PH question

I have a 90 gal system.

All corals are happy, Acros are growing etc..

I dosed with Kalkwasser for a month or so I added it to my top off water RODI, Had real clean Kalk, no residue or scale in the water, pretty much crystal clear Kalk, it settled for 8 days before I drew out the good water.

That was 2 months ago.

my calcium level is 480

I know this is high, I have 5 decent size SPSs in the tank, all doing well.

My PH resides at approx 7.9-8.1 I use a salifert test kit.

How do I raise my PH naturally ?

I don't want to use any chemi pure or additives if possible

I am also waiting on my GFO and Carbon to run through my 2 media reactors, I don't assume this will help with PH but figured Id include that info.

Should I dose with Kalk again ? Ive been afraid to use it since my levels are so high.

I am still learning the chemistry part of this hobby so please bear with me.

Any info will be helpful,

I will read on for now....

 

I would rely more on the alk level rather than pH.

At what time of day do you test the pH?

Do you have a magnesium level?

Increase surface agitation and refugium with reverse lighting schedule are two ways. Simply opening doors and window of your residence is another if appropriate weather enables you do do so.

If you sps are growing and healthy and you are maintaining a decent ca level I would not be too concerned nor increase your kalk dosing until you get a alk level.

 

ordering one tonight

 

+1 on Corailines post

nothing wrong with a PH of 7.9 - 8.1
no need to chase the 8.3 we often read about as being ideal
more surface agitation to help gas off excess CO2 often helps increase a tanks PH

the reason Cheryl asked about the mag kit is because
with a calcium level as high as that, it may be there at the expense of your DKH
but as you mentioned you used Kalkwasser to get levels that high and Kalkwasser being a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive in it's own right, it should mean that your DKH is not less than 7 for example, which could happen if calcium was added on its own with part 1 of a 2 part mix etc

having the 3 tests kits for Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium, means you can measure and then take steps to correct any of the individual levels, without influencing the others if you do not need to

Steve

 

I just ordered a ALK test kit.

I also got a American marine PH monitor. I have trouble reading the color chart on the PH kits.

ANyone use these before, a friend said they need constant calibration , is this correct ?

I want to set up a automated calcium system, not sure if I should go reactor or just use a dosing pump with kalk.

Any input ??

 

Not familiar with the American Marine brand , but in general yes PH probes do need to be checked every so often
electrical intereference can play havoc with them, causing them to jump about a bit
lenght of time in water and coraline etc encrusting the probe can also affect readings

but I have a pH probe for the same reasons you are getting one, fantastic in terms of convenience and readability, just do not over react the 1st time you see a reading that is to high or to low, check the calibration is often all that is required to put everything right LOL

you may find that water changes alone would suffice in your system at present - with only half a dozen SPS corals or so

but in order to know this for certain, you will need to test, Mag, Ca and DKH
once you have those figures, dose nothing for 3 or 4 days and test again
if the levels are lower, divide the difference by 3 or 4 and that gives you the approx daily demand

if they are lower , you could select Kalkwasser as your method of maintaining them

Kalkwasser can be mixed in various strenghts thus giving you different delivery capacity
the amount of water that evaporates is often key to wether Kalk on its own would suffice to maintain levels

the typical dose suggested for saturated Kalkwasser is 2 teaspoons per gallon of water
but when you 1st start using Kalwasser as a method of maintaining parameters you could use less powder and create a weaker solution ( demand with only 5 SPS corals in a 90, in a tank with relatively constant evap, may not need saturated kalwasser to maintain parameters)

I know from Randy Holmes Farley (Google the name if it is not familiar to you) that if your evaporation is about 1 - 1.25% of your total system (thus 1 - to 1.25 gallons per 100 in system each day) volume and you replace that with saturated Kalkwasser , then it will add 1.4 degrees of DKH

from that we could do the math, based on how much evap you experience
and calculated in relation to what your tests reveal your demand is

 

Steve Thanks that was very helpful.