PH won't go up!

I have my base rock coming in this week and I can't get my PH right! I don't know if it even matters for the base rock but regardless.......I want to have it right. I've been adding marine buffer for the past 3 days trying to get it up but it remains the same. I keep on getting a reading of 7.8. I am using Seachem Marine Buffer as I always have. I've actually gone through almost a bit more than half a 1.8 oz bottle and nothing. Should I just keep adding it? The bottle says that it can take up to a week of treatment to get it right but I wanted your opinions. Enough jibber jabber!

 

Just some food 4 thought here...
but do you know if your test kit is bad? Expired? Have you tried a digital pH meter. I bought one on ebay ... and it's been a great purchase. My saltwater master kit from api gave a low reading at 7.8...
the digital showed... 8.2!

Good luck!
Ryan

 

I thought that it could be bad so I went ahead and tested the water in my frag tank and it came back with an 8.3 reading.

 

how often are you performing water changes?
Freshly made saltwater should be around 8.2 - 8.4 depending on salt brand. If you never do a water change, your pH will eventually drop, especially if your alkalinity has not been maintained properly from the get-go. Even if you add the buffering agent now, you may bring up the alkalinity, but won't necessarily cause the pH to jump to proper levels.
Your best bet is to do a few 15-20% water changes over the course of 1-2 weeks.

 

Time..??

I been having about the same problem..
I use Kent Superbuffer-dKH, I guess most are about the same..

I've been adding marine buffer for the past 3 days


Mine says to add.. wait 48 hours... test..
If low.. add more.. wait 48 hours... test, etc..

Mine is coming up... but slow..... Been doing it for a week now..
And it's close enough..

Maybe you need to give yours more time to work..??

You may get to much in it, and one day it'll start going up, and you can't stop it..!! LOL

Good Luck. Larry

 

What are your other levels at? mostly alk, calcium, and mg. These play a big role in pH.

 

And salinity....
Exactly. I was going to say the same thing. I was having the exact same problem with ALL of my tanks...(except my 29g whose salinity was 1.027) when a friend made a very simple explanation to me..

I can not even begin to explain it like he did so I went to a website and found the article that he had me read...

The Marble Analogy
Fact: it is only possible to dissolve so many solids into a given volume of water (calcium, carbonates, and everything else). At the risk of oversimplifying the dynamic, imagine a bowl that holds one hundred marbles representing the total dissolved solids in seawater in a given system. If red marbles represented calcium, and blue marbles represented carbonates (alkalinity), the bowl can still only hold one hundred marbles no matter what mix of color they are. Now, if seventy marbles were the equivalent of 400-ppm calcium and the remaining marbles were blue, the only way to increase calcium would be to displace alkalinity (to remove blue marbles). In troubled systems, the misapplication of calcium supplements (dosing suddenly or to excess) is known to cause a sudden precipitation of carbonates (the alkalinity falls/crashes) that is commonly referred to as a “snowstorm”. It is instigated by the influx of a large or rapid amount of calcium entering the system that spikes the pH immediately surrounding carbonate molecules and causes a crystalline precipitation (fallout). In keeping with our analogy, a “snowstorm” would be like taking another bowl of one hundred red marbles (calcium) and trying to pour it into the original bowl of mixed, colored marbles (balanced calcium and alkalinity). The result is the displacement of all blue marbles (carbonates/alkalinity) and the overflow of excess red marbles beyond the one hundred marble limit. The ramifications of this in an aquarium is a crash in water chemistry and water quality that cannot be corrected while the chemical reaction occurs. Dosing more supplements to try to correct the imbalance (or even doing a concurrent water change with hopes of dilution) will only serve to feed the chain reaction. Tragically, the “snowstorm” must be allowed to finish and an aquarium system is traumatized in the process
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm
I would recommend reading the entire article as it is very informative. I have sense brought up my salinity, and am dosing with 2 part. This hopefully will help me

 

Is that a link? I can't use it but I'm intrigued...

 

sorry....edited it should use it now

 

Hey Johnny Boy, we need to know your test results for the following; Alk/Dkh, Mag, Cal, Nh3 and No3. Where is your main tank and where is your frag tank? What I mean by this is, is your MT inside your house? and is your frag tank somewhere outside/utility room? Luna