Low PH battle

[liquidfunk]

It seems my tank seems to swing one way,, then back the other etc. I have too high ph, and now too low. I have been dosing about 2 teaspoons of washing soda per day to keep the ph up to about 8.10 or so. I havent even been running my CO2 in the reactor since the tank PH has been so low.

Is there a better way to keep the PH up? The washing soda works, but Id perfer a more perminate and consistant means of keeping the PH up. I was actually contemplating hooking an automatic fish feeder into an X10 unit that would dose not food, but washing soda into the tank when the PH is low.

I dose kalk (2.5g) about every other night, but it doesnt seem to effect the PH much.

Any help? Id really like to keep my ph up at least at 8.2 or so, WITH the CO2 running.

[Illusion]

Joel... Its mroe than likely Accumulation of Co2 in your house... What I would try first is opening a window for a day and see if the pH rises more than what it is... If it does then Its time to try and figure out how to get more "Fresh" air into your tank... My suggestion is running the Air input from the skimmer to an outdoor source and seeing if that helps... I hear it does... Maybe even run it right under the house... as for raising the pH the best way is Kalk... With my window open 24/7 my ph runs 8.0- 8.3 with my Ca reactor running..


James

[michael7979]

My ph went up about .2 when I opened a window (that I now leave cracked open) from 7.8 roughly to a STRONG 8.0 using Sailfert tests.

[Illusion]

yeah mine was about a .1 - .2 increase opening the window with a Digital meter... definetly helps..



James

[liquidfunk]

I dont think the CO2 (at least from the reactor) is the issue, since I havent even been running it. Ill crack a window and see what happens.

I think Im going to run a fish food feeder just on its own doseing washing soda though, seems like an easy way to add dry additivies 2x daily for cheap! especially when I already have one.... Too bad you cant add kalk powder

[sanblas]

joel, what do you mean 'washing soda'

[Gaidin]

even if you are timing it, what if your readings are out of whack and then you keep dosing the washing soda or its not getting evenly dissolved in the tank and then you over dose I would be wary of putting anything like doses on a timer until you know the cause of the low PH or know that you cant fix it any other way than the additive...since you have a ph swing what if one day you go too high because of adding too much washing soda, I would try to find out what is wrong before overdosing, it might be that your PH is just in the low area... i have heard of tanks that never get about 8.0 but just the fact that its stable doesnt affect the tank, Also the CO2 issue is not from the amount of CO2 from your reactor... its about the amount of CO2 in the air in your house.... You are not getting sufficient gas exchange from the the surface of your water meaning that you have higher amounts of CO2 in your tank and not enough O2.....flow a fan in your canopy more and open a window in the house to get some air circulating through the house to decrease the CO2 in the air providing a better chance of more gas exchange in your tank...

[liquidfunk]

sean, washing soda is "i have no idea" but you can go to winco, and buy arm and hammer "washing soda". its not baking soda, or baking powder, its washing soda....

My current readings, ca 350, alk 12.5dkh, PH 8.1.

what would make CA low, ALK high ,and PH low. this seems bizaar......

[drock59]

if i am not mistaken, washign soda is simply baking soda that has been cooked. You can take baking soda and throw it in the oven for a while, out comes washing soda. I heard that on RC somewhere so take it for what its worth.

[liquidfunk]

I agree,,, ive heard it called "baked baking soda". how that changes the chemicals reactivity etc,,, I have no idea.

It directly effects the PH like CRAZY compared to baking soda.

[Illusion]

Washing Soda and baked Baking soda is 2 different things... Together they make a DIY alk supplement...

Joel... As to your Question Magnesium... However I really think if you open a window your pH will go up higher...

James

[Kevin1000]

Wide PH swings can be an indicator that the aquarist is trying to use buffers to manage their PH. Your best bet to manage PH is to maintain a reasonable level of alkalinity and to insue your have adequate turbulance at the surface of the tank to insure air exchange.

My Ph runs pretty low in the cold weather because of the high CO2 in the house ... trying to manage that low PH with buffers has always resulted in nothing other than driving my calcium into the ground.

[Reefin']

open your windows....

Originally Posted by liquidfunk

I agree,,, ive heard it called "baked baking soda". how that changes the chemicals reactivity etc,,, I have no idea.

It directly effects the PH like CRAZY compared to baking soda.

Randy Holmes-Farley Chemistry Moderator Registered: Apr 2001 Location: Arlington, Massachusetts Occupation: Chemist (Drug Discovery at Genzyme) Posts: 29367

Baking it drives off CO2 and water: 2NaHCO3 ---> Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O baking soda ---> washing soda + carbon dioxide + water That's actually how baking soda causes foods like cookies and breads to rise: the CO2 gets trapped as gas pockets. Good luck and happy reefing! __________________ Randy Holmes-Farley Want to talk chemistry? Try the Reef Chemistry Forum at Reef Central Hobby Experience: 9 years with reefs Current Tanks: 2 x 90 gal mixed reefs Interests: Reefkeeping, science, photography Open this post in a new window | Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

so washing soda (sodium carbonate) has less carbon dioxide(been baked off) than baking soda. giving it a higher ph than baking soda...

Reynaldo

[drock59]

thanks for clarifying.

[Krux]

waterchange!

and try another test kit, or recalibrate your ph meter if that is what you are using, they stray over time.

the primary cause for drop in ph in my tank is if i fail to siphon the crud, that and a hefty water change (20% or so) and it is back in the green for a month assuming i remember my weekly siphonings.