PH is now up to 8.49 and rising
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Category: Help
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URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=55630
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Topic: PH is now up to 8.49 and rising
Posted By: utahwatertoys
Subject: PH is now up to 8.49 and rising
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 6:04pm
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For some reason my PH in my tank is going up. Right now it is at 8.49 Normally the tank is always around 8.25 but it has gone up to 8.49 How to I lower the PH back down to 8.25? I have a calcium reactor and the solution in the reactor is at 6.79 Do I simply allow more solution from the reactor into the sump to lower the PH to the more acceptable 8.2 range? Also for terminology is it correct to say that to go from 8.49 to 8.2 is lowering the PH? |
Replies:
Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 6:22pm
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Ok, I have increased the calcium reactor output and the is lowered to 8.47 I assume that this is the correct way to handle this situation? Any ideas why it would go so high as it did? |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 7:20pm
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My first thought is that the probe is shifting up and needs to be re-calibrated or that the controller unit is reading incorrectly. How about ORP? Is it changing? Has this pH shift been gradual or just happened today? Do you have a log of PH, Alk and Ca levels over the last 2-4 weeks? What do you mean by increasing Ca reactor output? Increased CO2 bubble rate? In my experience the control of pH is a very dangerous thing. I would be very careful about changing pH by changing parameters on the Calcium Reactor. I would think it better to turn off the Reactor altogether, check the Alk, Ca and pH for several days to see what changes and how fast. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 7:55pm
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ORP does fluctuate but overall it remains consistent. What I meant by changing the Ca reactor output was to turn the little knob on the output tube and instead of having just a drip...drip...drip to allow it to flow slowly into the sump (I haven't messed with the bubble rate which has been the same for nearly a year) I don't have a log book of Ca and Alk levels. The past few days the PH has been around 8.3 which is a little higher than normal then today it went to 8.49 which it is now at again. About 5 days ago and as far back as I can remember the PH always stayed at 8.20 or very close to that. I shut off the calcium reactor and will check to see how things go in the next few days. |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 8:00pm
| If my ph is higher then it should be, usually is my ph probe needing to be recalibrated.... |
Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 8:03pm
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Should I try cleaning my probes? What do you normally use to clean the probes? 100% vinegar? I actually have a sealed bag of pH Calibrating Buffer so I can re-calibrate my pH probe. I haven't done that in quite a while. |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 8:44pm
| Clean it with a soft bristle toothbrush, and then just recalibrate it. You will need a bag of 7.0ph and 10.0ph calibration fluids. |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 8:47pm
| I recalibrate mine 2-3 times a year, and everytime it changes. Sometimes a little, sometimes more then I would like.... |
Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 09 2012 at 9:16pm
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Ok, I see. Do you know of any place that would have the calibration fluids between SLC to Provo? I just realized that I do not have 10ph calibration fluid and I cut open the only 7ph that I had so I'll need to purchase both |
Posted By: TheAquarium
Date Posted: April 10 2012 at 3:15pm
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The Aquarium Has calibration solution -------------  |
Posted By: rufessor
Date Posted: April 10 2012 at 3:53pm
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You can clean your pH probe with all sorts of things, but in some cases (harsh cleaning) it would be recommended to equilibrate the probe in the pH 7 solution overnight prior to calibrating and using the probe. There is a small porous (to very very small things) frit in the probe body near the bottom (or as part of the bulb) that can clog with organics or foul with Ca or other precipitate. If it looks dirty and a light toothbrush scrubbing is not enough read up on harsher methods and follow one proven method. It should be assumed that the probes need to be cleaned fairly regularly to work properly. No way would you expect them to remain accurate for many many months at a time, although I am surprised how well they do perform. We calibrate our lab probes every day and find they drift quite a bit... but we are much harder on them than just sitting in a nice clean aquarium! I hesitate to propose a harsh method as I don't know what your probe is or what type, you should follow the manufacturers directions as it is possible to screw them up (difficult, but hardly impossible). ------------- Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler -A.E. 57 Gallon RImless build in progress check the thread before if becomes boring and just full of nice pictures of colorful coral! |
Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 10 2012 at 7:00pm
| I did a chemical test and it also shows the PH to be very high at 8.5 and I just cannot figure out why the ph is going so high |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 11 2012 at 5:32pm
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A reef aquarium would never go over 8.3 without some kind of help. Besides the Ca Reactor, what other equipment, filter media and additives are used in the tank?
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 11 2012 at 6:26pm
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I haven't used any additives to the tank for quite a while other than last week I used denitrate nitrate removal pebbles by seachem and just dumped a bunch of them in my filter sock. I have a protein skimmer and a sock filter. That's pretty much it. It does look like the pH is dropping back to 4.1 on its own |
Posted By: laynframe
Date Posted: April 11 2012 at 7:34pm
im pretty sure your cal reactor isnt the problem. At that ph in your reactor your not breaking down the media to produce the extra calcium. It has to be a maximum of a 6.5 ph to break down the media, any higher than that and your spitting in the wind lol. Also the output from a cal reactor is low ph and high cal. If anything slow down your cal reactor and increase your bubble count to lower your ph. Check your alk perams before doing that! I also think your probe could be out of calibration as well. Whats your mag levels? If cal and alk and mag levels are all in check i wouldnt worry about your ph. My tank runs at about 8.3 to 8.5 almost all the time. just my 2 cents ------------- The time we enjoy wasting isn't wasted time!!!! |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 11 2012 at 7:48pm
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Does the manufacturer recommend that the nitrate removal "pebbles" be churned and rubbed into dust by placing them in the floss bag; the place where the water is more turbulent than any other place in the system? This is the major suspect for the problem. I would remove those immediately. Why a special media to absorb N? What are the levels of Nitrogen compounds in this tank, i.e., Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? Are coral having any problems? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 13 2012 at 11:04am
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The corals actually seem just fine. I just ran the following API tests last night and got the following results: Ammonia: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 0ppm Calcium: 440mg/L KH: 12dkh Phosphate: 0ppm PH: 8.4 I had removed the nitrate pebbles over a week ago and hadn't put them back because the nitrate levels went back down |
Posted By: utahwatertoys
Date Posted: April 17 2012 at 10:14pm
| Ok, It looks like the problem was that I needed to re-calibrate the pH probe. Now it is reading the pH at 8.01 |