Okay, so I take the blame for this... 
I recently started cycling my tank, originally with the shrimp cocktail process, then with about 37 pounds of live rock (in a 29g tank) dropped in two days ago. I had been using up the last of a freshwater test kit I had for pH testing, and when it ran out (on the day I put in the first of the LR; two days ago), I got a new SW test kit and started using it. Unfortunately, I found out that the freshwater kit had been misreading the pH (or it was too old or whatever). In any case, the pH has been about 7.8 since I put the LR in. Ugh.
I got some Reef Pure Marine pH Buffer (WM Research) from the LFS and have been adding about a tsp per 12 hours, but I can't seem to get the pH up to a standard 8.3. It almost seems stuck at 7.8. I've added probably 3-4 tsps in the past two days. Sooo...
1) Is the LR being hurt by the pH being so low for the last two days? What impact is this having on my cycling process, assuming all other chemistries are about what I'd expect at this point?
2) How can I get the pH up quicker? Or should I worry about getting it up quicker? Is there something more suitable than this Reef Buffer stuff? Can I just increase the dosage or is that potentially harmful? The silly cannister for this stuff doesn't say how much to increase each 0.1 in pH, so I'm kind of guessing (but the LFS swears by this brand).
3) Any recommendations on a better way to raise pH levels?
thanks!
bruce
I recently started cycling my tank, originally with the shrimp cocktail process, then with about 37 pounds of live rock (in a 29g tank) dropped in two days ago. I had been using up the last of a freshwater test kit I had for pH testing, and when it ran out (on the day I put in the first of the LR; two days ago), I got a new SW test kit and started using it. Unfortunately, I found out that the freshwater kit had been misreading the pH (or it was too old or whatever). In any case, the pH has been about 7.8 since I put the LR in. Ugh.
I got some Reef Pure Marine pH Buffer (WM Research) from the LFS and have been adding about a tsp per 12 hours, but I can't seem to get the pH up to a standard 8.3. It almost seems stuck at 7.8. I've added probably 3-4 tsps in the past two days. Sooo...
1) Is the LR being hurt by the pH being so low for the last two days? What impact is this having on my cycling process, assuming all other chemistries are about what I'd expect at this point?
2) How can I get the pH up quicker? Or should I worry about getting it up quicker? Is there something more suitable than this Reef Buffer stuff? Can I just increase the dosage or is that potentially harmful? The silly cannister for this stuff doesn't say how much to increase each 0.1 in pH, so I'm kind of guessing (but the LFS swears by this brand).
3) Any recommendations on a better way to raise pH levels?
thanks!
bruce
