Thanks so much for replying...you know I should not be allowed to be a fish nerd by myself...
!! The fish need Scott!! Thanks again Michael!
Oh balogna!!! You'll make a great fish nerd!! Angie was thrown into quite rapidly as well, and she survived. So will you AND your fish.
Bob's test does seem to agree with yours and your test was done well after lights had been on a long time.
No, the airstone won't raise the pH too much. There are also ways to raise it, without effecting Alk or Ca, but I'm not totally familiar with those. Baking Soda is one of them, but again, I'm not sure how to direct you to use it. Try posting this in Boomer's Reef Chemistry forum.
There's also products, such as AquaVitro OH Balance. It raises ph without effecting Alk or Ca. You may be able to find something like this at Bob's. In the meantime, while your ph is low, it's not dangerously low. Keep an eye on it and make sure it's not dropping much lower though. I'd suggest having lights on your fuge, while lights on your display are off. A reverse lighting cycle will keep it from dropping much lower.
A couple things that might help...
Anything that's decomposing, in your tank, will try to drive down the ph. These include fish poop, uneaten fish food, decomposing algaes, etc. Even fish respiration... So, vacuum up any detritus (gunk) from your live rock and the top of the sand bed. You can also blow the live rock off, with a turkey baster, or powerhead. The gunk floating around will then be picked up by the skimmer. If you have any filter socks on the tank, empty them. They could contain decomposing junk.
