Marine Buffer

Could anyone please help me as I'm a little confused about the whole marine buffer.. I've had some trouble with my ph dropping lower and I was told to use this. I bought the seachem marine buffer and fluval sea alkalinity. It states it buffers ph but honestly I'm totally confused. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

60 gal with a 30 sump
Fish only with a little bit of live rock
Sg 1.023
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate between 0 and 5

 

Be very careful using buffer products in your tank. You can easily overdose and nuke things in your tank when done incorrectly.
If you are doing fish only - why would PH matter so much?

What's the pH in your tank? and what time are you doing the tests?
What salt are you using? and what are you using to measure your salt?

 

I'm not sure but when I do top offs or water changes that's when the ph drops. The ph is 8.2 but drops to 7.4 after water changes. I'm using omega one salt. I use a hydrometer and a refractometer. I can tell when it drops because they start flashing on the sand..

 

How large of a water change are you doing?

 

I do like a 20% water change bI weekly

 

Thanks nart for taking the time with me as you can see no one else did. I greatly appreciate your time!

 

Of course.

Since your Nitrates don't seem out of control and assuming you don't have issues with algae, why not drop the 20% water changes down to the 12-15% range.
And see if your fishes still flash with a lower % water change.

You are matching temp as closely as possible too right?
What fishes do you have in there?

 

Yes I keep the water the same temp. I have a clown, coral beauty,tobacco basslet,cardinal,yellow tail,a sharpnosed puffer,and a blind blue head wrasse

 

Ah - yeah, try lowering the % water change some and see if that helps.
Typically how long do you mix the saltwater for before a water change?

 

As soon as I get my buckets filled I mix it. So it sits mixed for a week or two. So how about this buffering. Do I have to add it each time I top off or do a water change?

 

When it sits mixing for a week or two. Do you let the heater and pump run in it? It might be precipitating, but I'm not sure.
If you do add buffer, it'll be added to your mix, afterwards test and see if the pH matches and then perform the water change.

I haven't had to buffer for my tank though and I would say a lot of things in my tank are very sensitive to parameter changes.

 

There may be a remote chance that your room air where your tank is or where your WC water is has elevated CO2. Meaning not much fresh air gets in. Elevated air CO2 does lead to elevated CO2 in the water which drives down pH. Your pH might be dipping because your WC water has low pH. You can let in fresh air on a regular basis to see if this helps. Another thing to try is running a refugium with long photo period to consume CO2 in the tank and drive up pH.

 

O wow guys thanks for the great info.. I have the kids on the jugs so fresh air is not getting in.. I'll try these ideas and let you guys know how it works out.. once again thank both if you for taking the time to respond!