Maybe this is more common knowledge than I think, but I thought I'd share this info in case someone else has the same problem.
My pH has been rock steady for months at 8.22-8.34 with constant monitoring using my Pinpoint pH monitor. Then a few days ago it started climbing slowly everyday to 8.4 then 8.45 then 8.49...and I got worried.
First I blamed it on starting to use a 2 part calcium supplement (because the change started the next day.) I stopped using it.....the pH climbed.
Then, I did a big water change--a slight drop to 8.45 then the next day back up to a high of 8.5
Next I decided to clean the pH probe in some vinegar overnight....guess what? No change. pH now 8.52. Now I'm getting worried. Fortunately, all the livestock looked fine. So, I decided to get more drastic but thought I should be cautious just in case. So I added some vinegar but only 50% of dose calculated to lower pH by 0.3 Ahhhhh, the pH slowly dropped to 8.4. I went to bed happy thinking the next day would be a better day for acid/base status. Wrong....the ph was up again.
Because the livestock continued to look good I decided there had to be something else wrong. I checked with 2 different colorometric tests that showed pH to be around 8.3. What was up?
Then I figured it out! Do you know what was wrong? I'll give you a chance to guess before I give you the answer, but I felt like an idiot. :?
Glad I trusted my instincts and the look of the tank's health before I did something so drastic that I screwed it up and lost livestock.
My pH has been rock steady for months at 8.22-8.34 with constant monitoring using my Pinpoint pH monitor. Then a few days ago it started climbing slowly everyday to 8.4 then 8.45 then 8.49...and I got worried.
First I blamed it on starting to use a 2 part calcium supplement (because the change started the next day.) I stopped using it.....the pH climbed.
Then, I did a big water change--a slight drop to 8.45 then the next day back up to a high of 8.5
Next I decided to clean the pH probe in some vinegar overnight....guess what? No change. pH now 8.52. Now I'm getting worried. Fortunately, all the livestock looked fine. So, I decided to get more drastic but thought I should be cautious just in case. So I added some vinegar but only 50% of dose calculated to lower pH by 0.3 Ahhhhh, the pH slowly dropped to 8.4. I went to bed happy thinking the next day would be a better day for acid/base status. Wrong....the ph was up again.
Because the livestock continued to look good I decided there had to be something else wrong. I checked with 2 different colorometric tests that showed pH to be around 8.3. What was up?
Then I figured it out! Do you know what was wrong? I'll give you a chance to guess before I give you the answer, but I felt like an idiot. :?
Glad I trusted my instincts and the look of the tank's health before I did something so drastic that I screwed it up and lost livestock.
