pH very very low

Just got back from vacation to find that yesterday something blew a fuse and the power to the tank has been out for 26 hours.

For some crazy reason the temp was like 71, when it is summertime and the apartment was set for 78.

More importantly, the pH is like 7.4. I can raise it quickly or slowly. what should I do? Making the solution now..

 

You need to raise it slowly.

See what your alk is and do a water change if you have water made up.

Do you have any buffers?

 

How does your livestock look? How long has the power been back on?

Personally, I wouldn't do anything drastic just yet. Low O2/high CO2 affects the pH; let your pumps/powerheads run for 24 hours and test again.

 

After the power was restored, everything returned to normal. The pH reached 7.88 in 30 minutes without me adding a thing. The temp took a little bit longer. The livestock looks very very unhappy, and I am even seeing slow tissue necrosis in some of the SPS. I am about to chop them up in attempts to save them. Even though the temp and pH are now stable, it is still occurring... Not sure what else to do here besides chop off the dead parts and wait it out. When I cut them, I will be sure to remove all white parts plus about 1/4" of the healthy tissue to be sure. Wish me luck

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

It is understandable that the pH was low.. No light = low O2 and high CO2 -> pH change. The big question is why in the world was the temp so low? We have a small frag tank, and the temp was ~71 also.. So its not the thermometer/temp probe. There is no fan/chiller on either tank.

 

RIP


I cut this turaki into at least 6 or 7 frags, and they are all slowly turning white. Definitely slow tissue necrosis. I really liked this one. It had grown significantly since that picture was taken too...

Good news is that all other corals and livestock survived this.

 

That is a beautiful piece. I hope you can find another one soon.

 

Quoted from the following thread (to prevent hijacking):
http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/how-prepare-power-outages-138680-2.html#post1396848

I respectfully disagree about the API test kit.

I am referring to the center scale in the image above. I am not colorblind, and I have 20/20 vision. The day I got (and calibrated) my pH probe, I tested it against the API test kit. My best guess from the API test was 8.0. The probe then measured 7.7. I never again trusted that test.. I suppose it would give me an extreme result, but I cannot tell 7.8 from 8.4 when comparing the color card to the colored liquid in the tube.

Anyway, my levels are as follows:

Morning pH: 7.81 (reaches low during mid morning hours)
Night pH: 7.93 (peaks around 11PM when lights turn off)
Ca2+: 440 ppm
Mg2+: 1260 ppm
Alk: 8.75 dkh
SG: 1.025

The mag could be a little higher, but I cannot see any water chemistry issues from these values. I use a pH probe for pH, and salifert test kits (< 1 year old) for Ca, Alk, and Mg. Additionally, the pH spontaneously returned to an acceptable value 7.88) within 30 minutes of the power being back on. Thus, the pH is a factor of interest regarding power outages.

 

I have no problem with you doubting the API test kits; they really should be used as more of a reference than exact anyways. However, I don't know what posting the cards means; they are 3 different cards for 3 different systems. I can tell the difference between 8.0, 8.2, & 8.4. Tough to tell in between of course. Like I said, at least with my new, not expired kit, it matches right up with my measured value from my Reef Angel.

Anyways, I agree that your parameters look fine; although your pH is on the low (but still acceptable) side. I think one thing I was missing in the other thread is the time the power was out. I thought it was only out for a few hours; not 26 as I saw above! This makes a lot more sense now. Temp still makes no sense at all.

Oh, and just curious, have you calibrated your pH meter to verify it is still reading correct? I have been calibrating mine once a month and find it can be off by .05-.1 during that time. Just trying to help you figure this out