You're leaving 50% more coral growth on the table by not Mastering Reef Tank pH. Today that changes!

[@BRStv]

Did could you have known you were leaving so much on the table? The way we think about Hydrogen and Oxygen (pH) just won't be the same! Become a Reef Tank Chemistry MASTER with our growing Master Series Playlist! ➡ brs.li/BRStv_Master_Reef_Chemistry

[@Matt-dc8lp]

Chasing the pH dragon! ⚗🐉 Great video!

[@greencityaquatics851]

"Honey, I need to drill a hole in the wall to lower the pH of my aquarium." "Is there any other way?" "Sell the kids and stop breathing."

[@BRStv]

So, what drill bit size did you use? 😜

[@mykolapopyk3489]

Never having kids so my fish and coral can be happy

[@karennation3580]

hahahaha! Freaking hysterical!

[@Babycakes007]

I have had my skimmer pulling air from outside for years and have always struggled keeping my ph above 8. I recently hooked up a co2 scrubber to the pipe outside and bam within hrs my ph rose to 8.2 and now it actually sits at 8.3 -8.35 in the day and drops to around 8.2 during the night. So there is proof that just drawing air from outside doesn’t always mean it’s enough to do the job, I would urge people to try both methods together and see for yourself.

[@marcusfessler7082]

Can confirm. My Alk consumption doubles when I have the window open.

[@Fish_Ventura]

Thanks Ryan, I’m listening again as I aquascape in the garage.

[@drew-shourd]

One of the BEST videos you have done ever imo, well done Ryan and crew...you are on the right path.

[@drew-shourd]

I saw that Comline 9121 filter on one of your videos and just ordered one from you....can you guys sign it...obove the water like pls....hahahaha

[@z.s3072]

Super nerdy reef talk. Im here for it.

[@WB25Penn]

This is another step that should be in the planing of a tank placement. I had my first tank in the basement and the only time I got to 8.18 “max” was when the windows were open. I have since panned to setup on the main floor this time AND have since moved to a area of the country that does not require AC cranked for most of the summer.

[@Dani004able]

quick correction, between ph 7.8 and ph 8.3 is a factor of 3.16 in the H+ concentration

[@mjr3204]

I added an airstone in the back of my AIO (airpump outside) and I can't imagine every going back. That with the intake line if my skimmer run outside as well...night and day difference

[@karennation3580]

Could you please explain how you did that Did you do that through a window or something? I have no windows in my kitchen where one of my small aio is. Plus a thick concrete block wall. I suppose we coulld drill a hole through it but not sure how to leave the pump motor outside

[@daveva5150]

Really like this throwback format. Remind me of when you guys were at your best. Great video!

[@angryheathen3463]

I have had a reef for a little over a year and have fought with PH since day one and it’s all a fresh air issue in the house. I have tried co2 scrubber. No luck. Skimmer hose outside. No luck. Only thing that helps is if the weather is nice and I open the windows. I am at a lose. Guess I will try the plants lol

[@PhotographyInFlight4183]

Kalkwasser?

[@bernieben79]

My favorite part of this video was seeing someone provide good hvac advice and warnings! Tell whoever your hvac guy is to hit me up! I'm hiring!!!

[@jasepoag8930]

I can hear the "DON'T CHASE pH!!!" crowd furiously typing from here. I'm a FIRM believer in reducing CO2 by whatever means are most practical. I use a recirculating pH controlled motorized ball valve with a CO2 scrubber.

[@ateshhastam]

You guys are awesome. I'm learning so much before I implement everything (using your 5 min guides, too). Thanks!

[@Rms-18]

Ph has always given me better results than higher alk salt. I run 7.2alk with 8.1-8.4 ph and growth is visible almost daily on acros. I've tried higher alk salt and never noticed a difference. Unfortunately co2 media is exhausted quickly and does add up $$.

[@ApophisApril2029]

I live in a high rise, I leave my balcony door craked all year 24/7. No matter the weather. My tank does awesome, and people always ask me how im achieving what im achieving. Stability and an open balcony door is usually my answer.

[@Kobe-hx4pf]

That is a mountain of dog food that dog was like give me that🤣

[@ethanspruiell2722]

Lol got the sump refugium now I need the room refugium 😂

[@jestronixhanderson9898]

Yeh it was fun when my neighbour spray painted an old cupboard ! I lost half my sps , all cause I was pulling air from outside. I pulled in paint fumes , luv thy neighbour

[@BRStv]

Sorry to hear that 🙁

[@mykolapopyk3489]

Depending on where you are, you could sue your neighbour. Depending on how your lawyer presses your argument and how the judge receives it, you can be reimbursed.

[@Langenbergh]

Putting plants in the room is a nice idea, but at night they release the co2 again when photosynthesis stops.

[@ReRe-yl6dq]

didnt see you point out that calcium reactors lower PH, use two part and you keep your ph high for corals.

[@raisethereef]

My tanks have suffered from low pH from day one. I am starting to think it might be my probe so I am going to recalibrate and even add my second pH probe that is just sitting in a box. For me, Kalkwasser had zero effect even with a kalk stirrer adding over 2000mL a day. It did gum up all my pumps though so that has been fun. No more kalk for me. I leave a window open 24/7 in my fish room and it doesn't change the pH. Just makes the room not nearly as humid. Recirculating CO2 scrubber off the skimmer? No thanks! Sounded like a great idea until the one time your skimmer overflows, sends water into the media and spikes your alkalinty and pH while dumping in a nice slurry of kalk. It is a very cheap way to kill thousands of dollars of corals and fish. The best solution so far for me? My triple CO2 scrubber that cost less than $150 to build and that includes 10 bags of scrubbing media. First chamber is full of water, second and third chamber have scrubbing media in them. Cheaper than the jumbo scrubber and takes up less room.

[@stephenfast1961]

I did a dual recirculating scrubber. One is empty and collects the water so none reaches the CO2 media...

[@malinoisnation9392]

@@stephenfast1961 always have 2-2 pH probes and calibrate daily or weekly

[@timoh.9218]

Mine is in the range of 8,2-8,55 (night/day) since my skimmer is running with higher air intake (RE Bubble King Double Cone 200 at 52 Watts Pump consumption) and instant ventilation from the light hanging kit down on the water surface. So I could stop using CO2 scrubber. Fresh air intake did not had any effect on my pH.

[@karennation3580]

How do you get ventilation from a light kit?

[@karennation3580]

Can I use a rodi extra anion resin chamber I bought(havt hooked up) for a co2 scrubber? I was going to add to my rodi but I can try it first to see and buy a second one!

[@ou812reefing]

Great video 👍👍👍👍👍

[@Slide-Loc]

I would wonder how oversized the outside tube should be? I would expect a lower air draw to the skimmer the longer or more bends in the tube. Not sure if a significant difference but perhaps more than most think.

[@TechnicalsMatt]

Killer episode. Looking into a scrubber now

[@tomshumpert]

Do you sell that auto solenoid you have connected to the skimmer line?

[@BRStv]

We do not, but got it from McMaster-Carr's website

[@camperholics2495]

My oh sits at 8.5-8.6 I seam to have the opposite problem to everyone else. My corals seam to be doing well especially the torches, the sps never seam happy in my tank

[@BRStv]

What are you dosing for alkalinity? If you're using soda ash, you may want to consider switching to sodium bicarbonate. If you're using kalkwasser, you may want to consider switching to another method like two part (with sodium bicarbonate) or even a calcium reactor. That said, while we generally consider 8.3 to be an ideal pH, I've never noticed coral issues stemming from a slightly higher pH in that 8.5-8.6 range.

[@thehistoryoflife9686]

Hi I love your videos and I watch them all the time! Because of you I am going to get a 16 gallon! The only thing is that my parents are worried about spills in my room. (Which has carpet) will there be any? And if so how can I prevent them?

[@BRStv]

Depends on how careful you are 😉

[@mykolapopyk3489]

You should be just fine. Just don’t buy a very old used tank or anything like that. But a new tank if you’re very worried. When you’re mixing saltwater, just be careful not to spill it. Also, if you are very worried about spills, you can buy a rubber mat with raised edges at your local hardware store such as Home Depot. They even sell water leak sensors that you can put on your floor. These sensors will make a loud alarm noise if they come in contact with water, and even send a message to your smartphone. Only $30 for a basic sensor. I didn’t get one for my 13.5 gallon tank, but I just got a Reefer 250 so I think I’m going to get a sensor this time.

[@thehistoryoflife9686]

Thanks for such a detailed response!

[@stefanfr992]

Power backup sound pretty useless around here.. The average outage is 24 minutes and an overal uptime of 99,995%

[@chereecarter1782]

Would LOVE to see Randy's video on the battery backups... what was that called or do you have a link? Thanks!

[@chereecarter1782]

Think I found it.

[@BRStv]

If you search for brstv battery backup, you should find the videos that Randy did on the subject 🙂

[@RobBoryckiGolf]

Great info!

[@karennation3580]

Would a small fuge on back of my sump 10 x 5 x5 work for a 36 bowfront with a 10 g sump or am I just wasting my money? i have no space in my sump. Also a aio one on a 20 g aio. Just afraid it will make tank hotter! Kind of different subject but I am just noticing how much the temp changes at night and drops over 1 degree so does that drop in temp hurt stability? Dosnt everyone tank temp drop though when lights are out? Another thought lol. Is a tank in a kitchen not a good idea with cooking odors ect? Not far from stove and I do get slow growth one of the reasons I am thinking of a fuge beside nutrient levels! Sorry all the questions! It just to easy not to ask on here since I am watching the youtubes anyway! lol

[@JeanEstevez]

I think a good video idea would be which is the best way to monitor *PH* what’s the most reliable and easier, cost effective and more accurate

[@BRStv]

Aquarium controllers are probably the most useful for this job as most of them will graph the pH for you so that you can look at trends over the last week or so. There are some less expensive pH monitoring tools out there like the Pinpoint pH monitor, but you'll have to manually log the pH as it doesn't save any of the data for you. Rather, it just displays the current pH. Just about anything probe based that can be calibrated will be accurate enough for our purposes.

[@briannichols7399]

What about low PH from non natural rocks? Seems to be a common problem. Ran reel reef rock and always had low ph, switched to marco in my new tank, running 8.0 to 8.3 swing daily in middle of summer with closed windows.

[@BRStv]

Interesting thought. We've got a number of tanks running the Real Reef rock with pH approaching the 8.3-8.6 range, so the issues you're seeing might not be 100% because of the rock. Would be an interesting test!

[@xora7490]

Snake plants greatly consume CO2 and can survive in low-light conditions

[@MikeGervasi]

My issue is PH swinging from 8.3-8.5 (Drop at night with Fuge light on). Corals and fish seem happy so I don't know if I should just let the tank settle where it wants to.

[@BRStv]

pH will naturally drop at night, so a swing of a few tenths of a pH like you're seeing is very normal. 8.3-8.5 pH is pretty darn good! I wouldn't change a thing in that regard.

[@davebaer8504]

Pretty clear to how this applies to SPS and LPS, but how do pH levels effect soft coral growth? Is it just as important?

[@Mattcarr3]

I was wondering this same thing.

[@BRStv]

This isn't something that we've tested, but since softies don't have a skeletal structure, I think it's fair to assume that pH would have less of an affect of softies vs other coral types with a skeleton.

[@Mattcarr3]

@@BRStv So the increase in PH is for critters with a skeletal structure so LPS will benefit from this as well?

[@karennation3580]

@@BRStv Lately it seems al the corals I am losing are lps! Crazy thing is I have a pectinia and a turbinaria that are fine and mad hadder reef listed those 2 in the top 10 hardest corals to keep! I just lost my duncan I had for 1 1/2 years and my hammer and acans that I had for a long time I also lost a ton of new corals but some came in a bad way to begin with. I dont know what is goin on in my tank. My parameters are all good! Can dying coral spread disease or affect all the corals in tank? I tried to save with brightwells medicoral but think it stressed them more!

[@rc2300s2r]

My ph gets to 8.5 during the day and drops to 8.3ish at night. How bad is it to have ph at 8.5? Fish and all corals SPS including acropora, LPS and softies doing well. I’m just worried that I’m on the verge of a bad situation with it being so high. Thank you. Oh, I have checked and/or calibrated my apex probe twice and the readings are accurate to the 7 and 10 solutions.

[@BRStv]

You're perfectly fine in that range. While most reefers point to 8.3 pH as "ideal," a slightly higher pH could actually grow corals even more quickly. Truth is, nobody knows exactly where the cutoff is in terms of how high of a pH is too high.

[@calvinstevens6046]

You guys should do a typed recap of the videos

[@BRStv]

We used to attach an accompanying article to each video, however, very few people took advantage of it. Since it takes a long time to turn these into text form, we opted to stop that for the time being.

[@nopy117]

Could an acidification of the coral tissue actually be a cause of the mysterious RTN in sps? Certainly sounds like a possibility.

[@BRStv]

Possible! I don't think anyone has proven why RTN or STN occurs yet.

[@larryneeranat8077]

On using plants in the room: don’t plants respire at night, breathing out carbon dioxide at the time of day when you want it the least?

[@jonathancantrell8508]

Not an appreciable amount. They take in more than they emit. So there is a net reduction in CO2 levels.

[@barkvarkie_fpv8623]

@@jonathancantrell8508 I think that would only be valid in a totally closed system. Much of the O2 produced by plants tend to escape the room via open windows and doors during the day. At night with windows closed (as most people do), the CO2 build-up could potentially also cause issues. I remember as a kid we were taught in school to remove plants from an ill person's room at night.

[@jonathancantrell8508]

@@barkvarkie_fpv8623 The point is still valid. Plants produce a minimal amount of carbon dioxide compared to the amount of oxygen produced. There is no correlation between the CO2 produced by plants during respiration and any increase for the chance of respiratory acidosis in a human.

[@zsxking]

ProTip #1 "everyone move out of the house or stop breathing" ✔

[@BRStv]

😆

[@justin7212]

What about those of us with Calcium reactors? We run a 550 gallon garage system with a window always slightly open, CO2 in garage measured around 700, dual refugium (80 gallon in sump) & algae scrubber (clearwater's largest), Octopus 3000 skimmer fed from outside air, and dose 3.5L of Kalkwasser a day. It sounds like a joke, but even with that and 2 pH probes on tank, our pH tops out around 7.88 and bottoms out at 7.77. Corals grow well, but i'd love to get it above 8.1. Any ideas?

[@BRStv]

That's sort of nature of the beast with calcium reactors. You're dosing your tank with a very low pH solution for your calcium and alkalinity, so naturally, the tank will be lower in pH. Given that you're already using kalk, skimmer line from outside and have a big refugium, it's possible that you might not be able to get much higher than the 7.9 pH mark. Of course, without some drastic steps like greatly increasing the amount of kalk or size of your refugium to help compensate.

[@justinswinney3344]

Are we talking an average ph or highest in the day. My average is just shy of 8.2 but my low is usually just under at and high is usually right at 8.3

[@BRStv]

We're talking a steady pH here. That said, we completely understand that almost nobody has a pH in their reef tank that stays steady. I think that in a real world situation, it would be best to talk about average pH 🙂

[@briannichols7399]

Also what happens of you push ph over 8.4 what are the adverse effects?

[@jasepoag8930]

Mine goes over 8.4 pretty much every day. That's not in the range I'd worry about.

[@BRStv]

We've never tested the upward boundaries of pH, but have gotten some of our tanks approaching 8.6 without issue. I'm not sure anyone really knows where the exact cut off is for how high of pH is too high.

[@surfersruleall]

How much does a closed glass lid affect the pH?

[@BRStv]

That's not something that we've tested. On one hand, the lids prohibit gas exchange, but on the other hand, if the surrounding room is high in CO2, it's possible that the tops actually "protect" the tank from the high CO2 in the surrounding room. More testing is needed to know for sure and it will probably change from one reefer's house to another.

[@Sh0rtyMac1]

What is considered a elevated ph?

[@BRStv]

8.3 pH is generally where the ocean's pH sits, so that's been the gold standard in the reefing hobby. A pH of 8.3 to 8.6 could be considered elevated.

[@CodyRay787]

Been a while since I held my breath for a minute.

[@BRStv]

😆

[@gaboseal9093]

does ph also affect soft coral growth?

[@BRStv]

Since soft corals don't have a skeletal structure, pH has less of an affect on softies. That said, if you let the pH get to high or too low, you'll still run into issues with softies.

[@nornicle2]

I drilled a hole in my living room wall for this, no regrets. Maybe.

[@sdot79]

Why not add a co2 scrubber?

[@mahmoudtaha7245]

I guess your water source plays a good role in PH

[@barkvarkie_fpv8623]

Never if you use RODI ... RODI water is slightly acidic, yes, however that acidity is very predictable and properly managed via most good salt mixes. Top-off is also not a concern as PH buffering compounds in your tank do not evaporate. Without RODI, absolutely and the effects will be exponential with regards top-off water.

[@markmanuel3187]

I passed out doing that 60 seconds!

[@BRStv]

😂

[@nedlabarbara1898]

I haven't tested my pH in 6 months.

[@BRStv]

Hopefully your corals are thriving. If so, glad to hear it! 🙂

[@Jstn190]

There is no appreciable hydrogen in the tank (H2 diatomic or hydrogen radical) there is only hydrogen Ion (proton) in the form of hydronium (H3O+) and Bicarb. Semantics but important since its in its oxidized form and very difference.

[@Matt-dc8lp]

If you watch the video, randy uses the correct terminology (hydrogen ions H+, not hydrogen H2).

[@Jstn190]

Matt inconsistency yes, but in the beginning they mention hydrogen.

[@Matt-dc8lp]

@@Jstn190 🙄 I don't think anyone with any level of chemistry background would listen to this and think he was talking about H2 hydrogen.

[@Jstn190]

Matt I did and i have a phd in chemistry, not sure why you are arguing a wrong point with me? i mentioned it to help improve the quality of information not create angst. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish by arguing with me but happy reefing.

[@ShadowTheNinjaKitty]

Justin B The point they’re making is that anyone who has a background in chemistry would be able to infer what he meant

[@victorgerhardt1504]

Beginner Brain Freeze!

[@reddawn7128]

Power out potato hydrogen peroxide free o2

[@mahmoudtaha7245]

What about Pumping Air into Tank ?

[@Matt-dc8lp]

That's effectively what a protein skimmer does (which is what randy talks about). Oxygen has no effect on pH. If you are pumping air that has a high CO2 concentration in it, you may be making things worse.

[@karennation3580]

@@Matt-dc8lp what about an air bubbler? Do s a fuge only help the drop that happens at night? I am 7.8 during the day! I sit in my small den all day next to tank and sometimes my two dogs are with me! OOps I thought brs would get this! I replied to them sorry!

[@brucegelman5582]

Yay....spend more money!!!!

[@enzomontini758]

#19:07 mins 😂🤣 give that script writer a pay rise 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧

[@BRStv]

This one took me 2 months of writing and scrapping ideas. I just couldn't figure out how to tell this coherently. Finally came together a couple weeks ago :) - Ryan