Help!

[Albatross]

I have a 24 gallon nano cube, it's been up since last Feb. My corals have thrived historically. Recently I had an increase in hair algae. I noticed that the ph had fallen to 7.8. After some battling with the algae the LFS said to replace the lighting and add reef builder to boost ph. I replaced lighting and added reef builder according to directions, which is supposed to boost ph by 0.1. Tested the next day and it was 8.0. Noticed that my corals were not opening, and my hammer had a shrivled appearance. Tested a week later and ph was 8.2, but stayed there. Corals are not looking good, and a firefish was looking stressed and hanging out near the surface yesterday. Am=0, Na=0, Ni=0, ca=350, p04=0.1ppm. Is this ph shock? Is there anything else I can test or other action steps? Thanks.

 

[nasher8860]

I have heard of ph shock like that, but have never expirienced it, I have raised the ph like that during water changes and have never had any problems. You night have killed all you benificial bacteria with raising the ph, whenever I do a water change I add pro-biotic. I really wish i could help you more...sorry.
Someone else will have something for you...I hope

 

[Rock-N-Ruin]

What type/how much circulation do you have in the tank? If the fish are hanging out at the top, I would add more! What's the temp??

How much lighting? I am guessing if your lighting was 11 months old, you might have shocked the corals. You could try raising the lights up a bit higher.

I have buffered my ph before and never had an problem. It is possible, but I am not sure.

 

[tony2005]

did u try doing a water change before adding the ph booster,and ur cal is pretty low.doing a water change could help in ur ph too and like rock n ruin says changing ur light might have shock ur coral too.

hopefully this will help save the corals

 

[plack]

In a small tank things can change quicker salinity is what I am curious about as your calcium level seems low but without knowing your salinity and your alkalinity I can't tell if anything is out of balance.

 

[Albatross]

Thanks for the initial feedback. The salinity is around 1.0235 (swing arm), but has been consistent. I need a better test for alkalinity, picking one up today. According to the strip test the buffering capacity is where it should be, we'll see with the new test. Temp 79-80. Did a 20% water change after the ph test.

 

[Angelscrx]

Doesn't sound like anything out of the norm. Did you test the PH with the lights on or off? Morning or evening? These things can give you different readings depending on when you test.
Do you have a refugium or lighted sump? This will help maintain the Ph more consistently in my experience.
I take it you have VHOs in your tank since you replaced the lights after 11 months? They say to replace VHOs every six months since they tend to fade. I think the corals may have gotten light shock too.