Do you all test your PH regularly. I think it is suppost to be around 8. Mine is at 6.5. How can I increase it to the correct range, or will it do this in its own as animals are added?

Do you all test your PH regularly. I think it is suppost to be around 8. Mine is at 6.5. How can I increase it to the correct range, or will it do this in its own as animals are added?

it should be 8.0-8.3, 6.5 is WAY low, I would not add animals to a tank with that low pH, test your tanks hardness, get that around 10 dKh by adding SMALL doses (like a pinch per 10 gallons) of baking soda to high flow areas. Once you get that stable, pH should start to rise.

Yeah in a salt tank 6.5 is totally unacceptable for most organisms I know. What salt mix are you using, and what is your SG?

Do you all test your PH regularly. I think it is suppost to be around 8. Mine is at 6.5. How can I increase it to the correct range, or will it do this in its own as animals are added?

How old is your test kit?

PH is measured on a logarithmic scale, so a PH of 6.5 is about thirty (30) times more acidic than a PH of 8.0. Definately fix the PH before you put any animals in there.

Something basic is wrong for a reading that low.

My test strips might be bad (using the ones from my acids bases science lab) I am using instant ocean, and have about 1/4 of my tank live water. I already have pods and one shrimp living fine for about a week and a half. My SG levels are in standard range. How do I test for hardness?

There are a wide variety of test kits, either liquid or dry reagent, as well as test strips..... (KH = carbonate hardness)

My test strips might be bad (using the ones from my acids bases science lab) I am using instant ocean, and have about 1/4 of my tank live water. I already have pods and one shrimp living fine for about a week and a half. My SG levels are in standard range. How do I test for hardness?

I would say the basic think wrong is the test you are using. :grin: You need to use a test kit designed to work with saltwater because saltwater can do weird things to test kits.
With that stuff living in your tank, I don't think you have much to worry about.
What is standard range for SG and what actually is your level and how are you testing?
I don't think hardness matters much in a ceph tank. Alkalinity levels are important for stony corals.

Also, in general, be careful chasing numbers and adding stuff to chase those numbers. Often, an additive will not actually 'fix' the numbers you are looking for, and will only bounce the numbers up and down.

Invest in some quality test kits, API, Salifert, Elos, and you'll be happier.

Thales,
My RO/DI water is ALWAYS at about 6.0 without buffering and does not come up much with even the reef salts (which is supposed to be for RO water and produce a higher PH). The neutral reading is expected from RO water. Supposedly, the neutral water will adjust if you add it to water with a different PH (either up or down) but my tank PH drops if I do this without first buffering the new RO.

I remember that D, and I think you are a special case. Before I would put Faaborg there, I would want test done with a quality kit made for saltwater. :D

BTW, how long do you mix your saltwater before testing it.

The specific gravity in my Deep Six hydrometer reads 1.021. The acceptable range is between 1.020 - 1.023.

I have had my tank up for about a month maybe 2. Before I tested the water. I have a 200 gallon filtration system and I have a 75 gallon aquarium. I have a refugium with plants and a 200 gallon protein skimmer.

The specific gravity in my Deep Six hydrometer reads 1.021. The acceptable range is between 1.020 - 1.023.

Thats low. Natural sea water ist 1.0264 and swing arm hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate. So, 1.021 could be much lower. Either way, 1.021 is low. IMO the acceptable range for inverts is between 1.023 and 1.026, the lower end to compensate for swings due to evaporation.

okay I will change it to 1.026

I found an interesting article on water and RO DI processing:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.php

With the following quote about the PH of water after RO/DI filteration:

1. The pH of totally pure water is around 7 (with the exact value depending on temperature). As carbon dioxide from the atmosphere enters the water, the pH drops into the 6’s and even into the 5’s, depending on the amount of CO2. At saturation with the level of CO2 in normal (outside) air, the pH would be about 5.66. Indoor air often has even more CO2, and the pH can drop a bit lower, into the 5’s. Consequently, the pH of highly purified water coming from an RO/DI unit is expected to be in the pH 5-7 range.

Since we smoke, the CO2 is likely to be higher in our house but the mixing and areated holding buckets are is in the garage (48 hour min time usually 4-5 days but I mix my buffer immediately to the fresh water and use the prebuffered water to make my salt so I have no recent results but have tried not using a buffer anytime I experiemented with new salt with at least a 48 hour delay). We do have very high acid water (great for azailias, magnolias, gardinias and tomatos) which might partially account for the low PH. I will try to remember to set up a little experiment with tap and unbufferred RO water this weekend.

I bought all new kits, PH is 8, no nitrate, no phosphates, water hardness normal
my calcium was low so I added a calcium suppliment

Good! :smile:
What kind of kits?
If you don't have stony corals, you don't need to be worrying about your calcium level (how low was it BTW?).

My Calcium level was "0" I bought the API saltwater master test kit and added the Kent mineral supplement (with calcium). I thought it might be good to have minerals and cacium in the water because I am adding zooanthids. I also bought the phytoplankton from Kent and added it to my refugium. Here is a pic of my set up. It looks really bad because I should have turned off my flash. I promise the lighting is really great normally. You can see that it is set up in a classroom.

I don't believe it is possible for your ca level to be 0 using any of the salt mixes available.
As for any other additives, I don't believe you need them for the animals you are keeping.

Thales,
Calcium did not show up at all on the test kit. It was as low as it could be when I measured it. I looked it up on line and the lowest it goes is 20 mg/L. I do not have my notes in front of me because they are in my classroom in the cabinet next the the tank. I do not plan on adding stony corals now, but I want to keep my water as it would be in a reef environment so I added the suppliment. "Kent Marine Coral-Vite is a premium hard & soft coral vitamin & mineral supplement. It provides exotic trace minerals and complex nutrients for health and vigor and to stimulate growth in corals, anemones, gorgonians, and desirable marine algae." I do not have the mineral list because it is in my classroom.

That is incredibly strange (read; I don't believe it :grin: ). What salt mix did you use?

Adding 'broad spectrum' vitamins and minerals to a tank is usually not recommended although there are many on the market. Their utility is questionable, but they do help the aquarist to feel like they are doing something which may be worth the money. :smile: Most of those all in ones have their levels low in the first place to prevent overdosing. Most people who use them stop very quickly, and those produces are often referred to as 'expensive, slightly colored water'.
The general rule of thumb is, if you aren't testing for it, you don't need to add it, and if you do add it, know why. For the animals you are planning on keeping, your salt mix should be more than enough in regards to trace elements and such.

About 1/4 of my tank is live water and the rest was mixed with instant ocean.

So I guess i am okay as of now for adding my octopus in August? I just need to keep checking to make sure everything is okay. And don't worry about the calcium unless I add stoney corals?:read:

That sounds about right to me. I think you ca reading from before is off - IO has ca in it.