well here is the problem my tank has been cycled for a month now so once it was cycled i started testing all water parameters calcium is at 380 alk 9.6 temp 78 salinity 1.024 i have been adding b ionic 2 part for about 1 week now everything is coming along good accept for the ph it stays at 4.5 no matter what i do i have tried adding baking soda and it will go down but a few hours later it is right back to where it was before i have also added some ph down and that did not work either i have re calibrated my ph probe and that was not the problem either any ideas and help would be greatley appreciated there is nothing in the tank accept live rock and sand right now
Ph wont stay down
- Thread starter princess
- Start date
Ebee, I assume the ph is 8.5 so don't worry about that, it will probably help calcification for the hard corals and corraline algae. If your animals are showing signs of stress then have your meter or test kit checked. If you must "worry" about something, try boosting your calcium levels. The bionic product is great for maintaining certain parameters, but you may need to use some type of calcium boost (turbo calcium) and using the bionic to keep it there.
Sorry for the error guys i meant 8.5 not 4.5 the problem is not my ph probe i already re calibrated it the only reason i am worried about it being at 8.5 is i want to boost my alk a little but when i add the alk component of the 2 part my ph goes up even higher i will boost the calcium once i get the ph problem solved so i can bring the calcium and alk up at the same time
Ebee -- Whenever anyone is having ion balance problems like yours, a ready solution is to drip some Calcium Hydroxide (i.e., Kalkwasser) for a while instead of using the prepared commercial solutions, such as B-ionic and its various competitors and clones. Don't add any more baking soda to your tank either!
When the Kalk has levels balanced where you want them, if you really want to do so, you can go back to B-ionic or whatever. (I'd stick with Kalk.)
Try this: put 30ml of 5% Actetic Acid (or Distilled White Vinegar from the grocery store) in a 1 liter (1 quart) container. Disolve 1/2 teaspoon of lab-grade Ca(OH)2 (or Kalwasser mix from the LFS) in the Acetic Acid and then dilute to 1 liter (1 quart) volume with either RO/DI water or even tank water. (This is more Vinegar than some people are comfortable with, but I use it constantly with no problems.)
There should be no sediment in the mixture, but if there is let this precipitate out and just use the clear liquid. Drip this mix into your tank with an IV bag type doser (Kent makes a nice small and inexpensive one).
You don't say how big your tank is -- you can do multiples of the 1 liter recipe for large tanks. A few nights or a week of this should balance things out nicely and lift both your Alk and Calcium levels.
Don't forget to test for Magnesium, too, (Salifert test kit) and keep your levels at 1500 ppm Magnesium. (I use Kent liquid Tech-M.) Good luck.
When the Kalk has levels balanced where you want them, if you really want to do so, you can go back to B-ionic or whatever. (I'd stick with Kalk.)
Try this: put 30ml of 5% Actetic Acid (or Distilled White Vinegar from the grocery store) in a 1 liter (1 quart) container. Disolve 1/2 teaspoon of lab-grade Ca(OH)2 (or Kalwasser mix from the LFS) in the Acetic Acid and then dilute to 1 liter (1 quart) volume with either RO/DI water or even tank water. (This is more Vinegar than some people are comfortable with, but I use it constantly with no problems.)
There should be no sediment in the mixture, but if there is let this precipitate out and just use the clear liquid. Drip this mix into your tank with an IV bag type doser (Kent makes a nice small and inexpensive one).
You don't say how big your tank is -- you can do multiples of the 1 liter recipe for large tanks. A few nights or a week of this should balance things out nicely and lift both your Alk and Calcium levels.
Don't forget to test for Magnesium, too, (Salifert test kit) and keep your levels at 1500 ppm Magnesium. (I use Kent liquid Tech-M.) Good luck.
Don't even bother with the Kent IV dripper.
I use a $2.00 storage container (those cheap rubbermaid/tupperware things) from Walmart that I put a hole in - I think a 1/8 inch hole - about an inch from the bottom. Then I put the end of and IV dripper (the white tube part) in it and I use the roller clamp to control the flow.
The container (probably would hold 5 gallons if I filled it) serves as a 3 gallon top off. I set it on a milk crate type storage bin set on its side.
I scrounged the IV part from a nurse. You could use some other type of clamp from home depot too, but I got the IV idea from some one here months ago that used a gas can. If you use a container like I did, make sure it's not an air tight one. And be sure to put the hole about an inch up from the bottom so all the sediment will settle out.
I don't add vinegar - research that one. There's no reason I don't, I just don't know enough about it and don't see a reason to right now.
Search on dripping kalk - all kinds of neat ideas out there
[ August 14, 2001: Message edited by: tangirl ]
[ August 14, 2001: Message edited by: tangirl ]
I use a $2.00 storage container (those cheap rubbermaid/tupperware things) from Walmart that I put a hole in - I think a 1/8 inch hole - about an inch from the bottom. Then I put the end of and IV dripper (the white tube part) in it and I use the roller clamp to control the flow.
The container (probably would hold 5 gallons if I filled it) serves as a 3 gallon top off. I set it on a milk crate type storage bin set on its side.
I scrounged the IV part from a nurse. You could use some other type of clamp from home depot too, but I got the IV idea from some one here months ago that used a gas can. If you use a container like I did, make sure it's not an air tight one. And be sure to put the hole about an inch up from the bottom so all the sediment will settle out.
I don't add vinegar - research that one. There's no reason I don't, I just don't know enough about it and don't see a reason to right now.
Search on dripping kalk - all kinds of neat ideas out there
[ August 14, 2001: Message edited by: tangirl ]
[ August 14, 2001: Message edited by: tangirl ]
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