Could my PH really be 5.7??

[asn-naso]

I'm getting pretty frustrated with my RKE and my PH.

When I bought the RKE (Used), the PH probe was just calibrated, and worked great for at least 6 months. Then it started to flake out. I bought some new calibration fluid, and ended up ordering a new probe (Pinpoint). I calibrated the Pinpoint prob and it seemed to be ok for 3-4 weeks, but started freaking out like the other one.

Last night I calibrated it again, then did again this afternoon. As of right now, my RKE says 5.68. If I put it back into the 7.0 calibration fluid it went to 6.89. I did not try the 10, because it goes bad pretty fast. Feeling frustrated, I put it into some kalk, and it went to 12.02.

Also, each time I test my water with my PH kit (API) it shows 8.1 ish. A little low, but not horrible.

My parameters are:

Calc - 380 (A little low)
Alk - 8 (I've never been able to get it much higher, and decided to try and keep it stable)
Mag - 1200 (could be a little higher - I've been adding BRS mag to raise it, but it won't go any higher)

I dose with BRS 2 part, and mag. I did dose with baking soda for a while when my PH was too high, but have been using the soda ash for 6-8 weeks.

I also noticed my salinity is 1.028, I think it's from the mag. This should be an easy fix.

And, what's weird is, my livestock seems to be pretty happy. I have lots of coraline, and lots of growth. The only weird thing I've noticed recently about my livestock is my sand sifting star was climbing up my tank wall. But that's only happened once. -- I also lost my blue boobies about 2.5 months ago, when I started to fight the PH battle. All of my other SPS/Zoas/LPS corals are doing great.

 

[FinsUp]

ph probes are notoriously wrong, and chasing pH is a recipe for disaster. I'd ignore your pH readings if your tank is doing fine. Just my pair of pennies.

 

[Andrew_bram]

Could my PH really be 5.7??

I would definitely raise my mag. IMO don't raise by more then 100 in a day. What size tank is this again.

 

[jahmic]

As much as I dislike API kits...those tests are probably more reliable than your probe right now.

At a pH below 6, your rock and sand would be dissolving, and your corals would likely be dead....I highly doubt that your pH is that low, and I would stop worrying about trying to raise your pH with the readings that you are getting from the probe. As long as you keep your alk in line, you should be seeing minimal pH fluctuations; a stable pH within the acceptable range is more important than hitting a specific number. I'd keep dosing with the soda ash and just make sure the level doesn't get too high by checking with the API kit intermittently.

 

[asn-naso]

Cindy - I agree, but like to keep an eye on the RKE to make sure things didn't totally "whack" out.

Andrew - I've been trying to raise it, but can't get past that 1200 barrier. I have tons of coralline, and believe it is sucking it up. And the tank is a 105 gal.

jahmic - I agree about API tests, but normally they are ok for PH.

Also, thanks everyone for confirming my thoughts. But the perfectionist part of me wants the probe to work.

On a side note, if I switch to Epson salt, instead of the mix from BRS, what are the downsides? At the rate I keep going through mag, it would save me some $$$.

 

[jahmic]

I would agree with that; the color scale on the pH chart with the API kit is actually usable, and I haven't had many problems with them being poorly calibrated (unlike the ammonia and nitrate kits).

As for using Epsom salts, that would be adding magnesium sulfate to the tank, and over time you get sulfates building up by only dosing mag sulfate. It's pretty well documented in this article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/ ...which is definitely worth read.

The short version of the article: Get some magnesium chloride in addition to the magnesium sulfate and mix the two together in a 5:3 ratio to dose magnesium

 

[Walter White]

Have you tried the lab grade probes? I bought one awhile back it has remained calibrated for going on two years now. Even after breaking down my last tank and storing it with the tip in RO for several months its still spot on.

 

[rlklassy]

I have always had luck by looking at my euphillia. Whenever my PH has begun to drop they do not extend very far, or "fill out" as much. Always test it but on a daily basis I always watch to make sure they look normal. Had great luck with it =)

 

[Andrew_bram]

I would agree with that; the color scale on the pH chart with the API kit is actually usable, and I haven't had many problems with them being poorly calibrated (unlike the ammonia and nitrate kits).

As for using Epsom salts, that would be adding magnesium sulfate to the tank, and over time you get sulfates building up by only dosing mag sulfate. It's pretty well documented in this article: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/ ...which is definitely worth read.

The short version of the article: Get some magnesium chloride in addition to the magnesium sulfate and mix the two together in a 5:3 ratio to dose magnesium

That is a very interesting read thank you. However I have never had a problem using the Epsom salts.

 

[SkyDiv3r17]

At a pH below 6, your rock and sand would be dissolving, and your corals would likely be dead.....

Now that would be a site to see!

 

[Labsalesguy]

I have a couple new lab probes, I can calibrate a new one and you can borrow one no obligation. I carry them for work. but I'm sure your pH isn't that low.

 

[kmcmurtry]

It makes sense that you would want it to work given that the whole point of controllers and probes is to help you automate stuff. I'm with you.

 

[deboy69]

I would rule out electrical interference. My rke did not like my halides at all. Da said to move the ballast at least 3ft from the rke. Might want to check that out. It may not be your probe.

KCCO

 

[asn-naso]

I have a couple new lab probes, I can calibrate a new one and you can borrow one no obligation. I carry them for work. but I'm sure your pH isn't that low.

Thank you, I'll keep it in mind.

I would rule out electrical interference. My rke did not like my halides at all. Da said to move the ballast at least 3ft from the rke. Might want to check that out. It may not be your probe.

KCCO

Hmm... Interesting thought. But the only thing that has changed would be a phosphate reactor that I added several months ago. I could try turning things off to see if it changes. I can also pull out the multi-meter and check the water too.

 

[jahmic]

That is a very interesting read thank you. However I have never had a problem using the Epsom salts.

The amount of sulfate that ends up in the tank all depends on how much epsom salt you're dosing, how large your water changes are, and how much sulfate is already in your salt mix. If you're using a salt mix that's deficient in sulfates and are changing out at least 30% of your water per month...the article points out that you probably won't see any increase in sulfate levels.

Sorry, didn't mean to scare anyone away from using Epsom salts. The consensus in that article is that it's not ideal...but it can work with the right amount of tank maintenance. 10% weekly changes should be enough to keep the sulfate levels in check, according to the info in that article.

 

[jda123]

If you do water changes and have some good general husbandry, then I would not sweat the sulfates at all. If you are a 2-part doser, then you are building up chloride ions, which can be just as bad as sulfates at high quantities. If you get to a point where either can do any harm, then your tank will already be in so much trouble that sulfate and chloride ions will be no issue.

A PH pen is pretty cheap on ebay and fairly accurate for spot checks.

As said, the probes are horrible at being reliable - I would not program anything in the controller to run off of them.

 

[asn-naso]

Ok, it's time to update everyone. After a couple of months of fighting this PH weirdness, several PH calibration packets, lots of troubleshooting, trying 3 different PH probes, and a couple of SL1 modules, I finally figured out what the problem was.

One of my float valves is bad, and was either leaking ground into the water, or was doing something else wacky and confusing the SL1. Of course it's the one I was using for for my ATO, not the one to signal me when my RO was almost empty.

Of all things, I would have never guessed it was the problem. But at least it's been removed from the system, and is now working properly (reporting a PH of 8.23).

 

[Off The Deep End]

Nice it's always better when things work the way there supposed to!

Sent from my SCH-R970C using Tapatalk

 

[asn-naso]

Yep! It was pretty frustrating troubleshooting this, but at least it's solved now.