• what are the dangers of elevated pH 9.2

  • Jonathan6173

Hello everyone! Please tell me, what are the dangers and undesirability of a high pH? Mine is 9.2-9.4. I searched the forum but couldn't find anything... everyone is just raising the pH. The aquarium is 600 liters and was started 5 days ago. It was set up using osmosis water and Tetra salt. I added 15 kg of good live rock. The first day the pH was 8.4. I suspect the reason is that the aquarium was previously freshwater, and there is a recently glued background on the back wall that is covered with layers of cement mixture (I couldn't remove it). I think it will continue to leach and raise the pH for a long time, which is why I'm concerned about this issue. There will be LPS and soft corals in the aquarium (if they will even be there now). Also, strangely, it's been 5 days and there are no signs of the first "blooms"—maybe the high pH is preventing that? Thank you all!

Brooke

What about the kN? The cement is hardly relevant here.

Keith7534

The tests for the KN will only arrive tomorrow.

Christopher4108

pH and kH are closely related. You cannot raise pH without raising kH (alkaline buffer). Most likely, your kH is off the scale, or pH is being measured incorrectly.

David4968

KH, PH, magnesium, and calcium are very interdependent; one could say they are a whole. It's not enough to keep three components in balance; they all need to be together. If you're interested in understanding this, here it is.

Noah1632

What is the background made of? Only cement. What do you use to test the pH?

Sharon

Everything has normalized, pH is constantly 8.4 - 8.5. Thank God. I took measurements with a pH meter borrowed from Tim. Thank you all for the information - it will be useful.

Heather6148

So no one answered the fundamental question "what is the danger of increased pH?"

Karen

The livestock will perish. It can only live within certain pH limits.

Kimberly4253

At elevated pH levels, calcium ions are in a different state than at 8.3-8.4. In general, calcium precipitates. In short, for marine life (corals, fish, etc.), a pH of 8.3-8.4 is desirable and ideal.

Jacob4800

Where is the information from? I'm really curious.

Angel628

This is Chemistry. I can't say exactly where I read it, but I remember it. And I know for sure that there is a bit about it in the book by Ova-Savchuk "Reef Aquarium" starting from page 109. There is also some information on this topic in the section "Alkalinity."