ph problem

[Geoff]

i can not get my ph any higher than an average of 8.0. it will be as low as 7.9 in the morning and will not get any higher than 8.1 in the afternoon. i have tried adding marine buffer and it will bring it up to almost 8.3 then over the next 12 hours it will go right back down to the 8.0 mark.

i have plenty of surface agitation mag 12 with one outlet blowing agross the surface. i dose kalk with the water topoff. all critters are accounted for. i have tried all kinds of ref/display light cycles.

should not be overstocked:1 kole tank, 4 green chromis, 50 or so snails. about 170g in the system.

protein skimmer seems to be collecting fine.

params seem fine, corals seem fine, i could just be worried for no reason, but it just does not seem right to me.

calibrated the meter twice, seems fine.

ca-420
dkh-9.6
nitrates-<10
temp-76

Thanks,

G~

[Silas]

have you use a old fashion Ph test kit to see if the meter is reporting the same? Make sure you use new solution to calibrate.

s

[tdwyatt]

Heh! Lookd good to me, personally I don't see a problem. Might want to back off on the use of buffer-alone additives as they are doing what they are supposed to do, and that is to maintain the pH at around 8.1 to 8.2... pH is more heavily influenced by the presence of CO2 in marine aquaria than anything else. If you want to see your pH rise, look for things that impede the escape of CO2 or could be adding excess sources of CO2 to your system. Things to consider:

• tank covers
• tight hoods with low volumes of air exchange
• closed cabinets for the sump or poor air exchange there
• skimmer located in a closed container/cabinet/small room
• large pops of animals
• poorly adjusted Ca Reactor (CO2-based)
• vinegar with Kalk
• inadequate lighting
• meter errors (calibration, old probe,a/c adapter)
• the usual suspects (dead critters, poor circulation in general, new sandbed, etc)

Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about the levels that you have, just monitor the system and watch the pH levels for a few days. You may find that this will be the norm for your system, just pick a lighting schedule and stick to it for a bit, see how the tank stands after a month of steady schedule on the lighting and good water change scheduling. Use yur general health and appearance of the specimens you have as a measure of general well-being in the tank. Keep in mind that we treat the tank's creatures, not the numbers. Every system is different, and your system will find it's ideal in time (and the numbers will fall within the normal limits of the biotope you are emulating).

HTH

[Silas]

Geoff, I remember something about the calibration last night. The fluid is calibrated at a given temp. So when you do the calibration, make sure that the fluid is at that temp. If not, that will throw the reading off too. Good luck.

s