My tank has been running for 5 months now and I am having problems with my Ph being around 7.6. I have been using Distilled water because I do not trust the city water. Some at lfs suggested that the Distilled water could be the source of the low Ph. Is this possible? And if it is what might be a good aternative? Unforchantly I can not afford a R/O machine.Thanks for any help.
PH problems
- Thread starter Devildog
- Start date
You may want to use sechems reef booster. It is a great ph/alk booster and will maintain your ph and Alk. I use it once a week with my make-up water. As far as distilled water, I am not to sure. I have a RO/DI. Before I had that I used our city water and used Sechems Prime. It is very trust worthy and it also KOs Nitrates if they get to high (though not a solution for combating NO2).
What exactly is your water prep? And is the pH at 7.6 all the time or is it dropping? What is in the tank? What is your SG?
Distilled water won't hurt your pH if it is already high enough. Distilled water has a very low pH to start with but the buffering qualities of most salt mixes counters that. Avoiding tap water if possible is the best thing as most tap water contains too many contamanents that saltwater tanks can't deal with (copper, phosphates etc...). these are generally safer for freshwater tanks as the diversity of life is a lot lower.
Distilled water won't hurt your pH if it is already high enough. Distilled water has a very low pH to start with but the buffering qualities of most salt mixes counters that. Avoiding tap water if possible is the best thing as most tap water contains too many contamanents that saltwater tanks can't deal with (copper, phosphates etc...). these are generally safer for freshwater tanks as the diversity of life is a lot lower.
First thanks for your replies! The Ph is ussually pretty good after I do my 2 week water change but as I add the distilled water to top off water loss my Ph starts to drop.
How would I go about using NaOH or bicarb to buffer the water?
How would I go about using NaOH or bicarb to buffer the water?
Well obviously something in your tank is requiring elements of your water to grow, perhaps corals or something like that. In that case you are going to have to replenish the buffer, but not necessairly the salts if the SG stays the same. Sodium Bicarb may work but you will need to keep testing. I would avoid NaOH as it can affect the quality of water in very low doses and is a toxic substance (for example most cleaners use 0.5% or less of sodium hydroxide to get the job done). It can be quite hazardous if used incorrectly.
If you can buy some crushed coral why not try placing a bag of it in the filter if possible. It will slowly dissolve as the pH drops and help to keep the pH more stable. That is what people with freshwater tanks often do.
If you can buy some crushed coral why not try placing a bag of it in the filter if possible. It will slowly dissolve as the pH drops and help to keep the pH more stable. That is what people with freshwater tanks often do.