Ph Too High, Fish Dying! Help!

[shelmck7]

Hi

I did a water change last week and since then I have had a real problem!

I had a 35 litre tank with 6 male guppies in, and 2 apple snails.

2 of the guppies died the following day, I put it down to stress and went to lfs and they checked the water. They found my PH had spiked. I bought a home PH test kit and some PH down and have been adding for a couple of days but its still showing a reading of 7.8 today.

Since then another guppy has died, and another one is tinged with yellow patches around the gills and his face

The lfs were stumped and didnt know my PH had spiked. The tank has been set up for 18 months with no probs, only one incident of ich just before xmas that I treated and all fish survived!!

Dont know what to do now, why isnt the PH coming down?! Its so bizarre.

The lfs said guppies prefer a slightly acidic water so thats why they will be dying, but I always thought guppies like slightly alkaline? Either way, its obviously too toxic for them so I need to do something.

Shall I do water changes?

Help please? I dont want to lose all my fish

Thanks for any advice!

Michelle

 

[mattlee]

what was the pH before it rose...?
also using pH uppers/downers only last so long and the pH will fluctuate. a steady pH is much better for the fish and keeps stress down.

 

[shelmck7]

what was the pH before it rose...?
also using pH uppers/downers only last so long and the pH will fluctuate. a steady pH is much better for the fish and keeps stress down.

It always use to be about 7 - 7.2

Thinking about it, the PH might actually be more that 7.8 as 7.8 is the highest the chart goes to!!!

I use to take a sample of water to lfs monthly and always got pefect readings. I dont understand whats happened

Thanks for your reply

 

[ajs2294]

what was the pH before it rose...?
also using pH uppers/downers only last so long and the pH will fluctuate. a steady pH is much better for the fish and keeps stress down.

It always use to be about 7 - 7.2

Thinking about it, the PH might actually be more that 7.8 as 7.8 is the highest the chart goes to!!!

I use to take a sample of water to lfs monthly and always got pefect readings. I dont understand whats happened

Thanks for your reply

You might want to invest in a High Range Ph tester I know API's goes to 8.8

 

[mattlee]

what was the pH before it rose...?
also using pH uppers/downers only last so long and the pH will fluctuate. a steady pH is much better for the fish and keeps stress down.

It always use to be about 7 - 7.2

Thinking about it, the PH might actually be more that 7.8 as 7.8 is the highest the chart goes to!!!

I use to take a sample of water to lfs monthly and always got pefect readings. I dont understand whats happened

Thanks for your reply

have you added any ornaments or rocks to the tank?

 

[Tolak]

Check your tap water, this will fluctuate for a variety of reasons. A bigger concern is hardness, this will affect fish more than pH if you have having water problems.

Ditch the chemicals, generally water with a higher pH is harder. Hardness stabilizes pH, you are doing more harm than good by adding any pH adjusting chemicals to hard tap water. Guppys prefer harder water, with a higher pH, but if some levels of your water supply are fluctuating others may be as well. My first concern would be disinfectants, chlorine & chloramine.

What are you using to treat the water, and how much? Knowing my water supplier's routine pretty well I will often double up on dechlorinator in certain situations, often weather related.

 

[K-Holed]

If the only thing you've done is the water change, then it may be worth doing a pH test on your tap water.

 

[shelmck7]

what was the pH before it rose...?
also using pH uppers/downers only last so long and the pH will fluctuate. a steady pH is much better for the fish and keeps stress down.

Hi

I have just tested the tap water and its come out about 7.4 - 7.6 so kinda high?

We do also live in area with hard water.

Shall I stop adding the PH down and add some tap safe?

Also we have just lost another guppy

Just read anothert website that says to do a water change do help lower PH but dont want to do that if the tap water will make it worse?

Also, the blue guppy is getting even more yellowy and patchy around the face and side of his gills.

And the others are staying to the top of the tank together

Please can anyone offer anymore advice?

Thanks

 

[drobbyb]

If the pH in your tank is higher than in your tap, then something is driving it up or your tap water varies by a great amount. Stop adding the pH down. It's a strong acid that changes the pH in your tank too fast for the fish to cope with it. That's probably why they are all huddled together. Stop adding any chemical other than your water conditioner. We need to get your pH to stabilize so we can accurately pinpoint what the problem actually is.

Guppies like slightly alkaline water, so your tap water will do fine. I don't know why the LFS told you they like acidic water. Apparently they don't have a clue. So much for their credibility.

Ok, the first thing we need to do is test the pH in the tank. If it is much higher than your tap water, then we must proceed carefully as too much of a change in hardness (also, pH is affected by hardness) will shock your fish, possibly killing them. In that case, you would do several 25% waterchanges over the course of 2 to 3 days depending on how much the pH has lowered with each change.

If the pH of your tap water is half a point or less different than your tank's pH, a large 50% waterchange or two should straighten you out.

Now, we need to find out why your tank's pH was so much higher than your tap. Do you have any rocks or gravel that is made from limestone or coral? Have you added any new decorations to the tank? Did you use a weekend feeder or other similar auto feeding block? Many of these things can contribute to a raising pH.

 

[roadmaster]

Hi

I did a water change last week and since then I have had a real problem!

I had a 35 litre tank with 6 male guppies in, and 2 apple snails.

2 of the guppies died the following day, I put it down to stress and went to lfs and they checked the water. They found my PH had spiked. I bought a home PH test kit and some PH down and have been adding for a couple of days but its still showing a reading of 7.8 today.

Since then another guppy has died, and another one is tinged with yellow patches around the gills and his face

The lfs were stumped and didnt know my PH had spiked. The tank has been set up for 18 months with no probs, only one incident of ich just before xmas that I treated and all fish survived!!

Dont know what to do now, why isnt the PH coming down?! Its so bizarre.

The lfs said guppies prefer a slightly acidic water so thats why they will be dying, but I always thought guppies like slightly alkaline? Either way, its obviously too toxic for them so I need to do something.

Shall I do water changes?

Help please? I dont want to lose all my fish

Thanks for any advice!

Michelle

I would submit that a ph of 7.4 to possibly 8.0 would suit the guppies. Would be helpful to know what the water tests reveal with regard to ammonia,nitrites,and nitrates. ammonia should be zero, nitrites should be zero.,and nitrates should be between 20 ppm and 40 ppm in my humble opinion.
Purchasing your own test kit such as the API Freshwater Master kit would in my view, be a good investment. This would allow you to test your water without relying on local fish store to do same.
Unless water treatment plant in your area has changed it's method of treating water lately ,or you have begun using different water than normal,or added rocks or sea shells to the tank that may contain minerals that would cause a shift in pH ., I would be at a loss as to why a year old tank would suddenly expierience high pH.
Could be guppies died of old age depending on how old they were when purchased and is also possible that nothing at all was/is needed with respect to water chemistry other than maintaining ammonia and nitrites along with nitrAtes at levels described above. Just my two cents.