PH falling!! need some help.

[VIC]

Question,
Will adding Iodine drop your ph level. Also, will dripping kaukwasser drop your ph level after the initial addition. (a day or so later)
I run a calcium reactor, my dhk stays at 11 but my ph slowly declines after my weekly water changes. (from 8.2-8.0). Should I increase my photoperiod? I have 4 150 watt hqi's that stay on for about 9.5 hrs a day and 2 140 watt vho actinics that stay on for 10 hrs a day on a 155 gallon tank. Bottom line....How do I get my ph to stay above 8.2 without shutting the reactor at night?

[Biomanjcs72]

Do you have a sump W/caulerpa in it? If so, you may want to try running that on a reverse light cycle, See, what's happening (probably) is that you are getting a buildup over the week of CO2 in the water, which is lowering your pH. Yes, Kalk will help, and may even work, but with the calc reactor, you really don't need to drip any. JMHO, HTH

[VIC]

How much calerpa should I purchase for a 100 gallon sump? Also, I can use 3 150 watt halides but how long a photo period? I guess it should be at night?
Vic

[Biomanjcs72]

Is it (the sump) set up for a refugium? You'll want to give the Caulerpa some sand/rock rubble to grab hold of. Any amount will do, I'd try to get a few different species, the more you get, the quicker it'll take effect. 3 (150)'s is bunches of light, you would n't need that much, one or two would be plenty, Generally, Lightings on Refugiums/lightred sumps are mcuh less, but there are folks that run PC's and/or VHO's on their sumps and have great success, I don't have one yet, but I'd tell you about it if I did.

Just run the lights on a reverse photo period, when your tank lights go out, crank up the refugium lights, when they go on, turn them off. There are plenty of folks that run the lights on their refugiums 24/7, so that's always an option as well.

[snoopdog]

I would think that the addition of Caulerpa would help use the Carbon Dioxide from the Calcium Reactor if you have the effluent drop out before it. I did this and now notice MAJOR oxygen bubbles coming from my Caulerpa and never noticed it before. It also started growing faster (like it needed any help!!!).