Low pH, any clue???

[docdac]

Hope somebody can shed some light on this problem...
I cycled my tank with cured live rock I got from LFS. After just one week amonia=0, nitrites=0, nitrates=10, Ca=400, Alk=10, pH=8.0. I used C-Balance one full cap of each part weekly for the first 2 weeks and so Calcium and Alk were doing just fine. Even though pH have been always 8,0. I've tryed two different kits (Nutrafin, Aquarium pharmaceuticals) ant both of them read 8,0... So I tried Seachem Marine Buffer to rise it and it just messed up the calc/alk balance: Calium=340, Alk=12. After this I stoped dosing the Alk part of the C-Balance and just used de Calcium part. The tank is 4 weeks old now and read as follows: Amonia=0, Nitrite=0, Nitrate=20, Calc=420, Alk=12, SG=1.025, Temp=79, pH=8,0...
I do a 10% water change every week. The light period goes from 10 AM to 10 PM (12 hours of actinics, 10 hours of daylight).
I dont undersdtand how is it possible to be at 8,0 with an Alk of 12.
So:
1. Is it a real reading or its just the crappy test kits I got?
1. If its real, why is my tank reading a pH of 8,0?
2. Should I try to rise it? If so, how?

I kinda need to solve this soon since just three dayas ago I got my first corals: green star polyps, zoo's, and one xenia. The polyps and the zoo's are doing just great, seem quite happy. But the xenia, oh my... doesnt seem quite well. After I got it, I did some research and found (too late) that pH below 8,3 could be a problem for those corals.
Any comments???

[JohnO]

Gee

A PH of 8.0 seems OK to me Why do you think it's a problem? I would be more inclined to concentrate on getting the Alk/Calc relationship steady.

Cheers

John

[docdac]

The calc/alk balance is ok now: 420/12. From now on Im using only C-Balance to keep this steady. Once I run out of this stuff I might try kalk.
As far as the pH... I know it is not such a problem as long as it doesnt hit 7,8.
But it seems most people have it around 8,2-8,3. And for what I've read, now tha I put that xenia in there it may be a good idea to keep it a bit higher

[Matt Rogers]

I agree with John. But the key here is the time you are testing for pH. A couple hours before the light goes out will be a lot higher pH than a couple hours into the light cycle. Do a test at both ends a couple times to get a range.

[jonathan]

what matt said.....ph can fluctuate with lighting. if you are running a sump or a fuge and you don't have lighting over either, it might help to use a small lamp to steady your ph levels. and as matt said, test your ph several times throughout the day and even a few hours after your photo period ends. you'll see the differences, ph is never a steady reading but it can be relatively close if you run a reverse photo period with your sump/fuge.

[docdac]

Anyone else???

[Covey]

What they said about timing. Plus you may want to try the seachem pH test it is a whole lot easier to read than that Aq Pharm kit. Lets see is that purple, purple, or purple, great range.
Also xenia doesn't travel or ship well it will take some time for it to settle in regaurdless of the tank parameters. The kalk thing would be a good idea too.

[antonio101]

Your tank is also only 4 weeks old it will settle as time goes by my 40 gl took 8 weeks to do so.Your ph is a little low but not enough to worry

[docdac]

Hearing that is relieving...
Guess Im gonna try another test kit.
Thought of getting a ph monitor, way out of my league (250 bucks), lol...

[Matt Rogers]

Originally Posted by docdac

Thought of getting a ph monitor, way out of my league (250 bucks), lol...

Which monitor was that? That is pricey. I bought this pH Controller - I like it a lot - Premium Aquatics has it on sale for $139.