pH Problems

LedZeppelinfan101 · 02-27-2007, 11:39 AM

What is the most effective way of raising pH? I've been reading things about Kalkwasser dosing, but that seems really complicated. Is there any easy way to do it? Right now my pH is sitting about 7.8. I know it's too low, but I can't figure out how to raise it. I'd like to get it up to around 8.3

bklynmet · 02-27-2007, 12:37 PM

first find out why it's low... here's a simple test.. measure ph.. take a sample in a bowl or bottle and aerate with airstone outside or in garage (where there's oxygen) for about 1 hour... measure the ph... then with the same sample aerate indoors near your tank... measure the ph.. if the ph from the inside is less than that of outside, it means there is excess CO2 in the air inside... now if the inside areation sample is higher than that directly from the tank, you need to increase oxygen exhange for the tank usually by providing more surface agitation wiht powerhead... if the inside areation is same as that of tank, there is little that extra water circulation will do. At that point you need to make sure your alkalinity is around 10 and slowly dosing kalk at night via a drip to boost ph... having a refugium on reverse cycle will help in keeping the ph swings in check due to photosythesis (lighting)

are you measuring ph after lights out? ph fluctuates during the day...

LedZeppelinfan101 · 02-27-2007, 01:02 PM

Ah. I have been checking pH during the day. Maybe that's why I've been getting different readings every time. I'll have my refugium on a reverse lighting schedule when that gets hooked up. That should be fully operational on Wednesday (getting a new stand to hold it under my display tank). Thanks bklynmet.

Bender 2 · 02-27-2007, 06:43 PM

Dosind kalk is not that complicated. It also has other benefits in addition to raising PH. It is a balanced way to suppliment calcium and alkalinity. You can mx it in a gallon jug and slowly drip it into your sump.

bklynmet · 02-27-2007, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LedZeppelinfan101

Ah. I have been checking pH during the day. Maybe that's why I've been getting different readings every time. I'll have my refugium on a reverse lighting schedule when that gets hooked up. That should be fully operational on Wednesday (getting a new stand to hold it under my display tank). Thanks bklynmet.

checking during the day - with lights on - should give you higher readings than with lights off... the ph should be highest right before the lights turn off and lowest right before they turn on...

here is a good article regarding this...
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

lostwhirley · 02-27-2007, 07:38 PM

Dose Kalk. It's simple, easy and very effective. I only dose Kalk, from my DIY Kalk Reactor and it's quite effective.

I also have one of those 'gravity' fed containters (Kent as I recall) that give to you. Just mix Kalk (I like Mrs. Wages myself) with RO water. Shake, shake, shake. Put mixture into the gravity fed doser, bingo....kalk in tank. It'll raise your PH over time, and give your talk a balanced CA/Alk mixture.

I love it.

I have the smaller version of this:

And...here's a linky!
http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/additives/kalkwasser.htm

LedZeppelinfan101 · 02-27-2007, 09:21 PM

I'm just confused on how much to dose. I'm afraid of overdosing my tank and totally crashing it.

lostwhirley · 02-27-2007, 10:15 PM

"1 tablespoon (1/2 to 3/4) to a gallon of chilled RO/DI "

Just go slowly, test, and you'll be fine.

bklynmet · 02-27-2007, 11:13 PM

start small then measure calcium levels regularly.... to see if if calcium is being maintained or dropping... if ca level are dropping, increase you dosage... dose no more than 2 tsp per gallon! any more is wasted as it'll precipitate out... I'd start at 1/2 tsp per gallon to be safe... measure then adjust as necessary... now this doesn't all happen overnight! it'll take a few weeks to see how the addition of kalk at the dosage you're adding is impacting tank parameters.

if you don't have calcium demanding corals, you may want to lean towards the lower dosage as well...

I dose 1.5 tsp per gallon of topoff water during the non-summer months. In the summer I reduce to 1 tsp per gallon because there is more evaporation occuring (more topping off) so a diluted solution can still maintain the same calcium hydroxide supplementation. I do this primarily for calcium/alkalinity stabilty. You on the other hand need pH stability at a higher level than what you are measuring.

Try to figure out why you're having the pH issues. That will go a long way to figuring out how to deal with it. Kalk supplementation may not be the answer for you. Something like increased circulation may be. The article I linked before discusses it in more detail.

Bender 2 · 02-28-2007, 08:13 PM

How much water does your tank evaporate in a day? Also, if you dose, don't add the white gunk that collects on the bottom of the container. You just want to add the clear liquid.

lostwhirley · 02-28-2007, 11:35 PM

Led, I can stop by the fish store and drop of the kent gravity fed dripper, tomarrow or friday...

LedZeppelinfan101 · 03-01-2007, 11:51 AM

lostwhirley, You probably won't see this until its too late, but I work both today (Thursday) and Friday from 1pm-6pm. That would be awesome if you dropped it off!

bklynmet · 03-01-2007, 06:20 PM

John,

If you want, you can stop by and I can explain dosing kalk and see how mine is setup... we can also talk about low pH as I did battle with that a few months back... you can find out more about my battle with it here:
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/...ad.php?t=19780

LedZeppelinfan101 · 03-01-2007, 07:32 PM

Ok bklynment, I have a question. You said alkalinity should be around 10, but my test strips go 0, 40, 80, 120, 180, 300. It says 180-300 is "ideal". Is there a different scale that you're using? Mine goes by ppm.

bklynmet · 03-01-2007, 08:06 PM

yes it's a different scale.. I do not know the conversion offhand but being in the 180-300 range sounds right...