Low PH but High Cal and Mag

sen5241b

Reef enthusiast
Did a 50% water change and put way too much cal and mag in in the make up water.
After the change the tank water was:

Ph 7.8
Cal 680
Mag > 1300


Could the high cal and mag have caused the Ph to drop?
 
Not necessarily. What method of dosing calcium are you using? Are you also doseing alkaline with this? If you just dose calcium you are likely to lower you alkalinity which can then cause unstable pH levels.
 
Not necessarily. What method of dosing calcium are you using? Are you also doseing alkaline with this? If you just dose calcium you are likely to lower you alkalinity which can then cause unstable pH levels.


I put Kent Turbo Cal AND Kent mag in the make up water. I dosed baking soda directly into the tank.
 
I don't think cal and mag would affect the pH, but baking soda certainly does, especially if you didn't bake it. Beyond that, 50% is a lot of water to change. there's a good chance the pH of the make up water wasn't super high to begin with, before you added anything. I would check the pH tonight, after the lights have been on for a while and the water change has had time to settle down, and see where it stands.
 
The alk was about 7.8 dkh. Got a lot of LPS and they look fine. I do a 50% change out almost every month and my tank has bever been the worse for it. I wouuld say you need to match the salinity and temperature more accuratley if you are doing a 50%. change.
 
if your ph still reads low take a cup of tank water outside and stir it vigorously for 5 minutes and re test, if the ph is up you most likely have a C02 issue in the house
 
Did a 50% water change and put way too much cal and mag in in the make up water.
After the change the tank water was:

Ph 7.8
Cal 680
Mag > 1300


Could the high cal and mag have caused the Ph to drop?

Mag really is not that high. I keep mine between 1380 -1400
 
Just check it and it was 8.3.

Originally I tested right after the water change and it was 7.8. Could it be that the water change takes hours before the Ph test reflects the water change out?
 
yes if the salt wasn't mixed and aerated properly, some of the ingredients react to each other and don't balance out until the C02 is driven off
 
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