Just looking for some info on why my ph drops, drops from 8.3 to 8 in roughly a day and a half, bring it back up and back down it goes. Tank has been going for about 2 months, fish are doing great, did a few water changes already, all readings on the test kit are 0 (ammonia,nitrite,nitrate) only had a skimmer going for about a week and a half. the water I use has a ph of about 8.3. any thoughts ? plus I am using a marineland hob 400 filter and 2 power heads, one 1050, and a 530 on a 50g tank.
ph dropping
- Thread starter dschertz
- Start date
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
That is perfectly normal and it happens in every tank. The pH will be lower in the AM after the lights have been off all night and will gradually get higher during the day when the lights are on.
Jmck
Reef enthusiast
+1 Capt, A way you can help this is to have the lights in your sump running all the time. This can help stabalize your PH
AmberSunrise
Reef enthusiast
Mine goes from 8.0 to 7.8 after a couple of days I cant seem to keep it up even if I use buffer. I killed 2 of my fish trying to buffer to get it to what is considered normal. My fish are fine with it at 7.8 so now I just leave it alone.
BL1
.............
Nope most people don't, if you pH only drops to 8 and stays steady there then you should just leave it alone. A constant slightly lower pH is better then a constantly fluctuating one (my tanks have stayed at 7.8 since they were first set up).
Jmck
Reef enthusiast
i sit between 8-8.2 and that seems to keep everything fine!
BL1
.............
With the water parameters there is always a range of numbers you should be in, not necessarily a specific number. This article has a good chart with the optimal numbers for Aquaria and natural seawater numbers. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
Bifferwine
I am a girl
A range of 8.0 to 8.3 and back again over 24 hours is fine. You don't need to dose anything.
little_fish
Moderator
Try not dosing, and see what the pH does on its own. If you are actually having pH issues, you might also have issues with your alk, mag, and calcium. Those are all related to each other.
Also remember, around 8.2 is fine, it doesnt have to be exact or stay at one value.
Also remember, around 8.2 is fine, it doesnt have to be exact or stay at one value.
