ph drops overnight from 8.3 to 8.0 in 28 gal

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mos90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 20, 2009
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rome,ny
i just finished cycling my 28g nano. i have 1/2 of live sand,40lbs of live rock, protein skimmer and cheato refuge running. temp at 77. my water i use from ro.di is very soft. when i mix the salt the ph stabilizes at 8.3. kh is 10. ammo-0 ,nitrite-0,nitrate-5, calcium-400, phos-.2.

what ive noticed is even when i use a ph/kh buffer it will drop from 8.3 to 8.0 overnight. someone mentioned that if magnisum is low it can cause ph fluctuation, i dont know if this is true.

i would really like to find a way to keep the ph steady above 8.1.

i could add a little bit of crushed coral.
 
When do you run the lights in your fuge? PH always drops at night. If you run the lights in your fuge opposite of the main tank ( at night ) you might eliminate the PH swing.
 
geronimo69;4325790; said:
When do you run the lights in your fuge? PH always drops at night. If you run the lights in your fuge opposite of the main tank ( at night ) you might eliminate the PH swing.
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that is exactly what im doing. tank lights on for 8 hours, fuge lights on for other 16. i should bump up the tank lights to 10 hours now the cycle is done but i dont think that will help ph swing.
 
Yea, its normal. There is no point in trying to buffer it either. I find that buffers cause more problems then they are worth from the difficulty in dosing and the swings in water stability.
 
the problem is that the ph doesnt go back up to 8.3 the next day. it goes up some but not where it needs to be. my ph monitor could be off some too. it read 8.0 last night and the test kit read 8.2. i will compare tests again later. i just calibrated it too.

i tested the kh last night and it was 13ppm. the only test i dont have is magnisium. waiting for that to come in.

i have some inverts coming today that is why i was so concerned.
 
would it be ok, because everything else seems ok, if the ph stays steady at like 7.9 rather then the desired 8.2. like heathd said some swing is ok and buffering all the time can cause problems.
 
mos90;4328997; said:
would it be ok, because everything else seems ok, if the ph stays steady at like 7.9 rather then the desired 8.2. like heathd said some swing is ok and buffering all the time can cause problems.
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I don't think you'd have any issue with the PH being at 7.9. Everything in your tank will be fine. Mine sits around there.
 
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