Thanks, everyone!
Rainman, to verify, you're saying they should theoretically be ok even with no filtration or aeration for up to a week? If so then that's great news. I can't imagine needing to shut off the power for more than 6 hours or so, tops.
I've tried various things to buffer the pH drops. At one point I brought the Total Alkalinity up to around 150 but it always gets eaten away fairly quickly and then the pH drops again. There must be something in there that's fairly acidic. I've been buffering it back up every couple of days for over a month now and it doesn't seem to be slowing down.
I have a sock full of crushed oyster shells in there. It isn't doing much. Do you think I'm better off adding more oyster shell, which I have readily available, or would the pelletized Dolomitic Limestone be better? Any thoughts on where to find it?
