High Alk low Ph?

[jvaldez68as]

My tank has been cycling for about a month now; had all my ****es and now all readings are descent across the board. AM 0 Nit 0 Nitra low phos low but my Ph has sat at 7.8 the entire time. I've tested for DKH and it always sits between 11-13. The only thing in my tank besides live rock are a small clean up crew and some Xenia (thanks again Troy!). At first my xenia seemed lifeless and I thought they would take a dive but they finally are getting acclimated to my 50/50 lighting, and they are a rich pink and growing but they do not pulse at all. I figured it might be a current issue so I added a hydor rotating deflector to my minijet 404; still look healthy but no pulse. I figure that because my ph is low that may be the reason why they are not pulsing. I've tested a friend's water and the Ph is reading correct so I know it's not my tester. I used a small amount of buffer once but still a low ph. I've done a 20% water change and still no cigar. Anybody got any suggestions, I would love the xenia to pulsate but if messing with the water means messing up parameters I'm happy to leave it as is.

[erikharrison]

What are you using to dose?

[jvaldez68as]

I dosed once with seachem's marine buffer about 2 days ago, I know it raises Alk but I only used what was recommended to raise it 1 DKH but it still had no effect on ph. Oh I also forgot to mention my tank is a small 5.5 nano.

[erikharrison]

Have you tested the water prior to putting it in the tank? Are you using ro/di or tap?

[jvaldez68as]

I use RO/DI, originally I was using Oceanics Salt but now i'm using premixed water from Wolf Reef.

[erikharrison]

That seachem stuff says that you cannot overdose it. I would still do a water change since your dkh is higher than you want. Maybe you should go to Ed's shop and take your kit. Verify your kit is working properly and that Ed's water is not out of whack. He should have a ph probe lying around in one of those tanks. It just strikes me funny that you dosed and nothing happened.

[jvaldez68as]

Just did a water change yesterday, i'll give it a couple more days and re-test. I just don't get how i can have such a high alk but low ph. I will go to ed's and test everything just to make sure i don't have a faulty test kit.

[Bill S]

If your test kit is a Seachem kit, I've had 2 different sets of bad reagents from them for pH & Alk... I called them on the first set, as it showed 1/2 the correct reading, they admitted they had some bad ones out. The replacements, and they showed 2x the reading. UGH. Bought a Salifert.

[Troy Valentine]

Bill, That same thing happened to me with Seachem, I was chasing shadows. That is why I am a Salifert man now.

Glad to here the Xenia are still doing well, and don't worry if it doesn't pulse. In my experience Xenia does best in an established tank with a nutrient rich environment. This is why it works so well in refugiums. Also Xenia is a strange coral, I've seen it go bonkers in some tanks and melt in others.

[Bill S]

Xenia grows like a weed in my 55, and melts within 24 hours in my 215.