Lowering Ph and TA help

[Klundell]

Hello!

I have been battling high ph for a few weeks now and could use some help. I have not been running any bubblers or fountains. I believe my TA is too high, so my ph is rising very fast very time I add acid to bring it down. In order to lower the TA, I need to bring the ph down to like 7.2 right? My question is, do I get it down that low and leave it? Or should I aerate to get it back up to 7.6? I did this a couple weeks ago, (lowered, then aerated) and its back to rising past 8 every time I test.

FC 5
CC 0 (turned very very pale pink so maybe a tiny bit if CC)
CYA 45
PH 8
TA 150
CH 250-300 (my sample turns purple around 250ish, I kept adding but it never turned blue)

I also learned an extremely important lesson last week. WEAR GOGGLES! I splashed Muriatic acid into my eye. Let’s just say it wasn’t the funnest thing Ive ever done.

Thanks for the help!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Yes, bring that pH down to 7.2 and let it stay. It might take a couple of times to get that TA down but it will do so.

7.2 is perfectly acceptable to leave your pH, so lets *not* aerate and see if that helps.

Keep in mind if you have an autofill device and if its adding water with high TA, you'll always be fighting this battle. AZ is known for such water.

Maddie

 

[Klundell]

Thanks Maddie!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Krys,

If you are tying to lower TA, it will take more than one shot at dumping in MA... It generally takes me about two days.. This is how I do it....

Measure TA and pH.. add enough acid to get your pH down to 7.0. Turn on all the aeration you can... Retest every two or three hours until your pH comes back up to 7.5 or so... Test TA and add MA to drop your pH to 7.0 again... just keep repeating over and over until your TA gets down to just under what you want... In your case I would shoot for a TA of 80 and see how that works.

The whole idea is that if you dumped in enough MA to reduce your TA to your target level all at once, your pH would go way too low... So you keep adding acid to reduce the TA while aerating to maintain your pH in the 7's...

I usually start early Sat morning and quit at bed time and then start again the next day... I never shut off the aeration until I'd done...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[Klundell]

Thanks Jim! I will give that a try. After getting it to 7.2 yesterday, my TA is 110. Ill bring the ph up again and repeat!