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What PH should my...

I am thinking maybe Santa should bring me one of these. One of the best arguments I have seen is for acclimation and being able to control the incremental increase. Having to calibrate it is my one concern but for acclimation that is not critical as it is the match to tank water and the incremental increase that is important.
 
Your pH should be in the range of 8.2 to 8.4. (See p. 53 in our book, which you mentioned you have.)

Many factors can affect pH and it usually higher when your lights are on, and lower at night.

It's a good idea that everyone buy a pH meter. I eventually installed a Pinpoint pH meter with continual readout.

Nancy
 
I avoided answering because ... my water REQUIRES buffering, always, but it appears many others do not and was hoping someone else would chime in first. If your tank PH stays happy at around 8.4 without buffering (RO/DI water should show PH neutral at around 6) then it is not necessary. Neutral water SHOULD take on the PH of anything it is mixed with. With our water, if I don't buffer, it will drop the PH in my tanks. I know Sedna (Detroit, MI) has a problem keeping her PH up and that water shipped from the Keys, without buffer will drop during shipping and the Thales (San Francisco, CA) does not have this problem. I don't know WHY different waters seem to vary in PH characteristics after RO treatment and it may not be the water but the environment of the tanks, however, our ground water is acid prior to treatment. If you are seeing unstable PH in your tank then you may want to consider buffering and I would recommend Seachem's Reef buffer (NOT Kent's).
 
If you're having trouble keeping pH up, try adding some aragonite sand to your tank.

In fact,anyone setting up a tank should consider using this type of sand (which comes in a number of textures and colors), because it helps maintain pH stability.

Nancy
 
Nancy,
I can add half as much buffer as I once needed now to keep the tanks stable but I am not sure if the argonite sand (used in most of my tanks now) or the accumulation of buffer is the reason. I tend to think it is the accumulation of buffer since not all of my tanks have a sand substrate.
 
I have a terrible time battling PH always have. At this point I'm happy when I can get it as high as 8.0. 8.4 has never been achieved. I'll look for some Aragonite. even with a week of adding a 1/2 a bottle of buffer a day. Soooo that being said, I also dont use RO/DI water I convert tap water with a conditioner.

my top off water has a PH of 8.345

rolleyes1.gif
 
How are you aerating your water? A high CO2 content will drop PH. As a simple experiment, you might add an additional air stone and air pump to see if it helps.
 
There is an oxygen test and I have one that I have never tried because after buying it I read that the results are pretty useless.

You could try adding an air stone to the sump rather than directly to the tank. Since most of us have a supply of air stones and air pumps, it is something to try where you can check the results with your new toy but not spend money :biggrin2:.
 
What is the pH reading for your tap water?
What is the pH reading of your tank water?

If your tank water is low, take a cup of it and stick the probe in, note what it says. Then stick an airstone connected to a pump in the cup, wait 10 minutes and then note the reading. Tell us what it says. :biggrin2:

IMO, adding buffer to a tank is a waste of time because tank processes will drive the pH where ever it wants to go. The buffer will only make it bounce and cost you money. If you have low pH in the tank, I would look at increasing aeration (also look at pH in the sump and in the tank) over anything else. Adding crushed coral or aragonite to the tank will help also. Buffering the make up water is fine in my book, but only if really necessary as in D's case. Otherwise, let the tank settle and if your animals look fine, no worries.

The real question is what are the numbers you are getting and have you calibrated the probe correctly. If your numbers and in the range, I wouldn't worry if its at the low end. pH monitors are great, but don't get caught up in chasing numbers - specially if your animals are in good shape. FWIW, my reef ran at 7.9 for over a year and everything was fine. After maturing, the tank now runs at 8.2-8.4.
 
Tap water is 9.03
Conditioned Tap water is 8.4
tanks and sumps(3 independent systems) are all 7.62-7.64

Yes the prob is calibrated. I'll go buy an airstone and try is out.
 
I just looked at the meter you bought and I don't know anyone who uses that kind of meter or anyone who feels they are all that accurate.

Did you calibrate with 7 and 10 or 4 and 10?
 

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