Erratic pH?

[Aqualoon]

In the tank cycling process, looks to be at the tail end of it but will see how today's test results go. During the cycling I haven't done a water change, just topped off the evaporated water (have an ATO).

Before I add anything to the tank want to get this pH thing figured out and have it run stable.

Here is the pH for the past few days, as you can see it looks stable then spikes some before coming back down. I don't like having my pH look like shark fins.



Also I want to add that I understand that there will be pH swings due to the lighting (day/night), but from what I have read the swings should be around 0.5 and if it gets as low as 7.8 then that should be concerning. As you can see my minimum is 7.86 so I'm concerned and made this post.

[CStrickland]

I wouldn't worry too much, but good aeration can help. I'm fuzzy on the idea, but I think the light thing has to do with bacteria using up the oxygen in the water so if you have good surface movement it can help. Or if you have a fudge with macro you can set the lighting in there to be opposite the DT

[gone fishin]

Personally I would not sweat the pH. It is pretty common for it to bounce around during a cycle. Once your tank passes the cycle and things start to settle down you will be OK, it all part of the tank maturing.

If you start chasing the pH and use buffers then you will more than likely end up in tough shape. A better indicator is looking at alkalinity, calcium and magnesium levels. There are some good stickies in the chemistry forum that discuss how these three work together and impact the ph. FWIW I could not tell you what my pH is. I have not checked it 4-5 years. good luck just my 2 cents worth.

[Bpb]

0.5 swing is about to be expected. It should typically look like a nice even sine wave though. Mine peaks at 8.3 and bottoms out at about 7.7. Higher average PH values are better for coral skeletogenesis, but otherwise you definitely shouldn't go chasing it. More fresh air in the house should be enough to elevate it. Those spikes could potentially be caused by doors/windows opening maybe? Do you dose kalkwasser or anything like that? When did you last calibrate your probe?

[Sk8r]

Normal.
Ignore ph. In marine, it's mostly meaningless. Check alkalinity instead. Related, but alk is the one to track.

[Mcgeezer]

Starting the use of kalkwasser will keep Ph higher then you'd be able to ever obtain naturally or with any chemical buffer.

ph during your cycle really has no bearing so don't be concerned. It will be more important with livestock, but it's not overtly critical.

[disc1]

Those instantaneous jolts straight up look suspicious. That looks more like electrical interference or a bad probe than a real effect unless you've added something right then that affected the pH.

Have you been adding anything at all to the tank? Ammonia? Buffer? Anything?

[Aqualoon]

Just been adding Ammonia and that's it.

[disc1]

Have the ammonia additions been right around the time of the spikes? Ammonia is basic, it raises pH.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Normal.
Ignore ph. In marine, it's mostly meaningless. Check alkalinity instead. Related, but alk is the one to track.

I agree. I have not checked pH in the last decade.

[Aqualoon]

pH - I have a probe for that, so it's not necessarily me checking it verse me logging into my Apex and it having it up on the screen for me.

And yeah, it correlates with the Ammonia dosing - derp me.

[CStrickland]

Half the reason I don't have an apex is cause it would give me more things to freak out over, lol. Good thing you didn't go nuts and start dosing

[Aqualoon]

I don't like dosing for things like pH, end up creating more problems then when you started out with. Was just really curious as to why I had these constant shark fins on my graph. Didn't even think to put two and two together.

I blame it on all the articles I've been reading on this site, may have overloaded on info then saw these spikes and was like

[Sk8r]

We've all been there.

YOur best 3 general tests for water quality will be alk, calcium, and magnesium, with salinity and temperature. Nitrate/ammonia is usually the last suspect with a reef, but if fish only, track both alk and nitrate along with salinity. The SETTING UP folder has a bit on water chemistry that may be helpful.