Help with Water Parameters

[dragonfly_sg]

I am a 2 week old marine newbie and currently my tanks parameter is

pH : 7.5 ~ 8.0

kH : 6d

gH : >16d

salinity : 1.023

How do I bring pH back to 8.4 ? I am keeping some Mushroom and Zoa, my mushroom look fine but my Zoa not opening.

I was thinking of getting Reef Advantage Calcium to push it up but I am not sure if I will overkill Calcium.

At the same time I'll also get a Ca test kit.

Any advise or guess appreciated.

[STORM TROPPER]

I am a 2 week old marine newbie and currently my tanks parameter is

pH : 7.5 ~ 8.0

kH : 6d

gH : >16d

salinity : 1.023

How do I bring pH back to 8.4 ? I am keeping some Mushroom and Zoa, my mushroom look fine but my Zoa not opening.

I was thinking of getting Reef Advantage Calcium to push it up but I am not sure if I will overkill Calcium.

At the same time I'll also get a Ca test kit.

Any advise or guess appreciated.

Hello there.

It will b wise if u can maintain ur ph at 8.0 - 8.3 u can get a Hawaiian puka shell at AM to maintain the ph n something tt the ph is able to hold on to. Dosing of ph Buffer will be able to sustain ur ph level.

Bring up ur kh to at least 10 tt is of coz the hardness of ur water 10 - 12 is the ideal range n dose with kh buffer to maintain its range.

Calcium range will be at 400 - 430 ppm will be ideal range.

If u can try to bring down the salinity to 1.021- 1.022 for now adding freshwater wii decrease its salinity level but be careful add ur freshwater bit by bit so tt u will notlower its salinity too much.

I guess that's all i know.

[jasment]

i really see no point diluting the presently fine sg with fresh water, cos local frshwater has a low ph and will make the ph drop further,

i would suggest buffer up the KH to 10-12 so that the PH will stabalise. if possible, check the magnesium level as it will help a little with PH, in a way.

sg at 1.023 is fine, if not actually 1.025 is ok too..

my 2 cents.

[dragonfly_sg]

Thanks for all the pointers.

I guess I got some idea on the direction to go and I spend 3 hours to read up on marine pH,kH and gH requirement (up until 2.30am so now abit zombie )

yah kH is kinda low which is probably why the pH is falling. gH looks pretty okay for now but I really need the Ca and Mg kit to tell accurately.

I'll get Seachem Buffer to push up kH and Reef Advantage Calcium to manage Ca and Mg after I get some kit reading.

Thanks for all advise and it's great to have experience people to talk to for newbie like me.

[cyder_15]

Bro, get the SeaChem Reef Builder to pump up KH not the buffer.

Cheers

[angelfishlover]

Oh u dun nid to check GH that is onli for freshwater.Try adding puka shells.They will bring the ph,calcium and kh up.

[dragonfly_sg]

Bro, get the SeaChem Reef Builder to pump up KH not the buffer.

Hi, I read this in seachem website .....

Use Reef Builderâ„¢ to raise carbonate alkalinity without affecting pH.

Use Reef Bufferâ„¢ to raise carbonate alkalinity and pH.

Since I need to bring my pH up from 7.5 to 8.3 and my kH is only 6dH I will probably get Reef Buffer.

Oh u dun nid to check GH that is onli for freshwater.Try adding puka shells.They will bring the ph,calcium and kh up.

Just happen that I am use some left over test strip that read pH, kH and also gH. So at least I know my Ca + Mg is safe for now.

[babareef]

You must get a calcium test kit and test the water again before u add or do anything. Test for Kh, Calc, Ph, sg and temperature. After the test then u can determine what to do. For example if your Kh is low in relation to calcium then you only need to boost the Kh by adding sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda. However if your calcium is low in relation to your Kh then add Kent Marine Turbo calcium to boost calcium level.If both calcium and Kh are on the low side, you may want to drip Kalkwasser. From what I've gone thru, adding Ph buffers won't boost your Ph and Kh especially if your tank is big.

My humble opinion.

[dragonfly_sg]

You must get a calcium test kit and test the water again before u add or do anything. Test for Kh, Calc, Ph, sg and temperature. After the test then u can determine what to do. For example if your Kh is low in relation to calcium then you only need to boost the Kh by adding sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda. However if your calcium is low in relation to your Kh then add Kent Marine Turbo calcium to boost calcium level.If both calcium and Kh are on the low side, you may want to drip Kalkwasser. From what I've gone thru, adding Ph buffers won't boost your Ph and Kh especially if your tank is big.

My humble opinion.

You're right about my needing more test kits, I ought to get a Ca and Mg kit to know what is missing precisely. But the problem is I probably can only get them over the weekend, so the next best thing I can do now is do a 30~40% water change, to fix it temporary.

My tank is small, 2'x1'x1.5'.

[babareef]

Water change is good if you haven't done so 2 weeks or a month ago. But water change won't increase your Ph, Kh or Calcium. It only reduces nitrates and phosphate and adds new minerals to your water. But if that's the only thing you could do for now well than its okay. I'm just afraid the longer you wait the more livestocks you'll lose cos like u said some corals don't open up. That means they are not healthy and not feeding.

You're right about my needing more test kits, I ought to get a Ca and Mg kit to know what is missing precisely. But the problem is I probably can only get them over the weekend, so the next best thing I can do now is do a 30~40% water change, to fix it temporary.

My tank is small, 2'x1'x1.5'.

[tineng]

Just happen that I am use some left over test strip that read pH, kH and also gH. So at least I know my Ca + Mg is safe for now.

test strip???? you are using Tera test strip.....those are highly inaccurate. You might want to get the more reliable ones before plotting your next course of action....if your testing was wrong, then you might actaully end up overcorrecting and create problem....

personally i recommend the use of a PH test Pen instead of any PH test kit.

for CA and KH, i normally use Salifert....had use Sera in my newbie days, but discovered that i have to test it 2 or 3 times as even with the same test kit, somehow results not very consistent....

[dragonfly_sg]

test strip???? you are using Tera test strip.....those are highly inaccurate. You might want to get the more reliable ones before plotting your next course of action....if your testing was wrong, then you might actaully end up overcorrecting and create problem....

personally i recommend the use of a PH test Pen instead of any PH test kit.

for CA and KH, i normally use Salifert....had use Sera in my newbie days, but discovered that i have to test it 2 or 3 times as even with the same test kit, somehow results not very consistent....

Yah those Tetra Test Strips; but I use JBL pH kit to counter check my pH and Sera Kit for kH. Most of my kits are pretty old, about 2 to 3 years or some older.

I have been keeping freshwater and planter for sometime, but after awhile I get to know the routine and the kits gets shelf with more then half use.