HELP! 7.4 ph...

[Greyson]

i noticed my sps were a little unhappy yest so i checked my water paramaters and noticed my ph was really low.. it did not change today either.. its reading 7.4 right now ... what to do ??

[Greyson]

bump

[cloak]

Check this out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

HTH.

[Flippers4pups]

Like many will say here, don't chase PH. Control you alk and calcium and mag. Ph will flux throughout the day.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by Flippers4pups

Like many will say here, don't chase PH. Control you alk and calcium and mag. Ph will flux throughout the day.

There is a difference between chasing pH in the normal range and having a pH of 7.4
At 7.4, coral aren't going to grow and might even start to break down. I know that my CaRx dissolves media in the low 7's.

First thing I would do is make sure your probe is calibrated correctly or your test kit is accurate. If it is, 7.4 is much too low and needs to come up, but I can't say I have ever seen it get that low under normal conditions. Even a calcium reactor which tends to drop pH would have to be running a ton of co2 to get your tank pH that low.

[Flippers4pups]

Originally Posted by d2mini

There is a difference between chasing pH in the normal range and having a pH of 7.4
At 7.4, coral aren't going to grow and might even start to break down. I know that my CaRx dissolves media in the low 7's.

First thing I would do is make sure your probe is calibrated correctly or your test kit is accurate. If it is, 7.4 is much too low and needs to come up, but I can't say I have ever seen it get that low under normal conditions. Even a calcium reactor which tends to drop pH would have to be running a ton of co2 to get your tank pH that low.

Agreed, 7.4 is too low. But just dosing ph to raise it isn't the answer. Agreed, the test kit or probe could be off and would be needed to be double checked ( have your water tested at your LFS store to verify), but maintaining proper alk and calcium levels should keep ph in check.

Also proper aeration and water movement will add o2 and reduce co2 which will help raise ph.

[Greyson]

there could be several reasons as to why .. one being that it might not be enough gas exchange since i have a cover on my nano. But even then .. i take the lid off for a few hours a day and its right next to a window... i added about 3/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda to the tank .. and its reading slightly higher than 7.8 but lower than 8. should i continue gradually adding a bit more ? or should i just leave it as is .... i noticed since i made this post and added the baking soda that the polyp extension got significantly better. should i try to bring it up to 8 or even 8.2 ? my calcium is at 400.. not sure what my alk is i didn't get a test kit for that yet.. its still a fairly new setup

[Greyson]

Originally Posted by cloak

Check this out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

HTH.

The first time i read this was 2008 but again .. 7.4= too low

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Greyson

there could be several reasons as to why .. one being that it might not be enough gas exchange since i have a cover on my nano. But even then .. i take the lid off for a few hours a day and its right next to a window... i added about 3/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda to the tank .. and its reading slightly higher than 7.8 but lower than 8. should i continue gradually adding a bit more ? or should i just leave it as is .... i noticed since i made this post and added the baking soda that the polyp extension got significantly better. should i try to bring it up to 8 or even 8.2 ? my calcium is at 400.. not sure what my alk is i didn't get a test kit for that yet.. its still a fairly new setup

What's your alkalinity?


You can keep adding baking soda, but it will just add to your alkalinity and the pH will come back down over a matter of a few hours as the tank comes back to equilibrium with the CO2 in the room. Keep at it for a while and the alk will eventually get too high and you'll have a snow storm.

There is NOTHING chemical that you can add to a tank to deal with low pH. The problem is high CO2 levels and you gotta get after that.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by Flippers4pups

Also proper aeration and water movement will add o2 and reduce co2 which will help raise ph.

I agree that a bad probe/test kit is the first place to look. But in the unlikely event that high in-room CO2 levels are to blame, aeration may actually not help unless fresh air is introduced into the room.

[Greyson]

can i attach a tiny fan to my tank to aerate it more ?

[Xavibear]

What's your alk?

[Greyson]

i stated earlier that i did not have an alk test kit, since i just recently got my tank. I'll pick one up this week. Generally i do a water change every week and everything is stable, but it may be due to lack of gas exchange.

[jwoyshnar]

Open a window

[alton]

Low PH, Low Oxygen

[disc1]

Originally Posted by alton

Low PH, Low Oxygen

Wrong.

Oxygen has absolutely nothing to do with pH.

Low pH means high CO2, which does not mean low oxygen.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Greyson

i stated earlier that i did not have an alk test kit,

In that case you need to stop everything and figure out your alkalinity number. How you deal with this will depend entirely upon that. If your alkalinity is low then the solution may be as simple as raising it with a little baking soda or washing soda. But if your alkalinity is already high then that could be disastrous.

[addictedreefer]

Originally Posted by disc1

In that case you need to stop everything and figure out your alkalinity number. How you deal with this will depend entirely upon that. If your alkalinity is low then the solution may be as simple as raising it with a little baking soda or washing soda. But if your alkalinity is already high then that could be disastrous.

Exactly right. When dealing with ph, the first place to look is alkalinity. Once that is eliminated as a concern, we can move on.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by disc1

There is NOTHING chemical that you can add to a tank to deal with low pH.

Yep, not without affecting something else (like Alk).

Originally Posted by disc1

In that case you need to stop everything and figure out your alkalinity number. How you deal with this will depend entirely upon that. If your alkalinity is low then the solution may be as simple as raising it with a little baking soda or washing soda. But if your alkalinity is already high then that could be disastrous.

Exactly.
Test for alk and make sure you figure out if your ph testing method is accurate.
I still don't believe you said if you were using a probe or test kit?
You also mentioned "everything is stable", but how can that be when you don't seem to have all your test kits? Out of the big 3 (calc, alk, mag) you are missing the most important one.

[HiImSean]

Originally Posted by Greyson

i stated earlier that i did not have an alk test kit, since i just recently got my tank. I'll pick one up this week. Generally i do a water change every week and everything is stable, but it may be due to lack of gas exchange.

You don't know everything is stable.

Don't dump baking soda in cause your alk will jump and will be even more detrimental to your corals than a lower pH at this point.