Kalk Disaster

[ccCapt]

"The most benign way to reduce high pH is to aerate the water more."
This one doesn't make sense to me. By aerating the water you drive out the CO2. Wouldn't that reduce the acidity via reducing the CO2 and raise the PH more? (Like what daugherty said)

From the article I linked to. (You guys should really read them.)
"Equilibrating carbon dioxide can be much more difficult than equilibrating oxygen. Air contains very little carbon dioxide (about 350 ppm) relative to oxygen (210,000 ppm). Consequently, a lot more air needs to be driven through the water to introduce the same amount of carbon dioxide as oxygen. Perfect aeration will solve nearly any high pH problem, and will rarely cause any problem of its own."

The easiest way to think about it is if your low on co2 and have high pH, the air will provide the deficient co2. If you have low pH, the air will help drive out the excess co2.

 

[Chris_150G]

So if her water was carbon dioxide defficient to start with and had a high PH, aerating it could add CO2 and thus lower the PH. That makes sense.

But I read a few articles and found that the common intention of aerating water was to reduce the CO2. I guess then the question is, Is RO water and bottled DI water CO2 deficient?

Nevermind it probably doesn't matter.

 

[ccCapt]

I would assume, in general, because of all the living organisms and photosynthesis taking place in our systems, it has more co2 than regular water. Since Sarah did such a big water change, the new, fresh water may not have had enough co2, threw the system out of balance and shot the pH up.

 

[Bifferwine]

Larry what is your opinion then? I am very weak with tank chemistry and have never had to deal with something like this, so I really appreciate and value your advice. With my alk now at 14 and my pH at 8.8 (as of about 12 hours ago when I measured it), should I do another big water change? Or just leave things be? Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are still all at zero. I will check the water again as soon as I get home to see if it has leveled out at all.

 

[ccCapt]

Sarah, I would add some seltzer water to get the pH down to around 8.4-8.5 and see if that helps stabilize it. All the life in your system will help add some co2 too. I don't think you need to do more water changes now, even tho I always say water changes never hurt.

On a side note.....I usually don't promote 1 salt as better than another, but I have had better luck when keeping my alk closer to NSW (7 dKH) than in the 11+ dKH range and both regular Red Sea and Red Sea Coral Pro have alk right in the 7-8 dKH range. I know you said you got Red Sea now. Try a few buckets, I think you will like the results.

 

[Bifferwine]

Thanks. When I get home I'll re-test and add some seltzer water if it still is high.

 

[Bifferwine]

The test for tonight are alk = 14, pH = 8.44. NDB had the day off and made another 80 gallons of water for me. I'll pass on doing a water change today, and will re-test tomorrow and see where we stand. The corals are still looking shittier and shittier every day.

 

[PRC]

Here's a little inspriration for ya! Good Luck.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2HcRl4wSk"]YouTube - You can do it montage.[/ame]

 

[VAreef]

Super interesting on the CO2 read. Thats Henry's law at work. Makes complete sense. Also makes sense with oceans warming as to why dead spots are showing up. Temperature also makes a differance on the CO2 absorbstion as well. I didn't read the article I must admit but just followed what is on here. With the improvement in water quality I would think some of the corals would be starting to show some improvement. Are they looking any better today?

Hey Biff did the greeter at walmart look at you funny when you went rolling out with all those jugs of water? When I filled my tank with those the greeter asked me if I had already found someone to fix my well or not.

 

[Bifferwine]

With the improvement in water quality I would think some of the corals would be starting to show some improvement. Are they looking any better today?

Hey Biff did the greeter at walmart look at you funny when you went rolling out with all those jugs of water? When I filled my tank with those the greeter asked me if I had already found someone to fix my well or not.

Hahaha. NDB and I had to take two cars to bring all that water home. People out here don't have wells (groundwater is ~300 to 400 feet below ground surface). I don't know what they thought we were using all that water for! Maybe we are just very picky about the type of water we use to fill our new "swimming pool" ;)

Last night was the first night that the sun coral's polyps came out, so I fed them. None of the other corals have come out, still. And it's been about 9 days.

I think my two lobos are dead. So far, the coral casualties are a chalice and two lobos. Everything else is still hanging on. I haven't tested the water yet today, but I plan on doing another large water change tomorrow.

The weird thing is, I tested my freshwater straight out of my RODI unit. It has a pH of 10.5. WTF?!?! I am using an electronic pH meter that I got from work too, so I'm confident in the results.

 

[parrotchute]

How old are the filters on the RODI? What's the pH coming straight out of the tap prior to the RODI?

 

[yote]

Are you sure the PH probe is calibrated right?
Fresh water shouldnt have a PH that high.

 

[Bifferwine]

How old are the filters on the RODI? What's the pH coming straight out of the tap prior to the RODI?

Straight out of the tap it's 7. The filters are about a year old, but TDS is still below 5.

Are you sure the PH probe is calibrated right?
Fresh water shouldnt have a PH that high.

It's calibrated right, I did it at work. Something is on my buckets.