Need help with PH

[Rukas]

Hi Reefers

 

i have been cycling my new marine tank and i have freshwater tanks as well

i made a grave mistake of accidentally using my Seachem neutral regulator in my marine tank. Supposed to use reef buffer

now my ph for my marine tank dropped to 7

Ammonia is 0

nitrate 0

nitrite 0

KH is 180 ppm

GH 180 ppm

what will be the best way i can mitigate the issue and bring the PH back

i have not added any live stock

 

appreciate all the advice

i am thinking of a bag of crushed coral in the sump

[Simon Lim]

Can add Ph or dkh powder


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Harlequinmania]

Do a major water change would improve the situation

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

Thanks Guys, 50%? will help? or don't need that much

[Kusala Subasinghe]

Add reef buffer. It will bring pH back to the high end.


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

Thanks Kusala, I was  thinking of that but worried if dkh will raise as well. 
 

maybe i will try 50% change first then measure again and still not good will use Marine reef buffer

[Singapore Reef Club]

yes, do a major water change with good salt with RO/DI water would help most of the situation 

[Rukas]

Thanks guys, I did a more than 50% water change, but PH still floating around 7.3  tested with PH pen

cannot be that the Neutral regulator is so effective right?

 

[DrunkG0D]

Just keep doing water change every 2 to 3 days. Just 1 x 50% not enough. No need to keep adding chemicals.

[Rukas]

Ok thanks will do that, also i am buying salt from ah beng,  not sure if they keep PH lower side, my mistake should have tested when i bought

 

[R0B]

Nothing good happens quickly...

Cycling is about getting the correct balance of bacteria. Bacteria lives on the surfaces of rocks, substrate even filter pads and a little on the glass, Little is found in the water column itself. So you could do a more aggressive water change (even a 100% water change as you have no live stock in the tank).

If the ph dropped below 7 there is a chance that you may have killed off some of the beneficial bacteria, "stalling" (slowing) your cycle. Only way to tell is to test. If you were keeping track of your Ammonia and Nitrites before the incident you should be able to tell where you are. Either way just be patient. Ph of 7.3 isn't great for livestock nor bacteria, but it isn't the end of the world either and they will still be alive, just not optimised so the cycle may take longer.

Not sure if you were/are still feeding ammonia, or what stage you were at in the cycle... If you want to test your cycle is complete, add 2ppm Ammonia chloride (freshnmarine sell it). Your tank should be able to clear that, reducing both Ammonia and Nitrite to zero, in 24hrs.

If you want to boost the cycle you can add bacteria... the likes of Dr Tim's One and Only or Frtizyme 9 (PM@marineplanet as he had some for sale at a good price)

We all make mistakes so no big deal. A few water changes and you will be back on track. Good luck!

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

Hey Rob , thanks for taking the time to write this up, my sincere appreciation

 

good advice

i am using seachem stability, I used fish food for initial cycling and Nitrate and ammonia is 0 As of now

i will check if i can do the ammonia test

 

Does anyone know what PH LFS keeps rheir salt mix or shall i buy rodi and mix it myself 
 

[Kusala Subasinghe]

What substrate you have? Tell more about your filtering system. Are you using a sump system?


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

Hi Kusala

 

i am using Caribsea live sand

using IOS sump, foam and bio media

using a skimmer as well

thanks 

[longipods]

Ok thanks will do that, also i am buying salt from ah beng,  not sure if they keep PH lower side, my mistake should have tested when i bought
 

If you are buying salt water, need to test as different places sell sea water at different salinities.


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

17 minutes ago, longipods said:

If you are buying salt water, need to test as different places sell sea water at different salinities.


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

Hi thanks, i tested the Salinity wirh refractometer but Didnt think much for testing The PH, the mistake i did

[Kusala Subasinghe]

Hi Kusala
 
i am using Caribsea live sand
using IOS sump, foam and bio media
using a skimmer as well
thanks 

Ok. Caribsea live sand must be Aragonite sand. That is good and in long term it will help to stabilise the pH and build nitrifying bacteria colonies.

Also you can add coral chip size 15 or 20 to your sump. It will help to hold both KH and pH at the higher end.

Don’t worry it will become stable soon. Once the pH reaches 7.6 add the cleaning crew (some snails and hermit/emerald crab)


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

10 hours ago, Kusala Subasinghe said:

Ok. Caribsea live sand must be Aragonite sand. That is good and in long term it will help to stabilise the pH and build nitrifying bacteria colonies.

Also you can add coral chip size 15 or 20 to your sump. It will help to hold both KH and pH at the higher end.

Don’t worry it will become stable soon. Once the pH reaches 7.6 add the cleaning crew (some snails and hermit/emerald crab)


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

thank you for the kind Advice Kusala, will do

 

[R0B]

I believe your issue is not one of PH problems per se, but rather one of a small mistake and a heavy hand haha. So you will be good to go once the cycle is complete.

Is interesting concept to add coral chips. Not a bad idea but I would argue this has a very minimal impact at 7.3ph and personally would not recommend adding coral chips to a sump for a long term. Sumps IMHO should be super clean so if you add, throw them in a filter bag or better a recirculating reactor (which I dont think is possible in a IOS). Whilst this may buffer PH moderately this takes a long time as normal salt water PH levels don't cause the chemical reactions needed (or they happen much much slower). Adding coral chips was a trick fresh water hobbiests used to buffer PH, but their PH is typically more acidic then in saltwater tanks. It is not a bad idea whilst the ph was below 7. Within the salt water hobby coral chips are sometimes used in recirculating reactors (such as a nitrate reactor) this is because there is an increased dwell time and the PH is artificially low compared to the tank. I do very much agree that having surface area on which to promote bacteria is a really good idea so do think about that.

I would not add a clean up crew at this stage. Wait for your tank to be established. Else they will starve and in doing so they will begin to consume their own flesh leaching toxins. I would possibly wait a month after adding your first fish before adding a clean up crew (not including fish clean up crews like tangs and blenny).

So what can you be doing? What I would do is keep the lights off and think about your fish selection (and the order of fish introduction). Add slowly once your INITIAL cycle has completed. Then get into a maintenance/testing rhythm.

All the best.

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

1 hour ago, R0B said:

I believe your issue is not one of PH problems per se, but rather one of a small mistake and a heavy hand haha. So you will be good to go once the cycle is complete.

Is interesting concept to add coral chips. Not a bad idea but I would argue this has a very minimal impact at 7.3ph and personally would not recommend adding coral chips to a sump for a long term. Sumps IMHO should be super clean so if you add, throw them in a filter bag or better a recirculating reactor (which I dont think is possible in a IOS). Whilst this may buffer PH moderately this takes a long time as normal salt water PH levels don't cause the chemical reactions needed (or they happen much much slower). Adding coral chips was a trick fresh water hobbiests used to buffer PH, but their PH is typically more acidic then in saltwater tanks. It is not a bad idea whilst the ph was below 7. Within the salt water hobby coral chips are sometimes used in recirculating reactors (such as a nitrate reactor) this is because there is an increased dwell time and the PH is artificially low compared to the tank. I do very much agree that having surface area on which to promote bacteria is a really good idea so do think about that.

I would not add a clean up crew at this stage. Wait for your tank to be established. Else they will starve and in doing so they will begin to consume their own flesh leaching toxins. I would possibly wait a month after adding your first fish before adding a clean up crew (not including fish clean up crews like tangs and blenny).

So what can you be doing? What I would do is keep the lights off and think about your fish selection (and the order of fish introduction). Add slowly once your INITIAL cycle has completed. Then get into a maintenance/testing rhythm.

All the best.

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app
 

Hi Rob

 

Again , thank you so much for taking your time to reply, I have been reading on the Coral chips as Suggested above, I have not done it yet, Someone suggested I add the PH buffer, but think that will be a temp solution. I do have the reef Buffer with me.

I cant add anything until my PH recovers right? currently still at 7.3. Don't think fish will survive this right?

I am also letting my skimmer run as someone said good for gas exchange

I am still Dosing Seachem stability everyday, should I stop this?

 

 

[R0B]

Hi. No worries. Here to help. I am not familiar with seachem stability but I believe 7 days is typical usage.

Low PH can be caused by carbon dioxide build up, so running skimmer is a good idea. Connecting the air hose to an outside source of air is even better.

PH of 7.3 is still low. You want something in the range of 7.8 to 8.3. Remember PH is a logarithmic scale so the difference between a PH of 7.3 and a PH of 8.3 is ten times! Remember the key here is stability versus chasing an actual number. Although 7.3 is still very low! so if cycle complete yes you could use a buffer and add a fish. If water parameters are ok then sure nothing stopping you. Just go slowly. But know is not permanent solution.

What I dont understand is if you did a 100% water change why your ph would not go up to the more accepted levels? Isn't that easier?

Anyways I think you are making good progress and asking all the right questions. Keep it up the good work. Looking forward to seeing the tank up and running well.

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Rukas]

Hi just an update. Did 2 water change, this time tested the water PH was at 8.0( bought from LFS before making water change)

now the PH is slowly climbing, its at 7.6 now. When i first made the water change the ph went up to 7.8, then drop back , 7.4, and then climbed to 7.5 and now 7.6

hopefully will continue climbing, not sure if cycling has a part to play on the PH . 

 

i am also starting to see diatom on live rock, some say thats a good sign but not sure how far that is true

[BlueOnBlue]

Are u dosing anything? C, KH and MG should always be at a balance or not ph drops drastically. Also if ur corals are doing well and u see growth but ur ph is on the low side, 7.8, 7.7 etc I suggest u dun try and chase the ph level. Just monitor ur corals closely.


Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app