water ph - Page 2

TEPOZ_AZTLAN · 03-07-2005, 12:49 AM

Thank's JohnO i'll do that on my next water change , as i said in another post the only way of learning is by experimenting,and help w/ the pros. It's my first reef tank and is been upo for 2 months and is looking really great. Proud for been first one.
THANK'S AGAIN

G-Boy · 03-20-2006, 12:30 AM

ok guy and gals, dont jump on me if I am way off, this is just a suggestion so dont laugh too loud. :} but here goes....... I seem to remember reading a while back on the net about proper placement of power head flow direction. I was having a small, i repeat small prob with my ph being low sometime, and one night as i was putting away my test kits my starfish fell off the glass which cause me to look straight up from the floor. After watching him upright himself i continued looking at the tank from that angle, on up thru the top of the tank and noticed there was a thin film on the water surface. I never noticed it before (I know, duh). Anyway, i redirected my powerheads, like i read you should do months ago, and my ph hasnt changed a bit since. I always check it at the same time of the day and it hasnt swayed a bit.
I always hate to chime in cuz I am still learning so please let me know if I am full of beans on this.

90_Berlin_joe · 03-20-2006, 08:53 AM

Tepoz, when you do a water change are you waiting 24hours with your new water/salt mixture? If not the chemical reaction that takes place during that time might be causing your ph to drop like that. I prefer to do a water change with aged RO/DI water about 24hrs old. Make sure that the water is same temp and that you have a power head running in the tank of new water. Then you should be OK.

Also what type of Salt mix are you using? This also can have an effect on ph, cal, alk and much more. I use Instant Ocean and have not had any major issues.

90_Berlin_joe · 03-20-2006, 09:02 AM

G-Boy, great point Karma for you buddy. The little things that we over look when it comes to trouble shooting a simple problem. You are correct about the surface tension needing to be disturbed. Like the ocean the surface of water is never still nor clouded with pollutants. In captive we need to make sure that we try to duplicate this by guiding our Power head toward the surface in a way to create a wave effect (i.e. disturbed surface tension). At the same time creating a water flow in the tank.

I personally like using the SCWD to give a wave motion to my tank with some added power head behind the rock scape.

Good luck on the test, you will find a solution that work for your tank soon.

jonathan · 03-20-2006, 10:39 PM

regarding the ph...have you thought about the lighting? lighting can greatly affect ph...if you are not running a sump/fuge with somewhat of a reverse photoperiod, your ph can fluctuate. if it is normally at 8.3 during the normal photoperiod, it could drop down to 8.0 or lower at night with no lighting. this is usually normal, not a good thing but normal. hth.