DIY rocks and slow climb PH

Hi, my wife and I made our rocks a few years back. Our tank has been up since Jan1/ 2013. At first my PH was at 7.8. And has been very slowly climbing. It's now close to 8.0. There is no live rock in my tank, but coraline is slowly growing on the rocks. I have two false percula clowns and one Tierra anthias and lots of hermit crabs. Tank is 75 gals. Anyway, I got my reef lights ib a few weeks back. I run them 7 hours a day to try and help the coraline grow. Is this pointless? How long until my PH gets to 8.4? Also, I'm getting some hair algae growing on the sand, only in one spot under the shadow of the center brace.

 

What did you make your rocks out of? Do you have any oxygen issues where the tank is? (i.e. in a room with no windows, or windows stay closed, etc) For the record, 8.0 is certainly reasonable to maintain a reef/SW tank at.

 

It's not unusual for the pH to change as the tank ages. You'll also experience fluctuations even with a mature tank. A fuge with macro algae and a light cycle opposite that of the dt may lessen the fluctuation between day and night, but it may never be fully eliminated.

FTR, pH is not a reliable value. It shows the balance between acidity and alkalinity, but with no regard to actual cal/alk levels, and as already indicated, can be easily influenced by an imbalance between O2 and CO2. While an incorrect pH or sudden change is a good indicator that something may be wrong, one should test their parameters and correct their chemistry rather than simply buffering pH.

BTW, your pH may never reach 8.4. As long as it's between 7.8 and 8.6 and everything else is at proper levels, your tank will be fine.

 

Agreed. When I switched to reef crystals my Ph was much more stable, also I started focussing more on alk,cal,mg stable and everything else fell in line.

 

Thanks, I made the rock with Portland cement and aragonite sand. I want to add to that, I'm getting crazy hair algae growing on some the rocks and sand. I don't know my phosphate levels. Can I put GFO in a sox if I need to? I use well water, my old house I used well water on my nano and the tank exploded in coraline and coral growth! There was a lot of lime in my old house well water, but I never had hair algae until I stared using RO/DI water. Then that tank went down hill fast. My new tank, 75 gal, I'm using well water, but I have a water softener and RO unit. But in this house, there is more iron in the water, no lime deposit like the old house. So sadly, I don't know how well of a reef I'll have this time around. I've also taken my lights down to kill of the HA, I only have one mushroom coral in the tank.

 

That well water will come to bite you. RODI gives you control over the water you use. Also, iron will grow lots of algae. Yes, you can use GFO in a sock, probably a good idea.

FWIW, I made DIY rocks a few years ago. It took forever for them to fully cure. They always seemed to grow hair algae, too. Down the road, they started to crumble and fall apart. Eventually I took them all out for fear of a rock slide. I just hate spending good money on ROCKS, but what can you do? lol

 

what can I expect with the well water, how's it going to come back to bite me?

 

Well, for one, the iron. It's one of those things where it can work great for some people and some water supplies. It's not consistent, and you don't always know what's in there. Same with tap water, some people use it and don't have an issue. Sometimes in Port Washington, the copper level is higher than what's required to treat for ich, which would kill everything in the tank. Well water may work for you, but it is a risk.

 

Did you have corals in your last tank, or was it a FOWLR?

 

Yeah, in Fredonia, my well water was amazing for my nano. My Mom's FOWLR in Port Washington is algae free, even had dark coral randomly start to grow in the tank and I use her city tap water. The coraline is amazing, her tank is purple/pink. The dark corals died off because no one, nor I, fed them.