CRAP! May have messed up! Ph high?

I dosed PH for the first time today, i did what the directions said..It says dose 1 teaspoon for every 40g to raise 0.1 PH and dissolve in 1 cup of freshwater(RO/DI) I did two scoops of the buffer and added it to the cup and dissolved it..the reason i did 2 was because my PH was at 7.8 and saying that my tank is a 29g i figured 2 scoops would bump it up to 8.2 or 3 atleast. I added it to the tank and then about 5 mins later i tested PH and it was at 8.8!!!! Is it normal for it to test like this after dosing?!? or is it bad?:-/

 

If its not fully spread out through the tank you will get that sometimes. It normally takes about an hour for the tank to stabilize that. I noticed that when I got my PH probe for the controller that it spazzed out for a bit then settled and raised to the right amount.

May i suggest getting a PH stabilizer that wont raise your PH past 8.3 or 8.4 no matter how much you use? (if it does happen that yours stays 8.8)

 

Watch you snails and shrimp.

Lesson learned I guess. Keep testing the pH might climb higher towards the end of the photoperiod.

Bumping it up to 8.3 would have been too much of swing at once IMO.

Good luck.

 

Phew! Got a lil scared there for a sec!! Ill test it in a few hours then and see where it settles at..

 

So you think it will be okay red gambit?? Or do i have to do a water change?

 

Theres a lot of variables in that,

Did it stabilize yet?
What kind of livestock you have... etc?

IF it stayed up there and you have quite a bit of livestock, I would suggest dropping it, but, slowly. If you are having problems and constantly are using PH buffers, I would also suggest a PH probe. You can get them in controllers or sold alone with a base units or sometimes handhelds. The probes are nice, cause you can have it in there constantly monitoring your tanks params.

Next time you have to dose that stuff Try doing a Quarter dose... That is how I do my tank... I add it when I dose or topoff If i see it needs to be done.

 

I have lots of corals and i have 2 clowns, a neon dottyback, sixline and a randalli goby..

I have never had to dose it really..But i thought i would try and get it up to 8.2 or 3 today..I just did a water change yesterday

 

Well If its sticking at 8.8, I would lower it but slowly, Probably .1-.2 a day. Others may have their opinions on that but thats what I would do.

 

How would i lower it? I am going to let the tank sit for today just to make sure its not just a stabilizing problem.

 

I agree. My Kent Marine PH buffer directions say to raise the ph slowly.