Old tank syndrome from Diomond Goby?

Hi all, I have a reef tank that was set up fowlr for about 3 years prior to me converting it to reef about 6 months ago. Until late last week I didn't have anything that was a sand sifter other than the hermits eating stuff off of the sand. I added a Diamond Goby late last week and he has been working like crazy. My problem is that the Ph of my tank took a rapid drop within just a few days. All other perams are good (cal=470, mag=1320, phos, nitrates and rites, are all 0, and Dkh is 9) but my Ph dropped to 7.8. I bought sone reef builder by seachem and am in the process of raising it slowly. Does anyone have any idea if my newly added Goby could have caused this with his digging and stiring up the substrate? I can't think of anything else that would have caused this.....

Oh and I have done a 10% change everyday since I realized the problem. I did loose a few SPS on the process, but nothing special.....thanks for the help and insight.

 

It is possible that the goby caused the pH drop if you did not keep the sand clean. You are doing everything else right. You may have this issue until the goby has completely sifted all of the sand. Good luck. Make sure all of your equipment is clean to be safe.

 

That's what I was afraid of. It is going to cost me more than I thought it was by adding this Goby...haha!!! Has anyone had any experience with the Reef Builder for Seachem for keeping Ph stable?

 

I am no expert by any means, but I doubt the goby had anything to do with your ph. Ph fluctuates depending on your O2, Co2 and sometimes No3 levels. Did you recently close up the house? What was your ph before? Have you done anything new just recently?

I havent done a WC in months, have a Eng. Goby that changes the sand-scape on a regular basis, have one Sand Shifting Starfish and my ph doesnt change.

Luna

 

Luna,
I haven't done anything I don't normally do, that is why I am baffled. My Ph is regularly 8.3 with not much change ever. I don't normally do much as far as water changes either, because all my params stay in good shape. This is the first time I have ever had an issue with Ph. The only thing I have changed is adding the Goby to the tank. I have read that "old tank syndrome" can cause Ph and Alk issues...that is why I am assuming this is what caused it. The sand bed has not been messed with for 3 1/2 years and now it is being stirred up and moved around....this is my thoughts....I was just curious if anyone had knowledge on the "old tank syndrome" or anyone who has experienced Ph fluctuations like this....thanks!!

 

I do however, do a WC once in a while to clean up the sand bed and sump. 3 1/2 yrs without touching the sand bed is a long time. You could be right about the Goby, but you should have seen a spike in your paras.


Luna

 

Have you doublechecked your parameters with another set of test kits? Are your test kits old?
I don't see ammonia on your list of tests, if you didn't test that and you somehow started a mini cycle ammonia can lower pH, also having excess organics in the water can lower pH as well as they break down excess CO2 is generated.
How are measuring pH? If it's a kit maybe that kit is old? If it's a probe maybe clean it and doublecheck calibration?
Also, are you sure that the pH drop didn't coincide with a change in weather and a change in the way you heat/cool your house? Winter is notorious for low pH in reef tanks because people seal up their house a lot more which can build up CO2 in the air which leads to higher CO2 in the tank.

Stirring up a sand bed that old can definitely cause problems.

Some more info on pH, it might be worth running the aeration test mentioned here just to see if it might be CO2 in the tank. If nothing else you could at least rule it out.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

 

My test kits are only a month or so old, so I don't think that is the issue. I do use a test kit, not a probe for my pH test...that is on my list of purchases soon. Living in Houston, I don't really "seal up" the house like others north of us do....it has been pretty mild here lately, so I don't think that could be the cause. I may try the airstone test and see if that tells me anything. I did check it this morning and pH is back to 8.1-8.2, so maybe the Reef Buffer is helping....like I said, slowly I have tried to raise it with this and water changes. I am going to chalk it up to the sand bed, even though I am not going to give up on being diligent with checking to see how it goes from here on out. I have never had an issue with pH and have just been beside myself with this....I guess that is part of the fun, learning more and more as you go. Thanks for all the help.

If anyone else reads this, please feel free to chime in!!!

 

just a thought... doesnt hydrogen sulfide build up in sandbeds? since he was stirring it all up it could have released it and since its a strong acid thus the pH drop?
What do you think...

 

Great point...I never thought of that. I did read of Hydro Sulf being a problem for people with deep sand beds, but I never thought that since mine was not "stirred" up regularly, that could be what I am dealing with....hmmmmm....