12 gallon

[godeeporgohome123]

i have a small 12 gallon its just started up ... at the moment i have a handful of red mushrooms and one banded shrimp. i just have a few questions.

i want to know what makes ph and nitrate levels rise and fall ?
what do i do to lower or raise it (just that ph up or down stuff?)
and what should my ph level be for a 12 gallon thats going to have more garden(Reef) then fish?

 

[JAG107]

You will want a pH of 8.3 or so, ideally.
If you are going to be getting into corals, you definitely need to do some reading up on calcium, carbonate alkalinity, and (not quite as important) magnesium levels, and how to adjust them.
That pH up-down stuff is mainly for freshwater I think, although I think there are some products out there that (claim to) adjust your pH to around 8.3.

As for nitrates, that's what you get from having livestock. It's all part of the nitrogen cycle, which you can google to get the whole story. Fish food/poop breaks down and becomes ammonia, which becomes toxic nitrite, which becomes nitrate. There are many many ways to control your nitrate levels, primarily through (preferably weekly) partial water changes.
HTH, happy googling!

 

[Bifferwine]

pH levels are largely affected by photosynthesis. Algae and corals take carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen during photosynthesis. At night, they stop photosynthesizing, and the carbon dioxide builds up in the tank. When carbon dioxide combines with water, it makes carbonic acid. Carbonic acid drops the pH. When the light comes on in the morning and the algae/corals start photosynthesizing again, the carbon dioxide concentration decreases and the pH rises again.

This is why your pH will be the lowest first thing in the morning, right before the lights come on. Your pH should normally range between 7.8 and 8.4. The more stable you can keep it, the better. There are buffer solutions you can buy to raise or drop pH, but these aren't normally necessary.

Nitrate levels will rise as anything in the tank creates waste (poops, dies or decomposes). If you overfeed your tank, the uneaten food will cause your nitrates to rise. If an animal dies and starts rotting, the nitrates will rise. If your animals poop and you don't do water changes to keep up, or if you have insufficient filtration, nitrates will rise.