My PH seems to be going up!

[tishygirl]

My tap ph is 7.6.... my tank ph keeps going up.. its 8 now.. what could be the cause ??

what can I do to fix it ? I realize a stable ph is more important than a neutral ph level, but its getting kinda high don't you think??

Just wanna know what I can do, if I should do anything, I've been told using ph chemicals are worse because your tank becomes dependant on them...

what a mess.... not only that, but my ammonia is spiking because a fish died and I cant find it to save my life.!

Argh!!!!

 

[jolaf]

Do a 25% water change every other day. I had a problem with ammonia and that helped me.

Ph is another story but that will help also. Is your filter big enough for the tank? what size tank do you have?

My tap ph is 7.6.... my tank ph keeps going up.. its 8 now.. what could be the cause ??

what can I do to fix it ? I realize a stable ph is more important than a neutral ph level, but its getting kinda high don't you think??

Just wanna know what I can do, if I should do anything, I've been told using ph chemicals are worse because your tank becomes dependant on them...

what a mess.... not only that, but my ammonia is spiking because a fish died and I cant find it to save my life.!

Argh!!!!

[snapback]887507[/snapback]​

 

[tishygirl]

tank is 44 gallons US. I have a nice big fluval filter , the 304? I think.... its the one they say to use for a 70 US gallon tank... so its pretty adequete I think.
I think the biggest part of the ammonia is for one, i'm a newb, and didnt know about 'fishless cycling' and all that, so the tank is still having new tank syndrome.....and then I lost a fish... can't find him, but I am sure he's dead and messing with the ammonia. 'cause its been pretty stable at 0 until now.

I continue to do water changes, it seems to help a bit, my ph was only 7.8 this morning, i guess thats a little better. The ammonia was .5 still this morning after a 10% change last night, so I went ahead and did more like a 15% change now....
*crossing fingers*

I've also stopped feeding for the moment until I can get the ammonia down, and added a cup full of gravel from my other aquarium...

Anything else I can do ?

 

[freddyk]

The water we use in our tanks is often oxygen deprived and carbon dioxide rich. This mix results in a lowered ph. Once the water is in our aquarium and has a chance to aerate the co2 is driven out of the water while oxygen is absorbed, resulting in a rise in ph. This is one likely possibility as to what is happening in your tank. To see if this is it fill a bucket with water and test the ph. Then run an airstone or sponge filter in the bucket overnight and test it again. What are the results?

 

[tishygirl]

The water we use in our tanks is often oxygen deprived and carbon dioxide rich. This mix results in a lowered ph. Once the water is in our aquarium and has a chance to aerate the co2 is driven out of the water while oxygen is absorbed, resulting in a rise in ph. This is one likely possibility as to what is happening in your tank. To see if this is it fill a bucket with water and test the ph. Then run an airstone or sponge filter in the bucket overnight and test it again. What are the results?

[snapback]888635[/snapback]​

Are you saying that I might have too much oxygen in my water? I dont understand.... I have an airstone, filter, and bubble wall going... So I guess that could make sense....
If this experiment proves true, should I turn off some bubbles for my ph to go down to a good level?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Exactly what fish are in your tank at the moment? also, what decorations have you used? some of those can be responsiblie for a higher pH.

 

[Tolak]

The pH may be unstable because the tank is still cycling. The daily water changes, along with reduction of feeding, is the best thing you can do for now.

What is the hardness of your water supply? Softer water changes pH easier than hard water. Cycling will definitely cause pH swings in softer water.

If the pH is still rising once the tank is cycled, try adding a piece of driftwood to the tank, or peat to the canister filter.

I heard of O2 & cO2 content affecting pH, I have a bucket of dirty tank water that has been sitting since yesterday's water changes, it's destined to be used for plant watering. I'll try the pH test & aeration thing on it, see what I come up with.

Tolak

 

[freddyk]

If this experiment proves true, should I turn off some bubbles for my ph to go down to a good level?

No, you need to consider the aerated water your actual PH. Oxygen is important and you don't want to restrict it just to lower the PH. What I'm proposing is a simple experiment that can either rule out a popular reason for rising ph or prove to be the reason for it - either way it's worthwhile.

If indeed your aerated tap water is a ph of 8, the best thing you can do is not worry about it. The fish will adapt to the higher ph and get along just fine. When a fish is adjusting to a change in parameters it's stressful on their system, so this is obviously best avoided. If you start messing with chemicals to lower it and the PH fluctuates, they will be going through the stress of adapting over and over, and would inevitably succumb to illness. On the other hand their bodies will get used to the ph of 8, and as long as it stays stable they'll do fine. With hundreds of species of fish available it's easy to avoid the most delicate ones.

You also wouldn't need to worry about your ph being lower out of the tap. If the ph is 7.6 out of the tap and 8.0 in the aquarium, then changing out 25% of the water would lead to a total PH drop of .1 after the water change - this is nothing.

This is all, of course, if this is the reason.

 

[tishygirl]

Ok thanks all..

I didnt get to the experiment last night, but I will give it a go today...

Until then, I'll just continue to monitor it, as my tank is still cycling unfortunatly....

Luckily its been stable enough my fish seem pretty happy and I've had 2 fish gimme some babies to raise in my 10g