Raising and maintaining pH

I have a 29g biocube hqi and just can't seem to keep the pH above 8.0. All other params seem fine.

Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Alk 11 dkh
Calcium 480
Phos 0

Today the pH dropped to 7.8 and I use a buffer. Do I possibly need to increase air/water contact? I have 2 power heads though And the crappy biocube skimmer.

Stock

2 percula clowns
1 firefish
1 coral beauty
1 flame angel
1 cleaner shrimp
1 peppermint
1 mithrax
2 birds nest frags
2 montipora frags
Gsp
Xenia
And a large wall frogspawn
Several zoas
And of course cuc


Adding buffer is just temporary and I would like the pH to be around 8.3. Although all livestock is growing and seems perfectly fine. So what do you guys think?

 

Drip Kalk.

 

Will do. Just gotta get some. Any other ideas?

 

What time of day are you testing the pH? IMO you should test the same time of day consistently and at the end of the photoperiod.

Increase surface agitation if you can.

Do you have any macro algae like chaeto or a sump?

 

I have been checking all the time but mostly around 1am. I will do it just after the photoperiod from now on. I got kalk cooking up now!

I feel there is alot of surface agitation. I have two deflectors that agitate along with the skimmer. Also the water falls into the filter compartment which agitated a lot. Should I do more?

The tank has a fuge in back that does have cheato

 

Are you running the fuge on a reverse lighting schedule?

 

No....

 

Well if you already going the kalk route ( which is good IMO) running it a reverse schedule is a moot point.

If you ever get to the dosing point for your corals down the line, look into Parts A/B. Current parameters look pretty darn good. Watch the alk level with the kalk drip as well. Since your already at Ca of 480, your probably going to see rise in that level IME.

 

I wouldn't run kalk. There's no reason to with your alk and calcium numbers. You're just gonna jack up your system.

Just run the fuge reverse daylight cycle, with a 1 hour overlap, and you'll be ok. For bonus points, open two windows in your house for a cross current, and to flush out the CO2 buildup.

 

Ok reverse lighting -check.

Now the kalk is still separating. Should I use it or not? I don't want to ruin anything. I would open the windows but it's not exactly nice out today. Anything else? Oh! I think why my pH went down so low was because of chemi-pure elite. That's normal right? Anything else? Thanks!