Please help! Asap (ph)

seven2sam · 09/15/2013, 04:42 PM

ok so i just put some rock i make a week ago into my reef .it spiked my tank ph to 9.0! what should i do.will baking soada help lower it? any advice would be great. thank yall!http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/im...ilies/debi.gif

PaulieReef · 09/15/2013, 05:02 PM

Well we would need more information. Do you have fish/inverts/corals in your tank? What was your pH before? What did you use to make this rock? How long did you let it cure?

seven2sam · 09/15/2013, 05:12 PM

i have soft corals,and fish including blue hippo tang.not shure what the ph was at first but im shure it wasent that high tho.the rock was made from portland white cement, rock sailt and crushed oyster shell. i let it sit in a river near my buddys house for a full week then rinced it repeatively with ro water.i only put two rocks then noticed the high ph and left the two in there. all in a 120 gallon.

PaulieReef · 09/15/2013, 05:17 PM

I would suggest before you put the rocks in your tank to put them in a bucket and test the salinity and pH. Your pH should be unchanged and your salinity should read 0. I would also remove them from your tank and hope the pH stabilizes.

seven2sam · 09/15/2013, 05:22 PM

ok thanks. so would baking soda lower my ph?

PaulieReef · 09/15/2013, 05:23 PM

No baking soda raises pH.

seven2sam · 09/15/2013, 05:28 PM

ok thanks! the baking soda was my dads idea . good thing i dubble checked that. would it be worth geting ph- from my LFS? or is it best to ride it out?

rocky25 · 09/15/2013, 05:33 PM

that rock is probably releasing calcium carbonate. Witch in turn will raise the ph. Do not add alk. High alk will prevent the ph from dropping in simple terms it will not drop the ph. Check your calcium i'm guessing it's probably high. PH is at it's highest around 4: 30-5:00 this depends on your lighting cycle. Take that rock out put it in a seprate tank small 5 gallon tank will do. Let that rock cycle more. Next turn the lights out. Due a 35 to 50% water change to get everything back stable. Take the tank water and put some in the new small tank. Let it run for 2 months. You should be fine. Getting back to your tank after leaving the lights out and doing the water change leave the tank lights out for one day. Next day turn lights back on, and around 4:30 check ph see what you have. It will be alot lower i'm guessing. Continue to check ph for the week and see what happens. Use a high quality test kit. Cheaper test kits may give u false readings.

rocky25 · 09/15/2013, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seven2sam

ok thanks! the baking soda was my dads idea . good thing i dubble checked that. would it be worth geting ph- from my LFS? or is it best to ride it out?

use ro/di water only. no tap water

wrott · 09/15/2013, 05:45 PM

You can titrate acetic acid, vinegar, to pH 8.3. NaHCO3, sodium bicarbonate, will buffer to pH ~8.5, it will buffer an acidic solution up but cannot buffer a basic solution down.
I would add vinegar to keep from killing fish, and take out the new rock--it will not take much acid to go from pH 9 to 8.

seven2sam · 09/15/2013, 05:45 PM

great tips! thanks!

09/15/2013, 04:42 PM	#1
seven2sam Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 70	Please help! Asap (ph) ok so i just put some rock i make a week ago into my reef .it spiked my tank ph to 9.0! what should i do.will baking soada help lower it? any advice would be great. thank yall!http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/im...ilies/debi.gif

09/15/2013, 05:45 PM	#10
wrott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,912	You can titrate acetic acid, vinegar, to pH 8.3. NaHCO3, sodium bicarbonate, will buffer to pH ~8.5, it will buffer an acidic solution up but cannot buffer a basic solution down. I would add vinegar to keep from killing fish, and take out the new rock--it will not take much acid to go from pH 9 to 8. __________________ OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt

09/15/2013, 05:02 PM	#2
PaulieReef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 291	Well we would need more information. Do you have fish/inverts/corals in your tank? What was your pH before? What did you use to make this rock? How long did you let it cure?

09/15/2013, 05:12 PM	#3
seven2sam Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 70	i have soft corals,and fish including blue hippo tang.not shure what the ph was at first but im shure it wasent that high tho.the rock was made from portland white cement, rock sailt and crushed oyster shell. i let it sit in a river near my buddys house for a full week then rinced it repeatively with ro water.i only put two rocks then noticed the high ph and left the two in there. all in a 120 gallon.

09/15/2013, 05:17 PM	#4
PaulieReef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 291	I would suggest before you put the rocks in your tank to put them in a bucket and test the salinity and pH. Your pH should be unchanged and your salinity should read 0. I would also remove them from your tank and hope the pH stabilizes.

09/15/2013, 05:22 PM	#5
seven2sam Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 70	ok thanks. so would baking soda lower my ph?

09/15/2013, 05:23 PM	#6
PaulieReef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 291	No baking soda raises pH.

09/15/2013, 05:28 PM	#7
seven2sam Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 70	ok thanks! the baking soda was my dads idea . good thing i dubble checked that. would it be worth geting ph- from my LFS? or is it best to ride it out?

09/15/2013, 05:33 PM	#8
rocky25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 44	that rock is probably releasing calcium carbonate. Witch in turn will raise the ph. Do not add alk. High alk will prevent the ph from dropping in simple terms it will not drop the ph. Check your calcium i'm guessing it's probably high. PH is at it's highest around 4: 30-5:00 this depends on your lighting cycle. Take that rock out put it in a seprate tank small 5 gallon tank will do. Let that rock cycle more. Next turn the lights out. Due a 35 to 50% water change to get everything back stable. Take the tank water and put some in the new small tank. Let it run for 2 months. You should be fine. Getting back to your tank after leaving the lights out and doing the water change leave the tank lights out for one day. Next day turn lights back on, and around 4:30 check ph see what you have. It will be alot lower i'm guessing. Continue to check ph for the week and see what happens. Use a high quality test kit. Cheaper test kits may give u false readings.