High Ph

[gopper]

hi, i tested my water yesteday (friday) and all the numbers were ok (all zeros and 8.4 ph) so iv gone and got a little clown fish (please bare in mind this tank has been cycled and everything has been ok for nearley a week) made sure the water was still ok before he went in and took around 45 mins to acclimatise him to my water, he was (and still is) ok, a little timid but nothing is ringing alarm bells.

iv got up this morning made sure he was ok, fed him, cleaned the algi off the front of the tank tested the water and it seamed ok untill i got to the ph its gone up to 8.6 so i swiftley did a part water change left it half hour and checked again still a bit high but not quiet 8.6 (iv only got a colour chart to go by and its in .2 increments) but not 8.4 its been a couple of hours anot and it seams to be sticking at that level so i rang the LFS and he said it should be ok as i have a FOWLR system but keep a very keen eye on it.


can someone give me some advice on how to get it back to where it was or will it do it naturally ??

dont really want to be adding loads of chemicals to the water coz if there is a problem thats only covering it up

thanks in advance

Cj

 

[steelhealr]

Give us more info, eg, what test kit are you using? What salt mix and substrate? SH

 

[gopper]

hi, sorry its a bit scetchy, the test kit is an interpet testkit that looks for nitrate;niterite;ammonia;and ph on the high level

the subsitrate is a deep crushed coral sand bed the salt mix is from the LFS and comes pre mixed with RO water (iv tested that and it comes out at 7.8 - 8.0)

the salinty is ok at 1.024
nitrate is 0
ammonia is 0
nitrite is 0
ph is 8.6 but its a bit to high, i know the tendency is to drop but its stuck there at the min

the live rock looks ok but it is growing what i could only call "grass" on it (iv been told thats nothing to worrie about just pull it off and it shoudnt grow back)

the tank is a pico reef that is around 5 gal filter is a trickle filter with sponges,carbon,more sponges.

there is about 1kg of live rock in there but im told the more the better ??

cheers for any replys

Cj

 

[SkiFletch]

Its normal for pH to go up overnight, less CO2 in the water as plants only actually absorb CO2 at night. During the day your pH will fall back to 8.4. That is a little high, but remember, stable readings at the same time every day are more important than actual level. HOwever a clown in a 5g pico... that worries me.

 

[Lynden]

HOwever a clown in a 5g pico... that worries me.

I don't think Clown Fish are supposed to be kept in any tank less than 10 gallons. And this figure is for a temporary measure.

 

[gopper]

its only a very tempory mesure untill i get me 28 gal cycled and ok, just waiting for the protine skimmer to arrive and a new canister for the filter (dropped it in a water change) but other than that the tank is been cycled as we type, iv got two filters in there to get the flow right and as soon as i get the new canister the spray bar will be under the water level and directed onto the live rock (got about 1.5 kg that is live and about another .05 that is cured but dryed out) adding to this is some of my own live rock (that is presentley in the systern for the toilet) and there is well over 3kg (got 2 toilets) that will be ready in about 3 weeks.

so far the ph has dropped back down to a steady 8.4 and has been for the last few hours (please bare in mind it was all over the place just a few hours ago) and the clown seams very happy, he is feeding really well and is bobing around the front of the tank really well.

gonna try get the 28gal tank sorted really fast now

Cj