ph additive and nitrate question

So I got this ph booster called eight.four by aqua vitro which was recommended by LFS to raise the ph I wrote about yesterday which is at 7.8. The dose says 7ml per 30 gallons. My tank is 29 gallons, and minus the live rock etc it is probably closer to 23 gallons. I was thinking of sucking out a gallon of water, adding in the 5ml of stuff and then releasing it into the tank over several hours.

Also, when are nitrates considered to be too high ? The only book I really have is saltwater aquariums for dummies, and it doesn't have any values on that.

 

Nitrates

depends on what your keeping
but with a general reef set up of soft corals and fish etc
up to 20ppm and you probably wont have any issues

if you want SPS - you need less than 2ppm or you can start getting issues with those types of corals

you could do what you suggest or better still
you could dose just 1ml of fluid, every hour over 7 hours, using one of the water collecting syringes found in many test kits ( use the ones that are utilised for collecting water from the tank and not one that was used for adding reagents to the water)

Steve

 

I have a FOWLR tank, They are at 20 now.

 

Well if you can keep them there or lower, you wont have a problem with most fish IME
Just make sure they are not 30 next month, 40 the months after sort of thing , indicating you have some biological filtration/ system/ feeding issues

Steve

 

the ph has magically rebounded to 8.0 ?!?!?!?!?! what is going on ? Should I not measure stuff like ph right after water changes etc ? Give it time to adjust ?

 

Yes
and you should also measure same time of day when you test

PH will be lower during darkness due to C02 released by plant/ algae etc
and its typically highest once the lights have been on a few hours

Steve

 

I measured in the afternoon on Monday, but it was right after I added in some RO water, and that is what must be giving me some error. Tonight I took the measurement in the dark after the lights went out.

 

RO water will have a pH of 7.0. Yes, it does take a bit for it to mix so you'll want to test after 5 minutes or so. If you're testing your pH with the lights out it's fine if they just went out. However, if they've been out for several hours, you're going to get a low pH reading.

 

I guess that is what I am saying is odd. I tested with the lights on mid afternoon and it was 7.8 after adding 1 gallon of RO water. I tested after the lights had been out for several hours and it was 8.0. My test kit is API, I am just wondering if it's reading weird.

 

hmmm....test in 3 times in a row for 3 consecutive days at the exact same time of the day. if its still bouncing around you have bad kits or something is seriosly wrong.