High Ph

[michelecb]

I just set up a tank at our local pet shop. And the ph is running high most of the time 8.4 to 8.8. The tank has been cycled for 2 months now and I can't understand why the ph is running high. Tank specs there are 5 tanks that drain into each other totaling 220 gallons the sump is an ecosystem sump. Anyone have any ideas I am all out of them.

thanks.

michele

[hollback]

I'd test your Alk, which normally effects your ph. Are you dosing B-Ionic, Kalk or does the system have a Ca reactor? Also a high temperature will normally increase ph. Just some suggestions to take a look at.

[TacoKing]

I'd first try a few different measurment devices to check your PH. Having a PH of 8.4 - 8.8 is pretty rare. A PH of around 8.5 where there is normal CO2 in the air will have an Alk of above 5 meg/L . Normally at that high, the calcium carbonate would very likely begin to precipitate abiotically, and such precipitation itself reduces pH and alkalinity.

Basically, what I'm saying is the chances of this occuring naturally are rare. Most likely the case is you are over dosing one of the tank additives.

-TK

ed. A few things you could try:

If the PH is above 8.4 and Alk below 4 meg/L
1. aerate the water more (not always easy to do)
2. direct addition of CO2 using bottled soda water
3. add vinager
4. add vineger via the lime water/kalkwasser

[prance1520]

Hey Michele,
They two above really hit it on the head. Are the tanks well stocked with animals, or are there an over abundance of plants. Low CO2 in the water along with the addition of large amounts of kalk or other Alk buffer are about the only things I can think of. Here is Randy's article on high pH. He's excellent, I definately recommend reading this:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-03/rhf/index.php

Good luck

Matt

[michelecb]

Thank you everyone for your imput. I will do some major reading. The weird thing is we do not dose the tank with anything.

Would adding macroalgea and a light on the sump help?