PH Fluctuation

C

CarolynM

I've noticed one head of my xenia not looking that great in the evenings. It starts the day just fine and then looks pretty miserable at the end of the day. It has lost quite a few of its polyps this week (they just shrivel and drop off). At first I thought it might be having a war with a leather so I moved it. I thought I had things fixed.

Now tonight it looks poor again. I have also noticed my leathers polyps aren't all out like they are in the morning. The one parameter I know that changes during the day is PH and sure enough I just tested it and it is low. I know Xenia is pretty sensitive to PH changes so I think this may be the problem. What I don't understand is doesn't PH drop during the day? Per the test it looked like it was about 8.0 (dark green not blue). Why would the coral look worse at the end of the day? I'll test PH tomorrow AM but I'm confused.

Does dripping Calc help keep the levels up during the day without raising them too much overnight?

TIA for any pointers.
 
Your pH will actually rise as the day goes on. It can drop to 7.8-7.9 at night and rise to 8.2-8.3 during the afternoon. You may check your Alkalinity; if that's low, chances are, you're having pH swings at all times of the day.

Also, do you supplement your corals with Iodine on a regular basis?
 
Xenia also is a great barometer regarding alkalinity. If mine's low, the xenia will look a tad wilted. (Higher alk will also stabilize ph.)
 
Oops, I posted that backwards I meant drop at night? Shouldn't things get better during the day? Anyhow, I'll start a Kalc drip tomorrow and see how things progress. I'll also test PH and Alk in the morning.

I don't supplement anything regularly but I have dosed iodine in the past week...I try to keep up on water changes but must admit those haven't been as regular as they should be.

I just found it odd that the corals start off looking pretty good in the morning and then look worse at night. Could be the PH/Alk swinging. I'll let you know how I make out with that.
 
PH was about the same in the morning when I checked it. I'll add a drip today (I had to make some RO water yesterday). Forgot to check the Alk though..I'll update if this fixes the droopy Xenia.
 
@CarolynM wrote:
I just found it odd that the corals start off looking pretty good in the morning and then look worse at night. Could be the PH/Alk swinging. I'll let you know how I make out with that. said:
Usually, if corals do what you are describing above, the lighting period may be too long.
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