Had a party... so pH crashed!?!

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by doubleorange, Dec 15, 2015.

  1. doubleorange

    doubleorange Plankton

    What?... So, my Dad had a party at his house on Saturday, December 12. He has a 230 gallon reef tank at his house. I was in Longview, TX several hours away but could view the tank parameters remotely via Apex Fusion:

    SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
    - Guests started arriving around 5 pm.
    - Within an hour or so there were approx 65 people in his house.
    - At 8:30 pm I got a text from the Apex Controller warning that pH had dropped below 7.5.
    That was a drop from 7.84 to 7.5 in approx 3 hours. I thought this was odd but believed the probe to be inaccurate.
    - By 10 pm pH had dropped to 7.3. Now I was very concerned.
    - I noticed that the skimmer was off because it was full. Skimmer was emptied and turned on to aid aeration. Powerheads in the tank
    and active reservoir were maxed out to 100% to increase aeration and raise pH. Windows were opened upstairs near
    the return to the furnace.
    - The pH curve flattened out very quickly and began to climb again.
    - By afternoon of Dec 14 the pH reached normal level of 8.0+ again. All inhabitants are fine.

    So what happened? Too many people increased the CO2 in the house and dropped the 02. This had a dramatic impact on air exchange and caused pH to drop as can be seen in the attached graph. Carbonate hardness in the tank was 10 dKH.

    pH log 12122015 wcomments.JPG.jpg

    It was hard for me to believe at first but it was a lot of people in the house. Additionally, I read several similar accounts online where others experienced something similar (although not a drop of such magnitude). Some people have plumbed their skimmer air intake to the outdoors even. The moral: if you have a big party then open a window and aerate the heck out of the water!

    As an additional test while pH was still recovering, a window was opened for 30 minutes and a small spike upwards can be seen on the graph.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2015
  2. Kim

    Kim Secretary Staff Member

    Hiya,

    I've also heard that can happen when you have a gathering at the house.

    Kim/Benton
     
  3. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    I posted some screen shots from my Apex a while back noting the same thing with just 20-25 people in the house and the skimmer on. Not a problem. pH is one of the least important (within reason) parameters we follow IMO. It's cool to see the chemistry in action on your pH probe though!
     

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