Flounder Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Without any Nitrate reading I have been thinking about using the protein skimmer to help bump up the pH. Only leaving it like this for the day then back to normal skimming. Just took the top off and cranked the valve completely open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 No doubt the skimmer makes exponentially more air to water surface than the top of a tank. If you are having PH issues feeding the skimmer air from outside may help. I have supplies to do this project, just have never gotten around to it yet. jeff70 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flounder Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 The pH just seems to hang between 8.0 and 8.1, so it just needs a gentle nudge. Actually any day we can open the house windows it jumps up... But we live in Ohio and it goes from snowing Monday to cooking eggs on the driveway Tuesday. So going with an outside line may be in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 2 hours ago, Flounder said: The pH just seems to hang between 8.0 and 8.1, so it just needs a gentle nudge. Actually any day we can open the house windows it jumps up... But we live in Ohio and it goes from snowing Monday to cooking eggs on the driveway Tuesday. So going with an outside line may be in the near future. That tells me it will very likely work for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Fraggenstien Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Save yourself some headache and don't worry about pH if the rest of your parameters are in order. 8.0 isn't too low, plenty of very successful reefs out there that are regularly lower. Flounder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 9 hours ago, Dr.Fraggenstien said: Save yourself some headache and don't worry about pH if the rest of your parameters are in order. 8.0 isn't too low, plenty of very successful reefs out there that are regularly lower. Hey Andy, I agree with not chasing numbers, but if a guy can raise it .1 by simply blowing off some CO2 (which I think he has reaffirmed since it goes up when he opens the house up) do you see a downside? Hoping to learn something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flounder Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Isn't half the fun of the hobby tinkering and improving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Fraggenstien Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 9 hours ago, Muttley000 said: Hey Andy, I agree with not chasing numbers, but if a guy can raise it .1 by simply blowing off some CO2 (which I think he has reaffirmed since it goes up when he opens the house up) do you see a downside? Hoping to learn something Worrying about .1 is the very definition of chasing numbers. It's crazy talk IMO. There are better things to worry about. 7 minutes ago, Flounder said: Isn't half the fun of the hobby tinkering and improving? As long as you're not tinkering yourself into problems... For clarity, I don't see a problem with what you're doing, or other options such as running an outside airline, I just don't think it's necessary in your case. Stability is key with our little pieces of reef, sometimes resisting the urge to "tinker" is in the best interest of the tank. I also see plenty of newer reefers worry too much about exact numbers. They spend a ton of time and effort trying to achieve the "recommended" ideal levels, and can end up causing themselves lots of problems, or burned out. This hobby has an extremely high turnover rate. This is a huge part of the reason. Muttley000, Flounder and crimsonvice 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsonvice Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Given that we are discussing pH here, I have noticed that my pH has been steadily dropping over the summer. 8...7.8....7.6...7.4... I opened a window and then it was back up to 7.8 almost within an hour. I am planning on running a air line outside here soon, but any other opinions/options to help get it back up to 8? I have always sat at about 7.8. I have been content with 7.8, but 7.4 was way to low in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley000 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Tell the wife and kids not to breath so much lol. Amazing to me that amount of drop. I guess my 100 year old farm house isn’t as tight as the newer houses in the city! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Fraggenstien Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 6 hours ago, crimsonvice said: Given that we are discussing pH here, I have noticed that my pH has been steadily dropping over the summer. 8...7.8....7.6...7.4... I opened a window and then it was back up to 7.8 almost within an hour. I am planning on running a air line outside here soon, but any other opinions/options to help get it back up to 8? I have always sat at about 7.8. I have been content with 7.8, but 7.4 was way to low in my opinion. 7.4 is way low, like dissolving coral skeleton low. Seems unlikely. Calibrate your probe lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crimsonvice Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 minute ago, Dr.Fraggenstien said: 7.4 is way low, like dissolving coral skeleton low. Seems unlikely. Calibrate your probe lately? That was my first move. Bought a pack and recalibrate it maybe a month or so ago. Then double checked it with API test kit last week. Sps looked like crap and are bouncing back now that window next to the tank is open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flounder Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Thanks everyone and this puts things into perspective for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waters Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 I realize this is an old thread, but you can have the skimmer pull air through any reactor filled with soda lime and it will raise and steady your PH (assuming your low PH is CO2 related). My tank and sump is in the basement with not much fresh air. Since running the reactor, my PH has went from 7.8-7.9 to 8.2 consistently. Flounder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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