in pH due to the higher solubility of CO2 over oxygen.

When pH is low due to excessive CO2, then bubbling fresh air helps to remove the CO2. This is especially true when the source of the CO2 is high CO2 concentration in the house air. Bringing in air from outside with a lower CO2 concentration will cause the water to try to equilibrate with that air. Since the partial pressure of CO2 is lower in that air, the solubility of CO2 in the tank water goes down, the CO2 bubbles off, and the pH rises.


The opposite problem can occasionally happen where photosynthesis is outperforming respiration and the CO2 concentration in the tank falls and the pH rises. In this case, adding more surface aeration can help to re-equilibrate with the outside CO2 concentration and in this case increase the CO2 in the water thereby lowering the pH.


No part of this process has anything to do with oxygen.

[uncleof6]

Would you believe i was hallucinating? Or smoking crack? ph 10 is ten times higher than pH 9 and 100 times higher than ph 8, yeah i scr**ed the pooch on this one....... for the numbers anyway.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by uncleof6

Or smoking crack?

No problem. Happens to the best of us.