my pH swings

WeePee

WeePee

New member
so i finally got around to installing my pH probe, and during the day im measuring approx 8.1 pH, and well after lights out its dropping to around 7.8. is this too much of a swing?
i think i need some chaeto for my fuge!
 
That is normal,my PH at night is about 7.8 and goes up to 8.0 during the day.No ill effects on my corals at all.You can put chaeto in your fuge on reverse light schedule as you're thinking but it is not necessary IMO.
 
I read something once by Holmes that says: "The net effect of these processes is that pH rises during the day and drops at night in most reef aquaria. This change varies from less than a tenth of a pH unit, to more than 0.5 pH units in typical aquaria."
I don't know anyone who swings 0.5, but he thinks it's "typical" (Mine swings 0.2 per day)

Here's the article:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php
 
i have heard people leaving there refuge light on during the night and turning it off during the day to help stabilize the system.
 
i read an article not too long ago that said that ph swings happen in the wild day vs night too. those probes just makes you think too much imo, if the tank looks healthy, it is.
 
scotty said:
i read an article not too long ago that said that ph swings happen in the wild day vs night too. those probes just makes you think too much imo, if the tank looks healthy, it is.
Click to expand...

but it saves me from inaccurate testing.
and my temp probe saves me electricity and keeps my tank's temp,
and my float valves keep my return pump from running dry,
and my ORP probe keeps... well nothing cuz i dont have one and dont know what ORP really is.
 
EricTheRed said:
I read something once by Holmes that says: "The net effect of these processes is that pH rises during the day and drops at night in most reef aquaria. This change varies from less than a tenth of a pH unit, to more than 0.5 pH units in typical aquaria."
I don't know anyone who swings 0.5, but he thinks it's "typical" (Mine swings 0.2 per day)

Here's the article:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php
Click to expand...

http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8556&postcount=10

Mine swings .4
 
Superman92088 said:
i have heard people leaving there refuge light on during the night and turning it off during the day to help stabilize the system.
Click to expand...

I do this as well, works good so far.... my pH goes from 8.0 in the day time, to 7.8-7.9 at night... I'm not really too worried about it, because as other have said, if the tank looks healthy it is.. My corals are all opened up, and everything looks great...

I really do think that sometimes people over-complicate the hobby to an unhealthy point :)
 
Lol, the reason for pH swings is light, think about what corals are doing when the light is turned on as opposed to off. This is where you get the pH swing; which I would not call a normal swing ( as in a true pH swing whre the pH is out of its normal range) but a natural occurrence. Of course this happens on natural reef the sun comes up and goes down. Why turn on your fuge at night, all that it is doing is making you corals more use to a constant pH. That's not natural, so when a swing does occur the chances of you losing coral/fish is greatly increased. The goal here is to make the glass box as similar as we can to the natural reef; at least that is what I am trying to do.
 
has anyone actually place a pH probe in the ocean to see if there is a pH swing? the ocean is such a large body of water, I don't know if it actually has any measurable swings of anything. anyone read any articles on this?
 
ColaAddict said:
has anyone actually place a pH probe in the ocean to see if there is a pH swing? the ocean is such a large body of water, I don't know if it actually has any measurable swings of anything. anyone read any articles on this?
Click to expand...

I would say you are looking for pH swing among reefs, not the entire ocean itself. I don't care about what is going on in the open blue water, nor anywhere else that does not have a reef concerning the species of coral I keep.

The reason for pH swing in the tank is photosynthesis by the zooxanthellae to in the making of food for your coral. Hydroxide ions are increased and hydrogen ions decreased. Then the opposite for night, so you have a slight drop. There is not a large increase or decrease of either, but enough to see a pH increase during the day and a decrease at night. I would think this would effect the reef to some point, as there is s large amount of coral in the reef.
 
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