PH Problem

I have an 18 gallon rubbermaid container and I cant seem to get my ph down. I followed the directions on my ph decreaser and it says to use about 5ml for every 10 gallons. I used a half of 8 oz bottle and no change. I then returned that stuff thinking it didnt work and got a different brand. This brand says to use a half teaspoon per 25 gallons and after one full dose of that still no change. Has anyone ever had this problem? Does anyone know what to do?

Your ph meter needs to be recalibrated, or just broke.

Its one those where you put 3 drips in. How could it be broke? I was lowering my ph before with vinegar and that worked but i read its not that great to use vinegar.

is the water cold?

I agree that something has gone wrong in the measuring department.

I can guarantee that after adding PH down you would see a big change...

Ill check the temp now.

The water is 71 degrees.

i had a problem similar to that and it was because the water was freezing cold but i still saw a change in ph it just wasnt substantial for the amount of adjuster i was using. then the ph would spike as it warmed up. i'd end up with 3.5 or 4 then hav to readjust it. hav never seen the problem before or since.

Does anybody else have any idea whats going on with my ph? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Something does not sound right. I dnt know what to tell ya.

hendry said:

Does anybody else have any idea whats going on with my ph? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Take a glass of water and see if you can lower that little bit of water with the solution. The PH should drop immediately and hard. If not, you're measuring is broke somehow.

Picasso345 said:

Take a glass of water and see if you can lower that little bit of water with the solution. The PH should drop immediately and hard. If not, you're measuring is broke somehow.

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Good idea!

I just tried that i used 1 little drop on 2 liters of water it dropped the ph a full point i dont understand why its not working on my resovoir.

hendry said:

I just tried that i used 1 little drop on 2 liters of water it dropped the ph a full point i dont understand why its not working on my resovoir.

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What kind of nutes are you using? Maybe one them is really buffered or something.

No nutes right now i tried some a couple of days ago and algae grew. I had some light leaks that i took care, changed the water, got rid of the vinegar, added h2o2 and algaecide. The water is crystal clear. The average ph in my area is 7.8 and it seems like no matter how much ph down i put in no change, but i know the stuff works i'm really confused. Do you think anything else could be buffering?

My ph is finally starting to go down the last test was at 7.2. So i will continue to bring it down. I just really dont understand why its taking so much to go down. used 4oz's of the first brand and now 2oz's of the 2nd brand. The 1st brand said to use 1 and half teaspoons i used 24. The 2nd brand said i needed less than a half teaspoon i used 12 teaspoons and its still only at 7.2. Its gonna pretty expensive to keep this ph down if i cant figure out whats wrong.

You, my friend, probably need to get a new batch of pH adjusting chemicals.

The buffers in your current stuff have probably gone bad.

Vinegar tests at pH 2.5-3.0 and coffee brewed and let sit for 20 minutes reads 5.0 (caffeinated, not decaf,) so that can work for testing your meter's accuracy.

You do have a neutral buffer solution to put your pH probe into after use, yes?

I dont know what neutral buffer solution would be. I completly wash my vile out and then dry it completly before i use it again. However the good news is that I finally got the ph corrected its now just under 6. Hopefully my babies will look freshier in the morning they have really been struggling these last couple of days.

Good thing about hydro is you see rapid results in whether or not you did good or bad in your treatment.

The biggest prob people have with PH is that to lower PH you need to add ACID. I had a bottle PH up .... I thought it would raise the PH level with more acid .... it doesn't. You need PH down to increase acid. I moved in to a house two years ago that came with a Spa and had the same problem. PH up means to lower acid. PH down means to increase acid to get rid of the algea.