New tank PH problem ?

[Jellybean123]

Hi guys,

I have had a tank cycling which has me confused .

I originally set a new tank up about 3 weeks ago but it has me very confused as I have followed my normal methods. I originally cycled it for 12 days adding a small amount of old tank water daily . It did seem cloudier than normal but it settled within 4 days and I don’t normally use white gravel . PH tested (0.5 higher than original tanks) when I was ready to add some fish (started with 5 4 month old cully guppy’s in order to cycle fully before adding the breeding stock) . As ph was a little high I added 15 liters of old water to new tank and drip accumulated the fish over 4 hours . Fish looked fine after 10 hours , within 24 hours 2 had died 3 looked to be struggling to breath and floating . I removed them and slowly added more old tank water in - within 48 hours all the 5 had died . When I re tested the PH it had risen by 1 .

The set up -
- 60 liter aquarium - is used from a friend of a friend but not used for 6 months and cleaned multiple times
- New duel air sponge filter with ceramic rings medium
- New heater and thermometer (temperature remains stable)
- used stone and plastic plant decoration well cleaned and been dry for 4 months
- New large stones (same used in different tank)
- New plastic plants half pack used in different tank
- New gravel pea in a blue colour and a larger white stones brought new from pets at home was well washed .
- plastic plant and stone new pets at home
- live plants used from existing tank
- Added same tap safe as other tanks
- same filter boost as normal

The PH continue to remain high despite adding PH lower in excess amount . At the 3 weeks mark the plants have started to die off ?

Any ideas on what causing it rise all my existing tanks have there normal PH , my tap PH hasn’t changed and I have used tap safe and filter boost since without problem ?

Does anyone have any ideas what’s causing it ?

Thanks in advance

 

[gwand]

Are the white stones made from calcium carbonate? That will increase pH. What is the pH?

 

[Fishfunn]

The next question is: have you eliminated ammonia poisoning as the cause of deaths?

Can you measure your ammonia, nitrite levels? Also, can you give the GH and KH as well?

 

[Lcc86]

This sounds similar to what I experienced just last week in a tank, I had an ammonia and pH spike (not due to cycling but added root tabs) which killed all my fish. The symptoms you describe sound similar. You need to work out what's raising the pH. From what I understand from the advice I was given here, higher pH can make ammonia more dangerous so even small rises in ammonia will have a larger effect on the fish. It sounds like the ammonia cycle kicked in when you added the fish and killed them perhaps due to the higher pH.

You need to work out what's raising the pH and complete a fishless cycle to avoid losing more fish. Adding tank water from the other tank won't help, but adding some filter media from your other tank will likely help get the cycle going.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Adding tank water from an established tank to a new tank does nothing to cycle it.

From the description the OP provided "Fish looked fine after 10 hours , within 24 hours 2 had died 3 looked to be struggling to breath and floating ." I would be inclined to test for nitrite. High ammonia can damage gills and kill fish. But struggling to breath is a common sign of nitrite poisoning.

I see nothing done to cycle the tank beside adding old tank water which does nothing re cycling as stated above. So that is clearly the problem. We need to see test results.

And this is why every chance I say there is never a reason to cycle a tank using fish.

I have received 100s of fish shipped to me, and a lot of the fish I have bought were extremely pricey. I do not drip acclimate as it can have bad results. I do not acclimate new fish ever and I do not lose fish when I plop and drop (out of the bag and into the tank ASAP). I also fully cycle a new tank before even a single fish is added.

BTW- the pH of ammonia is 11+. So, an uncycled tank which is accumulating ammonia may have a rise in pH. On the other hand, the cycle itself is actually acidic. If one does not do regular water changes, the build up of nitrate results in a build up of nitric acid and this will lower the pH. This is why one major change caused by old tank syndrome is a big drop in pH levels.