PH Problem - New House

jcg432 · 02-17-2008, 10:49 AM

I have just moved my tank to a new home and noticed that the PH was dropping significately.
I started dosing with reef builder to raise the PH and still nothing at the end of the day the PH was back.
I did water changes every week to see if that helped and nothing.
Did some more reading and found an article that new houses with lots of people can hold in large quantities of C02 and to help in this I should extend the air hose from the Skimmer to the outside of the house and this has worked the PH has risen but not enough.
I have tried to see if maybe it was something my tank was going through so last night I disconnected the connection to the outside and again the PH dropped.

Well My question is does anyone have this problem and what have you done to resolve this?

Pictures Please!!!! Need Help!!!

**Amphibious** · 02-17-2008, 07:31 PM

I doubt that your new house is the problem. I see you live in Miami. Temps are mild to warm at this time of the year and I suspect you have the house open. I live in Ft. Pierce a couple of hours north of you. We have our house wide open enjoying the fresh air.

When Ph in a tank is low the worst thing you can do is add a product to raise the Ph without finding the root cause of the lower Ph. Like you found out, using the product raised the Ph temporarily but it went back into balance with the Alk and Calcium considerations in the tank.

My guess (and it is a guess because I know nothing of your tank size, inhabitants, water parameters and your maintenance procedures) is your Alkalinity is low. Have you tested the Alk?

Here's a link to an informative article by renowned aquarium chemist and author Randy Holmes Farley - Chemistry and the Aquarium

It covers this topic in depth.

Dick

jcg432 · 02-18-2008, 08:56 AM

The article you have attached was the one that shows the problem with newer home (This is the one I have read) and tried the skimmer aproach.

In Miami the weather is different than up north. Down here you cannot live without the air conditioner. I never turn it off in the winter nor the summer.

The alkanity is high in my tank right now and I been supplementing calcium to maintain it at the right levels.

**Amphibious** · 02-18-2008, 09:03 AM

Hmmm, back to the drawing board. How are you testing Ph, test kit (what kind) or meter?

Didn't know you guys ran AC year around down there. I'm glad I'm North.

poppin_fresh · 02-18-2008, 11:52 PM

I too would be curious to see what you are measuring the PH with. Also, what range is your PH at? What do you consider "significantly low?"

**CarmieJo** · 02-19-2008, 12:26 AM

The indoor CO2 is a definite problem for me when the house is closed. I keep a window in the room with the tanks cracked. I just loosen the top of the window from the frame, the crack is only paper thin but it seems to help me.

Bobby2 · 02-20-2008, 01:22 AM

When you moved the tank did you use the same sand?

It is possible that if the sand bed was disturbed that you could be having a bacterial die off and that might disturbed the ph enough that the seaclone you have might not be cleaning up the tank or adding enough O2 to keep the tank stable.

How long after the move has the ph remained low and how low is it?

Bobby2 · 02-20-2008, 01:46 AM

never mind I found your post that you upgraded to a ASM mini g

jest shooting at the wind.

Bobby2 · 02-20-2008, 01:57 AM

You said in another thread that your ph was 8.0 that’s not too bad in my book.
Some perfectly healthy tanks maintain a ph of 7.8- 8.0. Yea 8.3 is what we aim for

What time do you check the ph? The ph in the morning will be lower than the ph in the evening. Co2 is consumed during the day during photosynthesis .
Is your fuge on an opposite time schedule?

jcg432 · 02-22-2008, 11:55 AM

sorry for taking so long to answer but I thought the website would notify me if anyone responded but I guess wrong. Ok so here goes my reponses (if that is even a word). I did move the tank with the same sandbed and im pretty sure it was disturbed. (If that is my problem what can I do to resolve). To measure my ph use a neptune systems aquacontroller. My tanks PH is right now 7.8 in the day and at night I don't wanna even say.

Sea in the City Orlando · 02-22-2008, 03:25 PM

Try this:

Take some tank water and place it in a bucket. Place a powerhead with a venturi in the bucket and monitor the PH for a while and see if it rises. Then take the bucket outside and do the same thing. If the PH rises outside and not inside, it's an indicator that CO2 buildup is a problem. I battle this same problem constantly in my store...especlally when it gets crowded. I have an ACIII on my fish system and you can watch the PH drop as the place fills up. My PH is actually, like yours, lower at the end of the day than in the beginning...should be the other way around as the PH should rise during the day during photosynthesis. I've switched from what I was using to supplement alkalinity to another product and have seen much improvement along with bringing fresh air in through my protein skimmers (AquaC models can be ordered with JG fittings and you can valve the outside air right in through that). GL!

jcg432 · 02-23-2008, 08:32 AM

I just started supplementing kalkwasser as my source of calcium and alk instead of the two part solution since I read that people with kalkwasser tend to have higher PH and also have a airline tubing going to the outside of the house.