spaghetti worm (and PH Problem)

[albie611]

spaghetti worms .......good or bad?
i have about 8 to 12 that have shown up in my 20 gal reef. should i try to get them out and if so .....how?

on another topic i have had a slight drop in my ph and i cant figure out why.
it went from 8.1 (steady for months on end ) to 7.9(tested yesterday)
i have not done anything different to the tank and the only addition was the frags i got at the june meeting. im puzzled ???

 

[JohnS_323]

Re: spaghetti worm

spaghetti worms = good!

Sorry can't help you on the pH issue, though.

 

[AnDom1]

Re: spaghetti worm

Agree with John: spaghetti = good.

Re Ph: 7.9 of and by itself is not too bad especially if taken at night or first thing in the AM when Ph tends to be lowest. However, you might want to check your alkalinity level since it can tip you off as to whether you are likely to have your Ph drop lower. Alkalinity much below 7.5-8.0 dkh suggests that you may have some trouble keeping Ph at your current level. A Salifert test kit will do the job.

Hope this helps.

Dom

 

[Phyl]

Re: spaghetti worm

Have you changed salts recently? Changed the angles of your pumps? Covered the tank? Tried to reduce evaporation? Any of these things may have inadvertantly caused your PH drop due to excess CO2 in the water that can't escape.

 

[albie611]

Re: spaghetti worm

none of those things phyl. i cant figure it out..noting has changed except the ph....i know .....its odd
and all other water parameters are fine.

sg 1.024 , temp 78-80, cal. 420, alk 9DKH.
0 amonia, 0 trites, trates 5-10 ppm, phosphate < 0.1

 

[Phyl]

Re: spaghetti worm

Added a Ca reactor? Nitrate reactor? Kalk reactor? Changed your sump? The angle of your fans? Do you powerheads look like they need to be cleaned? Did you test at the same time of day as you usually test? The frags add, were they large or small? How many gallons is your tank? Have you been on top of your water change schedule?

 

[Brian]

Re: spaghetti worm

Has your AC unit been running constantly? Windows shut in the house with no fresh air coming in?

 

[Carlo]

Lower pH in summer is pretty common if you run AC because there is a build up of CO2 in the tank/house.

The other cause not mentioned yet in the thread is bio-load. Have you added any more creatures to the tank?

7.9 is not the end of the world but on the low side of "OK". Ideally you want to be between 8.2 & 8.4 throughout the day. Your alkalinity is good at 9 dHK so more then likely you have an excess CO2 problem.

You could drip Kalk or setup a pH reactor to help solve the problem if you can't do anything else to resolve the CO2.

Carlo

 

[albie611]

i,ve been away for a few days.......it might be the a/c
until a week or two ago we only had is on for short periods of time but over the last 2-3 weeks its been on constantly.....other than that nothing was added or changed in the tank besides the addition of a few frags from the june meeting.
thanks for the info guys and gals......i'll try dripping kalk and see if it resolves the problem.

i know its not the end of the world but i do try to keep the tank as stable as possible............thanks again.....happy reefing ......al