Snails all dropping off rocks???? pH???

I have seen pH swing like this when the probe began to go bad. It resulted in a heavy overdosing cycle as I started chasing it. Use a second method to chech your pH results.
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All other inverts and fish seem to be just fine. There is some brownish algae growth spreading over coraline algae too. I thought this may be due to snails not eating it now but it seems like too much growing when there was none before.
Alk has been been around 9 - 11 dkh but seems like Reef Buffer also makes alk rise a lot when added.
Testing is with probe and aquadyne computer. I have ordered a new probe, hopefully will be here today.
What happens if pH rises to much in one day after buffering? Could this affect snails?

 

Well... It could be lethal! This is why I have advertised ReefBuffer by Seachem. Its chemical composition minimizes the risk of overshooting the pH! If you are having problems with pH probe, ask your friend and/or colluege to perform independent pH test! It's better to be safe than sorry!

 

I know overshootong 8.4 is bad but i was wondering about going from 7.8 to 8.0+ in one shot. What are the problems there, could the snails be affected moreso than other fish/inverts?
I have been using Reef Buffer and haven't seen pH above 8.1. I think the highest jump maybe around 0.2 in one shot.

 

Please be advised: at some stage (when the concentration of reef buffer will be higher than buffering capacity of your water) you will see a spike in pH upon addition of even small amounts of reef buffer. In order to avoid that you should really try to add in small increments and let the system to reach equilibrium! Once again better to be safe than sorry! Rapid pH changes are causing great physiological stress!

 

Have you been able to independently confirm the pH level in the tank with an outside test or different testing processes? Did you get a new probe installed? Are you still chasing the pH or have the swings slowed/stopped?

 

I have been following this thread, and I would like to add my opinion. Your low ph problem is probably due to elevated indoor carbon dioxide levels. The easiest way to test this theory is to remove a cup of tank water, and take it outside. After the water is outside, put and airstone in it and aerate for three hours; then test the ph. Please note that temperature DOES affect the reading of ph, so you will want to make sure the water is close to the tank temp when testing for ph (but don't warm the water for too long when it is inside or it will absorb the excess CO2 again). My estimate is that the brown stuff that you see may be the beginning of dinoflagellates- they thrive in low ph conditions, and will probably remain until you correct your ph issue. This is simply a theory. ALSO, adding more buffer to an aquarium that is suffering from elevated indoor carbon dioxide levels will ONLY increase your alkalinity and may not affect your ph at all. This could leave you with dangerously low calcium levels, and very high alkalinity levels. I hope that I explained this clearly.. I have a tendancy to confuse others with my incomplete/partial thoughts.

 

I almost forgot to address the snail problem. When dino's infiltrated my tank, my snails kept falling off of everything. I have chronically low ph, run my tank at 1.022 also, and have never had a problem with my snails until the brown death occured.

 

All that makes sense. The thing is the tank is sealed inside. All the water drains out of the house and all the filtration is done outside. The skimmer pulls air from outside the house.
I replaced the pH probe and noticed something. The Conductivity probe seems to affect the pH probes reading. When I pull out the cond probe the pH reads a full point higher. This makes me feel a little better as the pH is now around 8.1.

 

Finally got a magnesium test kit and it seems the magnesium level is very high. around 1600ppm.
I read somewhere online that people use elevated magnesium levels to get oysters out of their shells and also as an anesthetic for them. I guess the same could happen with snails then right???
What other problems could arise form elevated magnesium?