• Chronically low pH. :003:

  • Jonathan6173

Hello everyone, marine aquarium forum members. I have encountered a problem with low pH. How can I raise it? As far as I understand, my low pH is due to a high concentration of CO2 in the water, which has no one to absorb it. I don't have a sump for technical reasons, so I can't create an algae scrubber. I associate the high CO2 with the fact that I have a lot of nitrates, and the levels fluctuate significantly. Today it might be 10, tomorrow 40, it used to be around 100, but I brought it down. I've started feeding the fish less, and I'm not feeding the corals at all for now, but the nitrates are still unstable. Water parameters: Temperature - 25°C Volume - 115 liters pH - 7.7 NO2 - 0 NH3 - 0 NO3 - 35 Unfortunately, I don't have a test for carbonate hardness. The skimmer works well, producing foam, but not dark foam. Probably because I only have 4 fish. I have a canister filter rated at 750 l/h JBL CristalProfi, with standard media in the form of sponges for mechanical filtration, fine-pore sponges, filter floss, balls, and Purigen Seachem. Two circulation pumps at 2600 l/h. That seems to be everything; if any information is missing, please let me know, and I will provide more details.

John828

What is the point of a canister filter? It only generates nitrates and possibly causes the detritus to become anaerobic, which needs to be emptied from the canister every other day. When the lights go out, it becomes an ammonia bomb that can wipe out all living things. Look for something that is going anaerobic; it could be sponges in the filter, the substrate, or something in the rocks. That's my opinion.

Cassandra1840

How to search?

Vanessa6144

Remove the canister, definitely.

Caroline1599

Is she that harmful? Why should she be removed? Can you please explain?

Matthew1280

The capacity of the canister, for example, for clean water is 6 liters, and let's say the power went out at night for 4-6 hours, and all your detritus and slime in the canister went stagnant, and then when the power came back on, all the nastiness went into the aquarium, and you wake up in the morning scratching your head wondering why everything is so bad when just yesterday everything was great. This has happened more than once; the sea is not fresh water, change your thinking and approaches to it.

Ryan2281

Thank you, I understand. Are there any other suggestions regarding pH? There is no way to take the prisoner’s tube outside; I try to ventilate the room often to let in more fresh oxygen. Maybe I should use some kind of buffer? I also read about baking soda, but I don't know how safe it is without a sump.

Frederick

Thank you, I will look for it. There are almost no bubbles, just a few at the water's edge in one spot. As I understand it, the smell of the "culprit" should be sour?

Jeffrey2277

Another question. I change 7-10 liters of water every 12-15 days; is that not too frequent for my useful water volume (~105-110 liters)? After the water changes, a few corals (Euphyllia, sometimes Sarcophyton and Caulastrea) close up for a while. Everything else seems to be doing well. I will shoot a little video and take a couple of photos now. What do you feed this creature?? (snail Buccinulum corneum) I apologize for the quality; I filmed it with my phone.

Kristin

THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAKING AIR FROM THE STREET AND FROM A ROOM, VERIFIED PERSONALLY BY TESTS.