high Ph water chemestry questions

O I know ive been in this for a while a few years now and have a nice tank and its impressive and all I just dont understad a fer things. First. My ph has been at 8.6-8.7 for along time I dont get it. I have a dkh of 9-10 all the time? The nitrates are around 20 all the time. the calcium is always near or above 420 the mag is 1200is all the time. I test and test and it just does not make sence. I feel like im over looking something. I really want to get into sps but everytime I have one they brown out. I have adaquate lighting so I dont get it. the phosphates are always low to none. So can anyone help someone that gets it get it? I think I am simply over looking something. I have multiple test kits and only the best kits I own so Its not a strip test its the best stuff and multiples that are in date. Thanks for any advise and hopefully I will have this understanding soon. I change 25 gallons a week of water the tank is a 220 I am about to do a 100 gallon followed by another one in a week to get this under control. I tested the tap water and nothing is wrong with it so after ro/di I cant imaging this is the culprit. I just bought another 100 gallon water tank so im going to mix it up to do 100 gallons at a time until this is controled. please anyone imput. I have been reef keeping for years and the 220 is the only one of 3 tanks in my house I have issues with???

 

Are you dosing anything ?

What time of day are you testing the pH and is it the same time each day?

Have you tried bringing the mg up a little, it might not help the pH but it may help with the sps.

Are you using a probe to test pH and has it been calibrated recently ?

Not sure if you have seen this link.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.php

 

Hey

Thanks for the responce. I have tested in am and pm I have a probe but also tried with a test kit. Its al reading about the same. it goes down during the day to 8.6ish. I calibrated the probe brand new only a couple months ago. I figures if I do a few 100 gallon that is approx 50 percent w/c over the next few weeks it should knock the tank into check. I dont get how the other 2 tanks in the house are ok but this one that is the "reef" tank is so out of wack. I have a 92 gallon venomus tank that is a ok and a nano red sea with sump that is spot on?

 

the article that corailline posted should answer many questions about causes and cures for high pH...

to highlight a few points:

1. do you have enough aeration? a skimmer, surface agitation, a fan on the water can help blow off CO2 just as much as it can add if, if deficient...

Do you have a very light bioload in this tank?

Lots of algae, macro or otherwise?

Long photoperiod?

Do you dose Kalkwasser? This will certainly keep pH high if it is dosed heavily.

I wouldn't do the 50% water change... you won't cure anything, as it will just be a temporary fix and the pH will go back to where it is now until you find the cause/ cure. Just perform 10% weekly or 20% bi-weekly water changes as normal...

If you read through the article mentioned above, it recommends adding soda water to lower pH as the CO2 will acidify the water... I would consider this, but be careful not to overdose and swing the pH too low (instructions for dosage can be found in the article).

While using additives to lower the ph is a temporary cure, I would consider finding a long-term cure by finding the cause of the high pH.

 

ok I have a huge Skimmer. the surrface is out of control. please look at my pics. I am not nw to this.....I really dont know whats up with this tank.....

 

I understand, but you came for help, so we have to ask questions to get a better understanding of what's going on... maybe we can help you think of something that you haven't considered yet...

what about kalkwasser, algae, bioload, and lighting?

please provide as many details as possible so we can help... the link that corailline provided should provide many answers, but as I highlighted a few points above, I'm just trying to narrow down a few things...

FWIW, SPS grows great in my tank thanks to lots of studying and hard work... but I'm no magician, and if I can do it, anyone can... I really believe that stability as close to NSW properties as possible is key... I'm just trying to help

 

Personally I think that particular tank of yours runs higher, because the other is a preditor tank right, they generate a lot of waste driving down the pH in that tank.

The other you said was a nano, famous for running lower pH, because of the design and water volume.

This large tank has good flow, large volume, decreased waste. From this it would lead me to believe that your water source has a higher pH and since you are doing large water changes on it you are going to maintain a higher pH, especially if you are running a reverse lighting system with a fuge.

JM2C

 

I agree with all of your points except this one. If the OP is running an RODI (they said they were) then their source water should be a ph of 7 until they mix their salt, which should bring it up to ~8.2-8.4 in theory. Unless something is wrong with their RODI unit or their salt mixes at an unusually high ph, then this shouldn't be the source of the problem.

The OP still hasn't answered all of my questions, so it's making it a bit difficult to diagnose.

 

Here is the best decriprion I can give please ask if I miss anything the lighting is mh 3x250 plus 8 t5s the t5s run 10 hrs daily the mh 8. the skimmer is a precision marine xl1 running 24 daily. the surface is pretty wavy from the aggitation. I have 6 korilia 4s in the tank for circulation. I have about 400 lbs of live rock non in sump all in the tank. The fish load is about 10 fish 3-5 are in the 5-7 in range all the rest small. there is a few hundred snails and hermits in the tank. There is no algae other then coriline that grows all over. I have a hood on the tank but there is a couple fans that blow in and out across the surface of the water. I do not dost kak I killed a couple mushrooms with kalk pase about 6 months ago other wise its never gone in. This is why im a bit confused? I think I got all your questions and I appericate you efforts to help me out here.

 

So what is the pH value of the ro/di prior to mixing and what is the pH after mixing the salt.

I would try not doing the larger wc for over a month and see if the ph comes down. With that size tank and bio-load I really do not see a problem missing water changes for awhile.

It would seem to me even with all the flow in that system the pH should not increase from the baseline pH value of the new water used for the wc. And I would still try measuring the value with another prob.

Going out on a huge tree limb, but with regard to location of this tank inside your home. Can you provided some insight as to it's placement and the placement of the other tanks.

TIA