Stopping nightly ph swings

[nymike23]

Hey
I was wondering what is the best way to avoid / limit the nightly PH swing in my tank? My PH swings from about 7.6/7.8 in the A.M. to about
8.2/8.4 at night. I have tried to slow drip Kalk but no positive results. I usually use about 1/2 gal on a 20gal system and the levels still drop. Would it be benificial to add a 2 part calcium supplement at night insted?
Ever since my fuge got nuked Im having this problem. Any help would be great.

[afilter]

forget all the supplements unless you are testing for all constatntly. I suggest getting the fuge going and run a light on it 24/7 on it. This was suggested to me a while back and has worked for me.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Running a fuge on either a reverse light cycle or with 24 hour lighting is the only way to keep a stable pH. Supplements won't help at all.

Can you DIY a small HOB filter into a fuge to hang on the back of your 20? http://www.coralforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6754

[Doctor_Reef]

Just curious -- what is your alk - calcium ratio.... what are the numbers???

[MikeS]

Have you noticed any ill effects from these pH swings? There really isn't much evidence out there to suggest that fluctuating pH is harmful to your livestock....

MikeS

[nymike23]

DR. REEF- My Cal is at about 420-440 and my Alk is at about 7-10dKh

MIKE S- The only effects I see are that my corals dont really expand and look good till about 2hrs before the lights go off. Hell most of my livestock looks its best under my moonlight.

SugarM- I did have a 10g fuge sump on my tank but I had a big accident and I since removed it . The 10g ended up being cracked and I lost everything. I now intend to use my overflow in my new 55g that Im now currently renovating. For the mean time I was looking at a DIY HOB fuge. Thanks for the link.....Any comments on the size?
Thanks all

[FishinInTheDark]

Mike,

I suspect that your calcium and alkalinity is slightly out of whack. Your alk is possibly low. It's hard to say, since you gave a range of numbers. Take a look at this page, and use your two part additives separately to adjust. (BTW, to get your alk numbers from dKH to meq/l, divide the number by 2.8 )

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Getting Ca/Alk in balance will help keep it stable, and will also help to keep the pH stable.

[Doctor_Reef]

Conni has given a great link there and I would agree with what is being said!!!!

[FishinInTheDark]

For some reason, I got a smilie instead of the number I tried to post for you. Divide your dHK number by 2.8 .