pH problems again

hello i have 30 gallon and i cant get the pH above 8. a 3 reefer told me to add baking soda so i did but that raised my KH to 22!!!!!!!!!!!!. After three months of countlass water chnages my kh is finaly at 12 but the ph is still a problem. can anyone offer me suggestions on a cheap but realiable route.


I have a lid on my tank but i keep it propped open.

 

The lid being open doesn't matter if there's never a window opened in the house.

 

First off, water changes to correct a problem other than an emergency are ill advised. Without understanding water chemistry and the synergy involved, trying to address only one parameter is usually bad, such as you found out. I would suggest pointing a power head at the surface of the water to create aggitation and see if the PH comes up a bit although 8.0 is fine. I use Sea-LAb #14ph to properly buffer the water to achieve PH to 8.2-8.3.

 

I agree with both posts above.

Take the lid off as an experiment for a few days, see what happens.

Get something to break the surface of the water - like a powerhead.

When it comes to pH, I have found you are better advised to keep dKH in line and getting x pH than it is to try to adjust pH to then get x dKH. make sense?

pH fluctuates greatly throughout the day and time of year due to things that influence available O, heat, etc. your dKH, on the other hand, should always be consistent.

So while pH is important, it is, overall and IMO, overhyped.

 

a steady & consistent PH is the best PH, the more you try to control it by unnatural means may end up causing bigger headaches. My PH is below 8 I think & my tank is fine, I do normal ALK/CA/MG dosing with B-Ionic, all params are steady & good.

 

My tank is in the basement so there isn't great air exchange. I use to fight with raising my pH for the 1st year....then I just gave up. As long as the corals are doing OK, I don't worry about it anymore (my pH is between 7.9-8.1, a bit lower than I want but not bad)

Things you might want to try:
As Leon mentioned, point a powerhead up to the surface.
Open up some windows when possible.

If you have a skimmer, run the air line to the outside so it suck in fresh air (I haven't tried this one yet, one of these days I'll drill a hole through the wall)

I did use Kent marine buffer for a while in my make-up water, even though it raised the pH, there was a lot more fluctuation, now it's low but somewhat stable. Other than pH probe, I haven't tested my tank in about 6 months, I use my corals as a guage. good luck

 

I can't remember the last time I checked my ph......I keep my dKH in line at about 9 and use kent Marine buffer to keep it in check with my top off water if it needs adjusting.......I have a power head and my sump return breaking the water surface and my skimmers air intake is outside of the sump space...(modified air intake on a Marineland Pro 100 as the stock way sucks; now that skimmer cranks!)

 

Using an automated 2 part dosing processes or Ca Reactor will go a very long way in establishing a stable pH/Alk/Ca relationship...

I'm running the Ca Reactor on the 120 g system...once it was running and adjusted...I've no longer needed to dose buffer to chase pH/Alk/Ca....8.15/9.3/410...from week to week...

It's a bit expensive, takes up room, but delivers results...

For my seahorse tank...planning to us BRS 3 part dosing processes...

 

agreed. pop the lid and open a window. also try increase air/gas exchange via overflow or or just brake water surface with a power head. This may be extreme but maybe a duct with a fan from outside and connecting that to your hood or sump.. The air hose idea for the skimmer may work too.

 

I try to stay away from dkH buffers as most people tend to use it too aggressively and end up making changes in the water chemistry in their tanks too quickly (in my opinion). I generally like to a change in the water chemistry happen very slowly over time. Usually a tank that has a lower dkH than desired took some time to get down there, it usually didn’t happen overnight. Conversely, it’s also not optimum to have it raised to the desired level over night. You can try stonger aerattion in the aquarium water to degass excess carbon dioxide. For a permanent fix, I dose my tank with TM Bio-Calcium which will very slowly, over time, raise the dkH to the desired level which prevents pH swings in the long term.