Ph going down after 5 years

I have noticed my PH going down from the normal 8.2 at 10AM to
8.4 around 11PM for the past 4 years. But over the past year
my readings have slowly gone down to 8.0 at 10am to 8.2 at 10PM
over the last 6 months its more like 7.8 at 10am to 8.0 at 10PM. I
recently did a 200 Gallon water change and the readings went pack up
to normal, 8.2 -8.4 but within a week or so it is coming back down
again to the 8.0 - 8.2 range.

I am using Tropic Marian salt which I thought had the best buffer
capacity but wondering if that is my problem.

Does the 500 pounds of sand in the tank have anything to do with the
buffer capability of the water? I did not think so, but wondering if
that gets depleted.

Of course Alk, KH go down as the PH goes down, if I boost ALK the ph
goes up it is just a temporary fix.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
James

What are you using to test your Ph? Check your test kits if that's the
method you are using. You know Ph swings of a few tenth of a point are no
problem. But it's the drop that's in question. Do you use a Ph probe? Have
you recently calibrated it? The harder (and longer it takes) to calibrate it
can mean a bad probe. I've been there before. - check the pin-point monitor
& seeing it read 7.8 & you know it's goofy!
Also, I've heard that ppl back east seem to have CO2 build-up in their
homes causing tank Ph's to drop during the winter, I know it's summer but
it's just a thought.
Steve

wrote in message
...
I have noticed my PH going down from the normal 8.2 at 10AM to
8.4 around 11PM for the past 4 years. But over the past year
my readings have slowly gone down to 8.0 at 10am to 8.2 at 10PM
over the last 6 months its more like 7.8 at 10am to 8.0 at 10PM. I
recently did a 200 Gallon water change and the readings went pack up
to normal, 8.2 -8.4 but within a week or so it is coming back down
again to the 8.0 - 8.2 range.

I am using Tropic Marian salt which I thought had the best buffer
capacity but wondering if that is my problem.

Does the 500 pounds of sand in the tank have anything to do with the
buffer capability of the water? I did not think so, but wondering if
that gets depleted.

Of course Alk, KH go down as the PH goes down, if I boost ALK the ph
goes up it is just a temporary fix.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
James

Thanks Steve, I am using a probe from my Octopus controller and also
a pin point PH monitor (which are usually a 10th off from each other
while in the sump. But if I take both probes out of the sump and into
a solution they both read the same. ( I havent been able to determine
what is causing the interference with the 10th of a reading being off)
I also use Aquarium Systems Fastest PH tester to confirm the readings.

I ran a test yesterday (still running it for the next couple of days)
took 5 gallons of RO/DI water and this is the reading

6/21 5 gallons of RO/DI water PH is 7.50
2PM added salt Tropic Marian PH is 9.50 Salanity .023
3pm ...............................PH is 9.24
9PM................................PH is 8.50
6/22
7am................................PH is 8.20

will keep track of this for the next couple of days.

I dont know if I should be buffering the water first that comes out of
the RO system first, If I do that then I would think the Ph would go
even higher when I add the Tropic Marian salt. Is that correct?

thanks
James




On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 05:23:32 GMT, "Steve \"Srfmon\""
wrote:

What are you using to test your Ph? Check your test kits if that's the
method you are using. You know Ph swings of a few tenth of a point are no
problem. But it's the drop that's in question. Do you use a Ph probe? Have
you recently calibrated it? The harder (and longer it takes) to calibrate it
can mean a bad probe. I've been there before. - check the pin-point monitor
& seeing it read 7.8 & you know it's goofy!
Also, I've heard that ppl back east seem to have CO2 build-up in their
homes causing tank Ph's to drop during the winter, I know it's summer but
it's just a thought.
Steve

wrote in message
.. .
I have noticed my PH going down from the normal 8.2 at 10AM to
8.4 around 11PM for the past 4 years. But over the past year
my readings have slowly gone down to 8.0 at 10am to 8.2 at 10PM
over the last 6 months its more like 7.8 at 10am to 8.0 at 10PM. I
recently did a 200 Gallon water change and the readings went pack up
to normal, 8.2 -8.4 but within a week or so it is coming back down
again to the 8.0 - 8.2 range.

I am using Tropic Marian salt which I thought had the best buffer
capacity but wondering if that is my problem.

Does the 500 pounds of sand in the tank have anything to do with the
buffer capability of the water? I did not think so, but wondering if
that gets depleted.

Of course Alk, KH go down as the PH goes down, if I boost ALK the ph
goes up it is just a temporary fix.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
James

But if I take both probes out of the sump and into
a solution they both read the same

You are using two (calibration) solutions of different Ph, right? Like a
4 or 10 & a 7 right?
Still though, both probes (with the same readings) out of whack seems
unlikely......

I ran a test yesterday (still running it for the next couple of days)
took 5 gallons of RO/DI water and this is the reading

6/21 5 gallons of RO/DI water PH is 7.50
2PM added salt Tropic Marian PH is 9.50 Salanity .023
3pm ...............................PH is 9.24
9PM................................PH is 8.50
6/22
7am................................PH is 8.20

will keep track of this for the next couple of days.

This water is left in your container during the test? If that's true - than
it would rule out the tank (or anything happening in it as the culprit.
Have you tried a different salt? Maybe you could get a small bag of a
different salt & see it the results are repeatable.
What about your RO/DI water? Did you check the TDS of the product water?
Steve


wrote in message
news
Thanks Steve, I am using a probe from my Octopus controller and also
a pin point PH monitor (which are usually a 10th off from each other
while in the sump. But if I take both probes out of the sump and into
a solution they both read the same. ( I havent been able to determine
what is causing the interference with the 10th of a reading being off)
I also use Aquarium Systems Fastest PH tester to confirm the readings.

I ran a test yesterday (still running it for the next couple of days)
took 5 gallons of RO/DI water and this is the reading

6/21 5 gallons of RO/DI water PH is 7.50
2PM added salt Tropic Marian PH is 9.50 Salanity .023
3pm ...............................PH is 9.24
9PM................................PH is 8.50
6/22
7am................................PH is 8.20

will keep track of this for the next couple of days.

I dont know if I should be buffering the water first that comes out of
the RO system first, If I do that then I would think the Ph would go
even higher when I add the Tropic Marian salt. Is that correct?

thanks
James




On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 05:23:32 GMT, "Steve \"Srfmon\""
wrote:

What are you using to test your Ph? Check your test kits if that's
the
method you are using. You know Ph swings of a few tenth of a point are no
problem. But it's the drop that's in question. Do you use a Ph probe?
Have
you recently calibrated it? The harder (and longer it takes) to calibrate
it
can mean a bad probe. I've been there before. - check the pin-point
monitor
& seeing it read 7.8 & you know it's goofy!
Also, I've heard that ppl back east seem to have CO2 build-up in
their
homes causing tank Ph's to drop during the winter, I know it's summer but
it's just a thought.
Steve

wrote in message
.. .
I have noticed my PH going down from the normal 8.2 at 10AM to
8.4 around 11PM for the past 4 years. But over the past year
my readings have slowly gone down to 8.0 at 10am to 8.2 at 10PM
over the last 6 months its more like 7.8 at 10am to 8.0 at 10PM. I
recently did a 200 Gallon water change and the readings went pack up
to normal, 8.2 -8.4 but within a week or so it is coming back down
again to the 8.0 - 8.2 range.

I am using Tropic Marian salt which I thought had the best buffer
capacity but wondering if that is my problem.

Does the 500 pounds of sand in the tank have anything to do with the
buffer capability of the water? I did not think so, but wondering if
that gets depleted.

Of course Alk, KH go down as the PH goes down, if I boost ALK the ph
goes up it is just a temporary fix.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
James