ph problems help

I have a 55 gallon with about 100 pounds of LR. I have a 10 gallon sump with a refugium full of cheato and Mud. My ph measured at noon today was 8.2 perfect. Then measured tonight it was 8.8 too high. I have my refugium light on a reverse cycle could this be the problem? is it sucking all the co2 out of the water and raising the ph. I use reef cystals salt and ro water. The DKH is also high at about 17 calcium about 400. what can i do to fix this problem besides dose vinegar or seltzer every night? I would like to fix the root of the problem whatever that is.


Thanks for you help.

 

Whats your mag at? I wouldnt worry about ph so much as getting your dKh under control.

 

I would doublecheck your tests, 8.8 is quite high even with a dkh at 17. Did you dose anything over the course of the day? Did anything else change? Water change or anything? How are you testing PH?

I would just focus on getting your chemistry correct and then wouldn't worry too much about PH.

 

I agree. Depending on what you are using to raise your dKh (baking soda or baked baking soda) the high dKh is probably the cause of the high pH.

Focus on getting Mg, Alk, Ca at correct levels and steady and the pH will fall in place.

 

when i do water changes I tested the water I was putting in there. The dkh was 10 and the ph was 8.2. my Mag test will come in today of tomorrow and I will post the results. I use reef crystals salt and RO water, and I dont dose anything else.

I use Api test kits. but I have used other peoples test kits and they have read the same. as well of at the LFS.

I have had nothing die in the last little while but I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago and all the hard corals I had then died. They were just frags but still. I even have a shirmp in the tank and he is doing fine.

all other lvls are WNL.

 

initially u have to check properly ....
pH value ...

after that u can take some ph hydrion capsules

available in the market

 

Hello, a word to the wise, don't add any coral until you know where your Mag is. It could be why the frags died. The water chemistry is out of whack. Hard coral need "perfect" parameters (within reason) to survive.

 

yes I know that was a bad move moving the corals over to the 55 gallon too early. I paid the price for that. I will definatly be a lot more careful in the future.

My Mg test came in today.

Here are My new pars.
sal. 1.023
temp 80.7
ph. 8.0-8.2
Amm. 0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
phos 0-0.25
Dkh 10
cal 400
mg 1250


Do I need to do anything else to it. Add anything? my tank is about 2 months old now. If my parms stay like this how long should I have it up before I try again with some corals. I do have a good bit of algae on the rocks right now but Im hoping my cuc will be able to handle it.

thanks for the help so far.

 

do you think I should add any mag?

How long do you think it needs to run befor i try some softies?

 

I would raise it a little by 50-100 just because i like being on the safe side. I would also raise your salinity to about 1.025, I think 1.023 is a little low for reefs personally.