ph ? on rkl

[charliethetuna88]

so i just installed my reef keeper lite and i calibrated the probe with the 2 solutions they give seamed to work good i double checked bought solutions again to make sure so its pretty accurate im guessing my ph is reading 7.99 is that to low if so how do u bump up my ph?

 

[NYreefNoob]

ph usually always is lower in the winter months as your house gets less fresh oxygen, btw when you do get cal reactor going make sure the efflient drips around skimmer pump to help blow excess co2 off and keep ph from dropping inside of tank

 

[charliethetuna88]

thanks bro i will do that reactor will probally be next weekend ,so im good with 7.9 ph

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

7.9 is good, maybe think dosing kalk
but if you neer had a problem your coral are cool with 7.9
my softy tank gets to 7.8 in the winter

 

[charliethetuna88]

yeah im sure its been that way for a long time in my tank

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

i THINK YOUR BASMENT HAS ALOT TO DO WITH IT ALSO

 

[charliethetuna88]

yeah no air really flowing threw there now and the boiler is one killing the 0xegen i guess

 

[MIKE NY]

Chuck your good...yea it's always lower in the winter and as mentioned it may go lower with the reactor...mine did so I mix kalk in my ATO.

 

[charliethetuna88]

Thanks mike just a little confused what would bump up ph only ? Doesn't kalk raise ph and alk ? The reactor will be adding alk so my alk will be way high if I ran the reactor and topped off with kalk

 

[NYreefNoob]

i will continue to use kalk in my ato when i use my cal reactor. one thing would help if tank is anywhere near a window would be to attach a hose to your skimmer air intake and run it out the window allowing the skimmer to pull fresh air and help in aiding the ph

 

[MIKE NY]

very true fresh air always helps the PH level and the reactor will not bump up your cal and alk just maintain it to your levels when it's dialed in right....and the kalk isn't continuous just goes in with the ATO and shouldn't effect the alk level just help maintain it as well

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Charlie
Check your kh (alk). If it is below 13 drops KH you can add some buffer or drip Kalk. If it is above 13 than I would just leave the system alone. My RKL reads about 7.83 in the morning and 8.03 when lights go out at 11pm. My KH is about 10.
As the guys have said the calc reactor will lower that PH a little more. I am currently running 8 bubbles a minute of co2 and dripping 45 drops of effluent back into the tank a minute. The PH coming out of the reactor is 6.45-6.85 and the the KH coming out is 35+ drops.
Most important I would not do anything drastic or try and raise the ph quickly. Before you hooked up the RKL you were happy with your PH, make believe you didn't hook it up
Andy

 

[charliethetuna88]

Lol thanks guys I think I may try the fresh air trick , but ur right andy I'm not gonna add anything I don't wanna mess stuff up ,I'm scared to use kal I heard its tricky and can mess everything up ,soooo who's gonna help me with the reactor now ? lol I called the guy from mtc and told him I'm gonna hook up the reactor ,I asked what's a good starting point for me since I don't have a very big demand for alk and cal .he said start with 1 bubble per second and 50 mls effluent flow does that seam right ? Seams alittle to much bubbles ?

 

[charliethetuna88]

I have everything ready to go with the reactor 15lbs co2,reactor,media ,rkl,gauge with needle valve ,just scared to hook it up lol