Can't get it up

[Tpynckel]

Sorry, it's not what you were thinking. tsk tsk

My son convinced me that we needed a Ca+ reactor when our 180 was doing absolutely great with Kalk and buffers. (softies, shrooms, clams, and a few hard corals) At this same time my pH monitor's battery went south. We purchased the reactor and installed it and I replaced the battery but did not calibrate the monitor cuz the calibration fluid has not yet arrived from Marine depot.
Since then,I can not get the pH up over 8 (7.89 is the highest I've seen)even with Kalk and buffer and with the reactor turned off. The corals are doing so-so, but nothing like what they were. Water changes don't seem to matter.
We also recently had an outbreak of Cyano, that is now calming down. I don't know if that is related tho.
From the LFS he got the idea that the sand bed has lost its buffering ability and the alk is the culprit. I said "what????"
Any ideas?

 

[jdeets]

Before you worry about pH and pour stuff in to regulate it, calibrate your monitor! When the batteries go dead, the calibration goes haywire, at least on mine. It takes quite a bit of calibration after a battery change. While you're waiting for your calibration fluid to arrive, test it with a color test or take it to the LFS for a test.

 

[monkeyboy]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Tpynckel:
<strong>
From the LFS he got the idea that the sand bed has lost its buffering ability and the alk is the culprit. I said "what????"
Any ideas?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well, i guess if you depended on your sandbed to buffer the tank that would be the culprit, but then again this is the real world. Check your carbonate hardness, it could be low. If you haven't calibrated your monitor, don't trust it. After my pinpoint monitor went for a while w/out calibration, a ph of 7.5 was the norm!

The cyano's probably related, the new CO2 getting pumped into your tank has changed the water chemistry a bit by adding more CO2 and dropping the ph. Sometimes it just takes little changes like this for cyano to rear it's ugly head. It should be temporary though, assuming you keep up w/ your water quality. Good luck, and check your alkalinity!

 

[Mouse]

Monkey Jedi