PH LEVEL

[EB847]

MY PH IS 7.8. I READ THAT 8.2 IS WHERE YOU WANT IT. I ALSO READ ABOUT SOME TYPE OF ADDITIVE THAT WOULD MAKE IT 8.2 AND KEEP IT THERE. NOT SURE THAT SOUNDS SAFE. ANY HELP? THANKS.

 

[liquid]

Anything from 7.8-8.4 is about right for a reef tank. Your pH is going to swing somewhere between those values depending on the time of day and the dissolved CO2 in your water.

Check out the Chemistry section of AdvancedAquarist.com for more information on this: http://advancedaquarist.com/index

hth

Shane

 

[EB847]

THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSE.

 

[cdeakle]

Get ph buffer if you need to raise your ph, I use kent marines super buffer.......

 

[liquid]

Buffer only buffers against pH change. It's not used to increase/decrease pH.

Shane

 

[Leopardshark]

I´ve heard people using baking soda to raise ph, but anyway that´s what a dkh buffer contains.
Marco

 

[cdeakle]

Kent Superbuffer-dKH is a specially formulated pH buffer and alkalinity or carbonate hardness (KH) builder, designed to adjust the pH of saltwater aquariums to the range of 8.0 to 8.3

designed to ADJUST the pH of saltwater aquariums to the range of 8.0 to 8.3

 

[EB847]

MY KH IS 212 ALREADY!

 

[Anonymous]

212 isn't that high, IIRC. Shane is right about the pH, too, it's really not a terrible worry unless you're really dropping much below that. Although, I'd probably be more comfortable if it were in the 8.0 range..

(Has anyone mentioned the all caps thing to you? I don't know how "net savvy" you are, but it's generally considered yelling..)

Anyway, are you in a particularly cold climate by any chance? If you are, and your house is closed up with the heating going, this could be another explanation for persistently low pH (CO2). We get a lot of queries from folks in Nordic countries who live in well-insulated and well-sealed homes who have this trouble, and they actually have to make a point to leave a window open or find some other way to vent out the "stale" air. Believe it or not it seems to consistently alleviate their problems.

Another suggestion, your source water. If you're using RO/DI that's not buffered BEFORE you mix the salt, or if you're using tap water that happens to be of a very low pH, this could be either creating or excacerbating your "problem". Try checking those first, to be sure you're not putting the bass before the ackwards, if ya know what I mean. I'm sure you'll get it sorted out soon enough.