confused. com kh and ph help!!!

just set up me new tank 3 weeks old now

went 2 the lfs and the man sold me the kh saying i need to test my water

added 1 drop n went pale blue.

the man said keep puting in drops til it goes pink??

the reason why im asking is because my ph is showing about 8.0 and want it higher for when i by corals. he also sold me a tripple buffer, which iv added 2 the tank a few times

what does the kh tell me bout the tank being light blue in colour when i test it??

also do i need 2 add more buffer to get the ph up, will it effect my snails n hermits?

please help:-/:-/:-/

 

Your pH will be fine at 8.0

You want your KH test to register between 7 and 12 KH.

What you are seeing is the indicator solution registering that you need to add more drops. When the solution turns pink that means no more drops are needed and you now find out what your KH is from the manual by reading how many drops or how many ml was used or left depending on the kit.

 

The pH in your tank will have a daily range. Hopefully in the 7.8~8.3 range. Your alkalinity (KH) will do 2 things to your pH;

1) Help keep your pH at the higher levels
2) Minimize the size of the swing

 

If this tank is still that young you do not need to add any buffers or trace elements. The routine water changes and good tank maintenance will be MUCH more important and beneficial to your tank.

A pH of 8.0 is fine. Do not chase the numbers, get the basic chemistry of your tank down before jumping into dosing. Keep it simple and you will be rewarded, adding supplements and buffers is not needed at this stage in your tanks development.

The local fish store is going to sell you supplements you do not need and in some cases can cause a lot more harm than good.

I strongly suggest just using a quality salt mix and doing the monthly to bi-monthly water changes and nothing else at this point.

Good Luck.

 

okay think i understand kind of??

well iv just tested the kh, counted the drops and can to 22/23 before it changed to yellow, followed instructions and mutilped by 10 so 220/230mg

so my question is .... is my ph to high. how can i take it down if so?

 

okay think i understand kind of??

well iv just tested the kh, counted the drops and came to 22/23 before it changed to yellow, followed instructions and mutilped by 10 so 220/230mg

so my question is .... is my kh to high. how can i take it down if so?

PLEASE IGNORE LAST RESPONSE TESTNG KH

 

I think you are using pH and alk interchangeably.

This shows a good chart as you where you want you parameters. Take a look at it, it may help to make more sense of it. And yes your alk is high, I would let it come down naturally over a couple days as long as no inverts or corals look stressed.

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com