PH levels

[nemo79]

I just read in a few articles that pulsing xenia prefer a PH of 8.3 or higher and that they will stop pulsing when your PH is lower than 8.2. No matter when I test or what test kit I've used my PH is always 8.2/8.3. What is the safest way to get your ph to 8.3 and maintain it?

[serotonin]

Lately my pH has been stable at 8.2 and my xenia is pulsing like clockwork. I really don't know that I can agree with that article from my experience.

If you want to maintain a higher pH you could try using kalkwasser on a drip cycle 24/7. I really would not worry too much about it tho.

[rayjay]

I agree, don't sweat it any.
I don't think any of my tanks get over 8.2 at the peak of day, and many drop to 7.9 in the am before lights come on. And, as mentioned in other threads, my xenia pulse just fine.
pH normally cannot be determined "exactly" with what we have available to test with, ESPECIALLY if you are using a test kit and determining by matching color.
Even using meters is not exact because of the "drift" that occurs between calibratings, and, stray current in the tanks can have an effect if you aren't removing a sample and testing with an external meter.
Nemo, please don't take this the wrong way, but you can see that as you progress, lots of things happen in this hobby, but unfortunately, there are many differing opinions on how to solve the problems. (or perceived problems)
Some opinions are out and out bad advice and it's hard for a novice to really be sure which is bad and which are the good ones. Even then, which good advice will you choose as some times several methods accomplish the same end result.
It would probably be less stressful on you (and your tank inhabitants) if you looked around at the various contributors on the different forums you visit, and determine which person do you have faith in as far as information goes, and who perhaps understands best the system you are using, and rely solely on the information that this person can provide you with when you have questions.
That way you won't be see sawing back and forth over what solution to use.
This doesn't mean to completely ignore all other information as there is a lot of excellent info from many contributors, but take note of it all, especially what the majority basically agree on, and store that info in notes or in your head, thereby buiding your own knowledge base to be able to make your own decisions on something that crops up in the future.

[grubbsj]

Three months ago, when I introduced the xenya to my tank my pH ranged from 7.85 to 8.00 during the day, and the xenya have been happily pulsating along. 2 weeks ago, I began bumping up the pH. The range is now about 7.95 - 8.12. I am adding 12 cc of kalkwasser every day to a system of about 100 gallons. This has been resulting in an indicated increase of about 0.02 pH on the RK2 pH probe. My goal is to see a low that is > 8.00, maybe by the end of this week....

[coral reefer]

Kalk has a pH of around 12 so be careful when dosing kalkwasser first of all! Also, your alkalinity level should not fall below 7dKH to prevent harmful large drops in your pH level. One last thing to mention is that if your salinity level is too low, your alkalinity level will drop thus a buffer should be used to compensate for the low salinity level. This will also help towards keeping your pH of your water at the desired level.

[grubbsj]

Good point about the buffer when using Kalk.

Thanks;

Joe