Ph issue! Why haha pics of corals to

[808jaymakoa]

So my night time ph issue is coming back again. I know it's supposed to swing because carbon dioxide is not consumed at lights out yada yada yada. The swing is from 7.63 first thing in the morning to 8.17 at lights out.
Calcium 460
Dkh 10
Mag 1600
Tons of surface agitation
I know mag is a bit high but will that throw it out of wack that much at night.
How do I get this more stable. I want to start putting in more high end coral but not till I can figure out a solution to this problem.
By the way tons of coraline growth on glass and corals seem happy. My Duncan has 3 new heads. Palys are multiplying. Ricordea has doubled in size since I got it 4 months ago.

 

[808jaymakoa]

I triple checked this ph reading with API test kit twice.

 

[Mike J.]

There is going to be fluctuation with pH from day to night. I would not worry about it as much as I would keeping your alkalinity and calcium stable. Great pictures. Growing macro in your sump with the light on at night is one way to keep it more level.

 

[808jaymakoa]

There is going to be fluctuation with pH from day to night. I would not worry about it as much as I would keeping your alkalinity and calcium stable. Great pictures. Growing macro in your sump with the light on at night is one way to keep it more level.

Normally from day to night it fluctuates 7.85 to 8.15. But the last two nights it has gone down over .2 tenths then it normally does. Alk and cal have been stable. But I don't have a sump. Thanks for your help mike.

 

[Mike J.]

7.85 to 8.15 is actually very good. That's what I mean, don't worry about it too much. Average pH on the coral reef is 8.1.

I'd start to worry if your pH gets above 8.6 or below 7.6

There's ways to increase your pH - fresh air, CO2 scrubber, remote deep sand bed, which are natural and some chemical ways.

 

[huuta]

If your corals are growing and seem happy then let it be.People run into problem when they start chasing number

 

[glb]

You might want to get a little digital ph monitor. I have one that was only $20 from amazon and I find it to be much easier to read. I agree with everyone else. If the tank is thriving, I'd leave it alone.

 

[808jaymakoa]

You might want to get a little digital ph monitor. I have one that was only $20 from amazon and I find it to be much easier to read. I agree with everyone else. If the tank is thriving, I'd leave it alone.

What brand is yours? I'll probably do this

 

[Scutterborn]

Don't chase numbers. That can lead to bad things happening. I noticed your in Houston. I'm in San Antonio. I would've said "open your windows for a few hours in the evening" but... it's still a bit warm. If its really that big of an issue for you, get a Kalk stirrer and a controller. Run it beside, not inline with your ATO. If you do start chasing that "magical unicorn" of a number do it slowly.

 

[glb]

What brand is yours? I'll probably do this

Milwaukee. You'll also need calibration solution, which I also bought on amazon. It's great because you can easily check it anytime.

 

[mcarroll]

If 8.1 is the highest you read, that's definitely on the low end of normal for a reef.

Regardless, I think I agree with everyone else not to go out of your way to change it as long as everything is happy, colorful and growing. Keep maintaining stable, balanced parameters.

It still is worth taking note that this is a good indication your tank is fairly heavy with CO2 or carbon from other sources and can cause you to have problems at elevated alkalinity levels. (Maintaining moderate alkalinity levels should be all you need to do to keep things humming though.) If you aren't responsible for this via dosing of some sort, there may be a simple solution in getting a little fresh, outside air (ok, a lot) into the tank through the skimmer air intake or something similar.

-Matt

 

[808jaymakoa]

Do you think a carbon scrubber would stabilize the ph better?

 

[glb]

Do you think a carbon scrubber would stabilize the ph better?

A co2 scrubber takes the co2 out of the air before it goes back into your tank, usually through the skimmer. Your ph will go up as co2 levels go down. It will raise your ph but keep in mind that there are normal fluctuations in ph every day in a stable tank. It sounds like your tank is stable on the low end ph-wise. I don't have a scrubber so that's the extent of my knowledge, but again, remember that stability is more important than a specific number.

 

[mcarroll]

Do you think a carbon scrubber would stabilize the ph better?

FWIW, I think I'm with most everyone else in that I wouldn't worry about the numbers you are seeing. But if you must...

The levels of atmospheric CO2 around the tank are mostly what dictate the tank's pH.

If you can, I'd verify you have a CO2 issue before putting any resources into solving a CO2 issue. Perform The Aeration Test on a sample of tank water and see what you get for pH before and after. The fact that your daytime pH is decent makes me think you do not have a CO2 issue.

And just FYI: Photosynthetic animals actually respire (o2 in, co2 out) just like us when the lights go out. The more and bigger the animals, the bigger the effect.

Consider setting up a kalk reactor like the Tunze 5074 to work with your ATO. It will have an uplifting effect on pH, depending on how big a dose you put in it. You could run it only during lights-out for maximum effect if desired. Of course this has to be integrated to (and has to be limited by) your tank's calcium and alkalinity demand.

-Matt

 

[jservedio]

My apartment is sealed up really well and in the winter and summer when the windows are closed (especially in the winter with the heat) my pH drops to around the same levels as your. Since I run an SPS dominated tank and have a doser with an extra head, I run saturated Kalk water through the doser to bump the pH a little (and save some money on 2-part) during the summer and winter. I basically take a big jug of water and shake it up with kalk, let it settle, and pour off the clear liquid into a dosing container. Around 50ml brings up 10g of water by 0.3 pH units IME.

This keeps the Kalk totally independent of your ATO and evaporation rate and it is infused at a steady rate to ensure that you have a perfectly flat pH level regardless of your home's temperature and humidity (which effects evaporation). I need to do this since my tank is so small and any swing in evaporation can dump a ton of Kalk into my tank.