Fresh Air

[Roo&Lis]

So yesterday evening I opened a few windows throughout to finally give the casa a breath of fresh air. About three hours later, I walk by and notice the PH on my controller is at like 8.43 from a pre-window open 8.20. That's one heck of a swing and that is higher than it ever has. My tank is still pretty new and really haven't tried to keep it balanced yet. The corals and fish I do have seemed unphased. On a typical day my ph will go from 7.98 to 8.32 - morning to evening. Is that natural? It can't be. I'd like to hear from yall and what your average swing is before I really get freaked out. My Ca and DKh are good. My Mg is pretty crappy. Would that effect it's consistency.

[jc]

Ph changes throughout the day. Typically it drops at night. That is why some people recommend running the fuge light at night. The chart on my reefkeeper shows a consistent bell curve day to day.

[ErikH]

Lotta Co2 inside. When you open up the windows all that hot air from you yappin' escaped! :p My PH is super low, and half the I feel woozy, maybe I should shut up. haha.

Seriously though, Co2 has a big affect on PH. Open a windur and viola. PH rise.

[Europhyllia]

I actually have a tube going from my skimmer intake to the outside just to catch that fresh air! (seriously)

[hobogato]

great idea karin

i agree with everyone else, just giving the tank some fresh air will reduce CO2 and raise the pH.

[Roo&Lis]

That is a really great idea. Anywho, so I guess my overall PH fluctuation is not abnormal?

I do have a light for my minifuge (biocube) but I suppose it's not powerful enough to make a difference.

[jrsatx20]

Good idea to crack a window when u have a lot of people over. All the co2 people give off can affect Ph also

[Squiers007]

I wouldn't be worried to much about it. So long as your pH isnt going super low you shouldn't have any problems with your fish or corals. Just curious though, what where you using to measure the pH? A probe or a test kit?

[ErikH]

A probe. Andrew, are you sure you calibrated it correctly? With the ACjr, you have to hold the probe in the solution until it the numbers completely stop moving. After that you go to the next solution and do the same thing. It could be incorrectly calibrated, which would show you having a higher PH than in actuality.

[Roo&Lis]

Yea man. Calibrated it with the solutions 7 and 10. Compared it with a test kit too. Its good. During the day its pretty consistent for the most part. The corals seem to be doing good. I guess I pay too much attention to it. ;) In the near future when i start loading with corals I plan on kalking with topoff so that should help....I hope. *gulp Thanks everyone.

[Squiers007]

Yay, sometimes I think the more I monitor my water quality the more paranoid I get about little changes. That being said you can never be too careful and its always better to test more often than not at all.

[hobogato]

one way to check to see if it is CO2 buildup is to take some water from the tank and test the pH. then, put an air stone in the sample and let it bubble for a while (15-30 min) and test the pH again afterward. if the pH goes up, you are getting a buildup of CO2 in your tank. it may be caused by the need for fresh air in the space around the tank or it may be caused by a need for better gas exchange for the tank. i used to keep an air stone in my sump to keep DOC DO (dissolved oxygen) levels up and encourage better gas exchange for this exact reason.

[Squiers007]

one way to check to see if it is CO2 buildup is to take some water from the tank and test the pH. then, put an air stone in the sample and let it bubble for a while (15-30 min) and test the pH again afterward. if the pH goes up, you are getting a buildup of CO2 in your tank. it may be caused by the need for fresh air in the space around the tank or it may be caused by a need for better gas exchange for the tank. i used to keep an air stone in my sump to keep DOC levels up and encourage better gas exchange for this exact reason.

Not to be pickey, but DOC is Dissolved Organic Carbon, and this is what you dont want to to have at high levels (ie nutrients). I think what you meant to say was DO or Dissolved Oxygen. Just wanted to clarify.

[hobogato]

yes, thanks for catching that. :)