pH as you know is a measure of acidity vs alkalinity. "Alkalinity" (not high pH) is the buffering capacity - or how well pH resists being lowered from the addition of an acid (from uneaten food, fish poo etc) Adding sodium bicarbonate adds more buffers (so resists changes further) but this should be used as a quick fix as opposed to being used to increase pH. The best method now is a partial water change as it restores pH and replenishes the natural buffers. I think kalkwasser in your topup water dosed at night is the BEST to maintain good pH (which is when pH is likely to drop anyway) Baking soda is primarily the best way to maintain good alkalinity. Also, test your pH during the day and its likely to be higher than at night.

Dont overfeed, keep GOOD water movement at the surface (oxygenates water - too much Co2 drops pH), dose with kalk at night and do regular water changes and your pH will remain stable.

Agree with all above.

Also, to make it simple, ph in a reef tank is a function of carbon dioxide in the water, against alkalinty. The carbon dioxide pulls ph down, and alkalinty pulls ph up, but not higher than 8.3 or so. ( Sometimes it will go slightly higher ).

So, to maintain ph, all that is needed is to keep alkalinity at a correct level, and ensure adequate aeration to allow dispersal of carbon dioxide.

PH will then take care of itself.

Alkalinty can be raised as Cracker and Rossco said, by adding baking soda. But remember that the correct balance must be maintained between alkalinty and calcium. So if someone keeps adding baking soda, but not calcium also, things will get out of whack.

Kalkawasser has both alkalinty and calcium in the correct proportion to each other, plus as Chimera and Rossco said, has a high ph so will raise ph during and shortly after dosing.

sweet thanks for all the replys

how are they looking?

Pee Bee be ka pai

and sushi's looking great as well.

New powder blue tang doing well,nicknamed "Cyanide".The yellow chased him around,but a week along and everyone's settled.

Here's Sushi, doing very well, and an end shot of the tank, also doing very well.

Very Nice I see you got a Coco Worm they are cool

I see you got your streams pointing at the front, how do you find that works?

Does it cause detritus to build up at the bottom back?

coco worm???? just grew out of some rock 8)

Only 1 6000 stream going 100 % full time pointing forward in the gap between either reef. 2 6100's with controller at either side pointing 45 degrees to front, the 3 of them create a brilliantly random flow.

I love tangs...too bad they don't come for freshwater

A couple of new kids around...took them in to show them my fishies, the first thing the little boy said was "do have Nemo" :lol:

the first thing the little boy said was "do have Nemo" :lol:

Ya get used to that

This be PeeBee today - his first day in the main tank!

I had one of those big red featherduster things turn up from under a rock as well - I think MAF wants us to through some kalk on any we see

looking good rossco

:bounce: :bounce:

Very nice

The tang twins at their nori lunch table...(I am SOOO happy that they get along )

They look good together :bounce:

Photo by Marc Levenson

Powder Blue Tangs are relatively tough to keep for most reef keepers. This one came with my new tank, and was very thin at that time. I feed Nori every day, and he is always second in line to start eating the dried seaweed clipped to the glass. Recently he has begun nipping at my green star polyps and a Toadstool Leather. By increasing the food amount, this has declined somewhat. The Powder Blue is much thicker now, and very healthy. Every night it is excited to get more meaty foods during the evening feeding. People tend to call this fish an 'ich-magnet' because they are so hard to keep. If you decide to keep one of these fish, be considerate in giving it a big tank that is at least 6' long, feed it well and feed it often. Reef-safe.

What a fat little puppy...

woow thats a really heathy one looks so clean and his colours are so crisp

One month on and PBT is doing well.

Has 'sussed out' the tank dynamics and feeding regimes so is getting more of the share from his cousie the Sailfin. Both would eat nori until they burst and sent my tank completely green...

Well, its about 3 months since we all got our PBT's, most from a special deal at Jansens.

One comment from an esteemed reef keeper questioned how many would still be alive after 1 month.

Lets hear it....

Saw pies one a couple of days ago, looking nice and fat.

Sushi is fine, eating well, loves the red sea granules, and nori, and eats the tips of the caulpera. No sign of white spot since the first week.