High pH - HELP!!!

[redfishbluefish]

Oh my gosh, my pH is almost 8.6!!!




It's a good thing, as a two part doser, that I know that it's impossible for me to get to this pH unless someone dumped something nasty in my tank. I might be able to get there if I dosed kalkwasser and overdosed or dosed too fast, but otherwise, it's highly unlikely.

So I pulled the probe out and gently brushed off the few strands of hair algae, washed with RO/DI, and recalibrated using pH 7 and pH 10 standards. And now this is more in line with what I'd expect with lights out and closed up house in the winter:




If it still didn't look right or was sluggish, I'd soak the probe in some vinegar overnight and recalibrate.

Bottom line, don't chase pH!

 

[art13]

I can't get mine over 8 even with the outside air line on my skimmer

 

[redfishbluefish]

There are many successful tanks at pH of 7.8.....or even lower.

 

[horseplay]

My stay at 8 to 8.4. Gets lower by about 0.1 in winter because of higher co2 level. I had the probe for about 2 years now. Calibrated only once when installed. Now it's covered with quite a bit of pineapple sponge. These probes are not supposed to last that long.

 

[art13]

There are many successful tanks at pH of 7.8.....or even lower.

I'm not dumping in supplements to get my ph up nor am i worried about it, i would just like to see it above 8 with the outside airline, lol. when i open the windows in the good weather months it takes a nice rise. Once my coral take off it will also go up as well i suspect with the additional photosynthesis and soda ash. right now i'm at roughly 25ml per day.

 

[Sunny]

pH is a very overrated stats. I never go by it. The amount of flow - specially how much you break the surface of the water for O2 exchange will determine the pH. Also if you skim a little wet that also raises the pH a bit. Mine dropped to like 7.6 in the night at times and barley touched 8 in the day time.

Do not chase the numbers, stick to what works for you.

 

[Juano908]

pH is a very overrated stats. I never go by it. The amount of flow - specially how much you break the surface of the water for O2 exchange will determine the pH. Also if you skim a little wet that also raises the pH a bit. Mine dropped to like 7.6 in the night at times and barley touched 8 in the day time.

Do not chase the numbers, stick to what works for you.

Same here just like Sunny, my pH never goes over 8.0 even with all the windows open and drops to 7.6 at night....I stopped chasing pH over 8.0 a long time ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[art13]

No chasing, just playing for me, something to do. Mine travels in the winter from 7.75 to 7.92, i'm fine with that. With my old skimmer, i was seeing 7.6 at night, sometimes lower, to maybe 7.75-7.8 during the day. My new skimmer is also pulling out a lot more, i'm emptying the cup roughly every 3-4 days, last one was maybe once every other week.

 

[art13]

I always seem to get sidetracked in my thought process, lol.

 

[DaveK]

Oh my gosh, my pH is almost 8.6!!!
...
It's a good thing, as a two part doser, that I know that it's impossible for me to get to this pH unless someone dumped something nasty in my tank. I might be able to get there if I dosed kalkwasser and overdosed or dosed too fast, but otherwise, it's highly unlikely.

So I pulled the probe out and gently brushed off the few strands of hair algae, washed with RO/DI, and recalibrated using pH 7 and pH 10 standards. And now this is more in line with what I'd expect with lights out and closed up house in the winter:
...
If it still didn't look right or was sluggish, I'd soak the probe in some vinegar overnight and recalibrate.

Bottom line, don't chase pH!

Well, you learned one important thing here. pH probes need to be cleaned and recalibrated from time to time to keep them accurate.

Except as a last resort, I wouldn't soak it in vinegar. I'd get a pH probe cleaning solution.