High pH 8.6+, how to lower it?

[mosthated]

umm title says it all.. my ph is 8.6 or higher.. alk is on the high side.. how could i bring this down to at least say 8.0 or so.

[joander123]

they sell a chemical that will do it, just be careful with it. Its usually under a name like Ph Down or something, i forget if standard marine buffer does it or not.

Whatever you buy, mix it in water first dont add it straight to the tank.

[mosthated]

is this harmful for my fish? everything seems to be ok.. i mean i read some threads elsewhere, (on freshwater) that said to leave it, but i dont know about that,

[trainedkilla]

How much surface agitation do you have?

[dmjordan]

have you been adding any buffers to your tank?

[TKOS]

pH chemicals should be avoided in all tanks. They are usually made from phosphates, which when unbalanced lead too al sorts of problems.

Are you using tap water or distilled water / ro water? The standard salt solutions in ro water should be fairly stable and give you appropriate results. That being said make any changes slowly, especially if you fish have been in the water for awhile.

[Grins]

I'd do water changes instead of chemicals. I actually shoot for 8.4 in my tank

[Riverserver]

Regular baking soda will lower your pH. Just do it slowly.

[TKOS]

How would baking soda lower the pH?

[joander123]

i was assuming his tap water was high in ph when i suggested the chemicals.

if hes not using RO water, and his tap water ph is higher, then i would suggest chemicals personally... is it a reef tank?

[Riverserver]

How would baking soda lower the pH?

It has a pH of 8.1 or so. Wouldn't that lower it?

[mrtuskfish]

Baking soda will raise PH not lower it. PH buffers are used to raise PH, I use one made by SeaChem and it does not contain any phosphates; they are basically baking soda with some stabilizing stuff.Why would you want a PH of 8.0? That's too low for marine tanks. 8.3-8.4;IMO is ideal. If you're using tap water that could be the source, but most tap water is not that alkaline. Also, (getting long winded) many test kits, especially strips are not very accurate, a GOOD lfs can compare results with you.

[TKOS]

Um, those are almost the same posts with oddly opposite beginnings.

Baking Soda will add more buffers to the water which if anything may raise the pH. If the baking soda was diluted by water and the water had a really low pH and that was used to dilute the tank water then maybe it could. But that is a long winded crazy rant.

[mrtuskfish]

Um, those are almost the same posts with oddly opposite beginnings.

Baking Soda will add more buffers to the water which if anything may raise the pH. If the baking soda was diluted by water and the water had a really low pH and that was used to dilute the tank water then maybe it could. But that is a long winded crazy rant.

Yeah, I got the posting system messed up and was trying to do 3 things at once (did this on another thread too); but here are the basics of what I said. 1.) baking soda raises PH, it does not lower it. It is a very common and safe way of doing so.2.) Most buffers, like SeaChem's do not contain phosphate and are intended to raise PH. 3.) 8.0 is too low for the PH in a marine tank. 4.) If things seem weird, check your water source and test kit.
I've tried to delete the 2nd post, but can't figure how to do it.

Thanks for the compliment...I can rant for hours on the right topic.

[Reefscape]

I've tried to delete the 2nd post, but can't figure how to do it.

Concider it done!!..

Niko

[Amphiprion]

Baking soda will lower the pH initially, followed by an overall rise (so it will indeed raise pH in the end). To lower pH, you can use vinegar (little at a time, measuring daily) or sodium bisulfate. Even better, try more (heavy) aeration as it may introduce enough CO2 to lower the pH if it is limiting.

Ah, and I wanted to say that 8.0 is not too low--in fact, it is the average oceanic pH. In fact, many successful tanks running calcium reactors regularly run around 7.8-8.0 (though calcification is supposedly optimized at 8.4).

[joander123]

you could simply do a pwc with RO/DI water, and that should lower it a bit i believe.

[Amphiprion]

you could simply do a pwc with RO/DI water, and that should lower it a bit i believe.
That is an option--however, that is assuming that you are using a salt mix that mixes to a lower pH (most do). Either way will work just fine. BTW, my preferred methods are a water change like this and the aeration method.

[joander123]

yeah, i dont believe many salt mixes raise it above 8.3 do they?

[wcolwell88]

Can you have too high of a PH or Alk. I use tap water and my reading are all the way up to the highest places on the charts, 8.6 PH and 2.9-3.6 Alk. I didn't think this was a problem. I could see the ph maybe being a problem but don't see how high alkalinity would be a problem.