What is your PH, and why should you care?

What is your PH, and why should you care?

PH Test kit

Well if you have a marine fish tank, PH is something you should know about.  A reef tank has to be more careful than a fish only tank.

First let us look at what PH is – PH is the acidity or alkalinity of the water.  The higher the number, the more alkaline the water is, and the lower the number, the more acidic the water is.  The acceptable levels of PH is 7.7 to 8.4 for a fish only tank, and a reef tank should be between 8.0 and 8.4. Acids in your tank usually come from three main sources – excess CO2, nitric acid from biological filtration and organic acids from fish poop. As acids first work on lowering your buffers in your water, such as calcium. However, once your buffers run low, then your PH number will start to drop and the health of your tank may be in jeopardy due to poor water quality.

ph test kit 8.3

Here is a sample from The Reef Aquarium DVD, A Set Up & Maintenance Guide Demo tank. It reads 8.3, which is a very healthy reading. It is rare that your PH will go over 8.4, and it is much more common for the reading to go lower.  8.3 is a great number for a healthier habitat for your fish and corals to live.

A good practice to keeping your PH up is constant partial water changes as this refreshes natural buffers and restores trace elements into the water. The Reef Aquarium DVD, A Set Up & Maintenance Guide also recommends using a calcium reactor to help put back in trace elements and keep your PH levels at a high constant.