Me, the problem to low ph?

[HellBliss]

hi guys. the past 2 days im not at home and my ph raised from the usual 7.88-8.10 to 8.05-8.26. because my tank is in my room i came up with two conclusion. 1st, the aircon has an effect on ph because obviously i dun on my aircon while im out. secondly, im the one producing the CO2 that in turn gets into my system via diffusion.

when i came home today, switched on the air con and took a nap, i can see the PH dropping from 8.14 to 8.05 which was the usual case for that time of the day.

feeding and everything was the same as i measured out the amount to feed and instructed my maid to feed them as per usual. can anyone advise me on this?

[hammy]

hi guys. the past 2 days im not at home and my ph raised from the usual 7.88-8.10 to 8.05-8.26. because my tank is in my room i came up with two conclusion. 1st, the aircon has an effect on ph because obviously i dun on my aircon while im out. secondly, im the one producing the CO2 that in turn gets into my system via diffusion.

when i came home today, switched on the air con and took a nap, i can see the PH dropping from 8.14 to 8.05 which was the usual case for that time of the day.

feeding and everything was the same as i measured out the amount to feed and instructed my maid to feed them as per usual. can anyone advise me on this?

what was the temp before/after the air con come on.

the dioxide u are emitting is not a concern.. should be other reason

[yikai]

i read somewhre that higher temperature will cause excess H+ ions to dissociate into the water, lowering the pH as H+ is acidic.

[hammy]

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00920.htm

tomolo ask my chemistry teacher to explain in simple terms. =)

[yikai]

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00920.htm

tomolo ask my chemistry teacher to explain in simple terms. =)

wah...i remember just barely passing this module. hated this.

[HellBliss]

my aquarium temperature was always between 26-26.7 cause controlled by chiller... in the morning mayb lower around 25.6 cause of the aircon.. if high temp causes ph to lower then not switching on the aircon should cause my ph to decrease right? but strangely my ph increased to the desirable value while im not at home...

[yikai]

my aquarium temperature was always between 26-26.7 cause controlled by chiller... in the morning mayb lower around 25.6 cause of the aircon.. if high temp causes ph to lower then not switching on the aircon should cause my ph to decrease right? but strangely my ph increased to the desirable value while im not at home...

simplifying what i understand accoring to the article bro hammy provided, according to the formula Ph = Pka + Log etc etc, when endothermic reaction occurs, Ka increases, hydrogen ions get dissociated more and dissolve, dropping the Ph to become more acidic. the opposite happens for exothermic reaction. Ka decrease, H+ less dissolve, Ph increase. Ph and temperature in this context are related. along with the exo and endo reactions that happen in your tank.

i'm not sure how this is related to our fish tanks, but i try to understand that article, and i guess Ph swings when certain chemical reactions occurs in our tank and also with the change in temperature.

[HellBliss]

simplifying what i understand accoring to the article bro hammy provided, according to the formula Ph = Pka + Log etc etc, when endothermic reaction occurs, Ka increases, hydrogen ions get dissociated more and dissolve, dropping the Ph to become more acidic. the opposite happens for exothermic reaction. Ka decrease, H+ less dissolve, Ph increase. Ph and temperature in this context are related. along with the exo and endo reactions that happen in your tank.

i'm not sure how this is related to our fish tanks, but i try to understand that article, and i guess Ph swings when certain chemical reactions occurs in our tank and also with the change in temperature.

ic.. but my temp is always quite stable.. only difference might be at night without the aircon. temp shold be around 26+. at night with aircon temp might be around 25.6 lowest. during the day its the same as i normally do not on the aircon in the day. wow if tts the case our tanks are really sensitive.

hope to hear more inputs from people with tank in their rooms. thanks!

[teebs]

The swing in pH is controlled by how much CO2 is present in the water, and as the pH is almost in constant equilibrium with the atmosphere (and buffer equilibrium is much slower), changes in water column pH are more directly a reflectiion of the pCO2 in the water (its equilibrium rate is much faster than rates of change induced by the bicarbonate/carbonate buffer system).

While the lights are on, photosynthesis rates by photoautotrophs (like coralline algae or Zooanthellae are usually very rapid, and their rate of consumption of CO2 can easily exceed the rate at which CO2 can diffuse back into the tank water, so pH gradually rises up to peak pH levels of 8.3 to 8.5 by the end of the photoperiod. When the lights go out, photosynthesis stops using CO2, and even the photoautotrophs become net producers of CO2 as they turn stored CHO's into CO2 via cellular respiration for the chemical energy during the night. This causes the pH to fall during the night, usually to a nadir of 8.0 to 7.9 depending on several factors.

As already pointed out, there is no issue with the system's diurnal swing in these values, and unless you're introducing a new Ca reactor and the nadirs are below 7.9 at night, then you really do not have any issues in this situation.

Normal tank variation, nothing to worry about.

[HellBliss]

The swing in pH is controlled by how much CO2 is present in the water, and as the pH is almost in constant equilibrium with the atmosphere (and buffer equilibrium is much slower), changes in water column pH are more directly a reflectiion of the pCO2 in the water (its equilibrium rate is much faster than rates of change induced by the bicarbonate/carbonate buffer system).

While the lights are on, photosynthesis rates by photoautotrophs (like coralline algae or Zooanthellae are usually very rapid, and their rate of consumption of CO2 can easily exceed the rate at which CO2 can diffuse back into the tank water, so pH gradually rises up to peak pH levels of 8.3 to 8.5 by the end of the photoperiod. When the lights go out, photosynthesis stops using CO2, and even the photoautotrophs become net producers of CO2 as they turn stored CHO's into CO2 via cellular respiration for the chemical energy during the night. This causes the pH to fall during the night, usually to a nadir of 8.0 to 7.9 depending on several factors.

As already pointed out, there is no issue with the system's diurnal swing in these values, and unless you're introducing a new Ca reactor and the nadirs are below 7.9 at night, then you really do not have any issues in this situation.

Normal tank variation, nothing to worry about.

yeap. but normally my ph only peaks at around 8.1 and drops to 7.88 at night. but when im not at home for 3 days, my ph increased to 8.26 peak and 8.05 lowest. lighting schedule and everything else is the same

[sparks1107]

wow impressed with the explanation..

looks like u flared pretty well for your chemistry subject.. haha

[triggerfish]

i was looking up for the same topics sometime back when i changed to a new Ca Reactor as out of a sudden, my pH seems yoyo!

refer to this http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php

hope it helps!