pH for dummies (like me!)

ok, i'll admit, i'm clueless! All's i know is that my aquarium has been reading a constant 7.8 on the pH..... i read on saltaquarium.about.com, that FOWLR can handle it (the range is like 7.6 to 8.5 or something).... but since i want to go reef later on (once i get all the fish i want), should i go ahead and try to make it 8.2? i also read that proper pH 8.2 is a bad deal... i tried to make out the "pH boosters" thread, but its greek to me, with the calcium, alkalinity, etc. etc... ESPECIALLY since someone mentioned that as long as you have the right buffers or whatever, pH means absolutely nothin.... so what do i gotta do? i've spent enough money at the time on the basics, lights, skimmer, powerheads, LR, sand, etc. Oh, i'm about to buy some more salt, if that makes a difference (i think i understand that the salt mix has the right buffers and whatever)... what i do understand, is that at the moment, i can't invest any money in dosing pumps, kalkwasser stuff, phos reactors, denitrators, etc. etc... basically, my current budget is less than 50 bucks on "supplies"... i've got major medical bills and other stuff going on... so what is my best bet? oh, and can inverts survive with a pH of 7.8? so far, what few i have (hitchhikers) seem to be doing well; 2 hermits, a snail 3 red dusters, and a peanut.... if the can, i'll drop the money for a cleaner package (i've got some pretty heavy algae growing everywhere).. if not, then maybe a single lawnmower blenny would suffice for now, that is IF they can in fact handle the low pH... i just want, want, WANT at least SOMETHING to watch in the aquarium besides liverock and swaying algae, without having to play the needle in a haystack game (do you know how hard it is to find a hermit crab smaller than your pinky nail in a 55 gallon aquarium with liverock???) any help would be greatly appreciated!, even moreso if its a quick response!!

 

Look to make it as simple as it can be made P.H is just an indicator much like the gas gage in a car. All PH means is there is or is not any carbonates in a system or how much . Like the gas gage it just tell you there is gas in the tank and how much there and about how far you can get before you need more gas. It has no effect on how the car runs or the mileage the car gets.
O.K 7.0 is dead neutral or a 1/2 of a tank and anything above that is alkaline and anything below that is acidic.
In a marine aquarium we want far more carbonates then in a average freshwater tank. These Carbonates are needed and exhausted in the process of neutralizing the acids from the living animals waste and respiration from living in there. And that uses up the carbonates to keep the PH at a average of 8.1 through out the day .

Now we get the carbonates from the buffer we use its just Bicarbonates and Borate and thats about all there is like a acid neutralizing Tums or Rolades for our stomachs when something we eat makes the acid get to high or the PH to low we use a antacid , the carbonates in the Tablets lowers the acids and raises the carbonates or P.H and thats all Carbonates do in the tank they naturalize the acids.
So at the end of the day P.H really means nothing and if you just keep the carbonates at the proper levels then there is no need to look at P.H as it swings up and down during the lighting and dark cycles of the tank and there is nothing anyone can do about that. So a PH of say 7.9 means the gas tank is about 3/4 full and you want to get it to 8.1 or 8.2 A full gas tank so by times lights go off and about 7.9 to 8.0 when lights are off in the early A.M this would be back to a 1/2 of tank of gas any lower then the animals in a reef will stress out and start showing signs of decline as they start too run out of gas to convert the carbonates to the food/minerals they need.

Well for me to say there is nothing we can do about P.H fluctuations is not totally accurate either as there are several ways to influence PH but thats another question.
Now if you want to raise the Carbonates first test them and see what you have then add a simple buffer. I like to test mine in DKH is easier and simpler and more accurate I think. and I like to keep mine really elevated up wards of 14 to 15 DKH or 5.50 M/L and then there is PPM but I never use that my simple head hits over load On average most run their DKH at about 9 to 10 But I'm sure there are some smarter people here that can elaborate on this for you..if you have any questions ask away Hoke this help simplify it a bot for you . Oh DKH is a fancy German term meaning Degrees of Carbonate Hardness They spell eveything funny

 

And, as far as budget goes, I buy the Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime (Kalkwasser) for $5.00 a pound, and use a $9.00 glass iced tea dispenser to drip it about twice a week. The DKH stays pretty constant around 14, and the PH never drops below 8.0 at night. I'm pretty sure that is well within your $50.00 budget!

 

Also you can just mix up some arm and hammer bicarbonate and some Boraxo laundry booster the 20 mule team stuff from a wal-mart is like 5.00 a ton almost as is the bicarbonate then mix the boraxo to the Arm and hammer bicarbonate soda at 1 part Laundry booster to 5 parts arm and hammer.. Then dose it the Same as you would useing Kent's super reef buffer or seachem's reef builder buffer.. Its all they are made from and it's natural elements ..The borate keep the PH from shooting up really fast and make it more stable when you hit the mark.

 

HI dkh is important

HI,
Be sure to watch that DKH if it goes to high you may cause a precip event, been there done that. Ca and mag are also very important to water quality, are you doing a reef tank or a fish only. I read an article about are fish tanks are like a septic tank the more you add the more problems you may have, its a soup of chemicals many are at the max limits for adding more ( super saturation) if you add to much to fast or in the wrong order it may cause a precip event this will use up most of the Ca and mag.

It gets a little more intersting if you plan to keep some corals and other inverts.
Doug

here's a good article for learning about water chem and stuff.

A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

Chemistry and the Aquarium

 

well, i was at the store today, and almost bought some kent marine superbuffer stuff... i told the guy that i was low on the SG, at 1.020 or around there... he said that may be the reason i have a pH of 7.8... that i just needed to add salt.... but he said to just add the salt, and check the pH a day or two after that, and then see how everything is... so i guess tomorrow i'll check it out.. by the way, now its at 1.022, so tomorrow i may add another shot of it... i'm not adding it directly to the tank, i'm putting the salt in my water jugs (of distilled water) and shaking it up real good and making sure the salt just didn't stick to the bottom... i know i should put it in a bigger container (5 gallon bucket, big trash can, etc.)... maybe later..

 

oh and by the way, doug mentioned FO or reef tank... well, right now its obviously a FOWLR, but i intend to have a reef sooner or later

 

When did you check the pH of your water? (daytime or night) That can make a difference in your pH value! At night, your pH value will become elevated due to excess CO2 in your water as photosynthesis comes to a halt, unless you are using a reverse daylight scheme on a refugium. Temperature will also play a role in your pH level as will dosing Kalkwasser as Kalk has a pH of around 12! I would try increasing the dissolved oxygen in your water column to help raise your pH slowly and effectively over the long haul instead of simply just adding a pH buffer as a quick fix! MAINTENANCE and CONSISTENCY are the keys to your tanks overall, long term success IMO!
PH is the measure of the amount of hydrogen ions in a solution! PH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, CO2, temperature and DO(Dissolved Oxygen) MUST be looked at together as they effect each other so to correct may deplete and/or alter another!
As long as your calcium level is around 450ppm and your alkalinity level is at 2.3-3.5meg/l, calcification will still occur, even at a low pH as your reading!

 

so i need a calcium test kit and an alkalinity test kit before i buy anything else? and if those are low, then i should look into alll the rest of the stuff...