How to lower PH and increase Calcium

[lifestudent]

My 75 gallon reef tank is 13 months old.

I was having difficulty raising my PH and Alkalinity which were at 8.0 and 2.1 respectively. My calcium was and is also below 200.

16 days ago I added Reef Builder and magnesium and got the following results: PH 8.6+ and Alk 3.4

12 days ago I added Kalkwasser and it still is below 200. I had my LFS confirm my Ca results.

Last night the water tested at PH 8.6 and Alk 2.8 and Ca is still below 200.

My PH test kit maxs out at 8.6 and I was wondering how to bring it down since it could be higher.

Lastly, how do I increase the Calcium?

Thanks for the great format you guys provide! :)

[Ogitrev]

To lower your Alk and PH, do water changes and stop adding those supplements for a while. Kalkwasser is good to keep the levels steady but it has to be dosed. If you add a bunch at a time, it will skyrocket your PH.

To increase Ca, also do a water change but use a good quality salt mix. I use CoralLife salt and it contains about 450ppm of Ca.
There are also Ca supplements you can add. A good one to raise Ca that much is Kent Turbo Calc.

Hope this helps you out a little.

- Tom

[Agu]

First of all, how do the fish and corals look? If they're healthy and growing don't get too worried about the numbers.

Second, pH fluctuates during the day, rising during the photoperiod and dropping after lights out. When are you testing? 8.6 is a bit high. The biological activity in our tanks tends to depress pH and alk naturally, so if you leave it alone it should come down. But, ca at 200 doesn't give you a lot of time if you want your corals to grow. You could use a ca supplement, but I'm not a fan of supplements used on a regular basis (except kalk). I've used Kents turbo ca at half doses daily until ca is back up.

You mentioned you added kalk 12 days ago. Regular dripping of kalk to replace evap will go a long way in maintaining ca, alk, and pH. I suggest you look into it.

Agu

[lifestudent]

I drip about 1-1.5 gallons of Kalk over a 12 hour period.

The PH levels were consistently taken at 8pm; 5 hours after the lights have come on.

Right now I only have a 6 line wrasse and it looks healthy. The other 4 fish died 18 days ago (2 days before I tested the PH & Alk) which unfortunately alerted me to the low PH. My LFS believes that they died due to the low PH.

Ammonia is low, nitrates 0, nitrites 0

I will try a 10% water change and let you know what happens. I use Tropic Marin.

Thanks for your ideas!

[Scrooge2]

I don't think a pH of 8.0 killed four fish. In fact, I don't think it is even a possibility.

Don't try to change those numbers quickly, which is what it sounds like you are doing. I agree that a water change is in order to get things in line. I would stop dosing anything and do a 10% change every three or four days for about two weeks. Then you are ready to start from scratch.

Use your kalkwasser or Bionic type of additives every day, not just to change your numbers. These are meant to keep numbers where they should be. Use it in small doses every day, testing regularly until you find the correct dose for your tank.

Reef Builder and calcium supplements, such as Turbo Calcium, can be used to bring up the numbers, which should then be maintained with kalk or Bionic types. Remember, use them slowly over several days, don't try to correct overnight.

[Agu]

I agree with scrooge, a pH of 8 isn't going to kill fish. When I started using a ca reactor it wasn't unusual to see a pH in the mid sevens just before the lights came on, and it didn't kill anything.

With the amount of kalk being added a high pH isn't unusual, and if water parameters are out of whack calcium can precipitate out of solution. Plain old water changes sound like the best plan.

Hmmmm, so what killed four fish at once???

Agu

[lifestudent]

24 hours after performing a 10 % water change (on 10/24), my PH remains at 8.6+ (highest level of my test kit) and my Alkalinity is 2.0-2.2.

My LFS owner/marine biologist recommended adding 1 tsp of Reef Builder every other day for a week. Once the Alk is stable, we'll probably add some "A & B" to increase the Calcium levels (currently below 200).

I also added 1 1/2 tsp of Tech-I (iodine) last night.

This seems like a reasonable approach to me.

Do you guys concur? Is there something else I should do or test?

Thanks,

Bob