Help! PH keeps going up!

[Freshwater Rookie]

Hey there!

I was away for a couple of days and came back to a tank full of pale and lethargic fish.  I have seen this once before in my 20 gallon and it was because I had a spike in my pH from the normal 7.4 to 7.6 range to 8.0. I immediately did a water test tonight and sure enough it was 8.4!  I thankfully had some 'pH down'. from a recent tank I bought (not this one) and dosed it.  Within 20 minutes I was starting to have my normal, and active fish back.  I often skip a day or so a week feeding so that I am careful not to overfeed so I know that this was not a contributing factor.

So my tank specs....
-90 gallon freshwater community.  Not overstocked and a mixture of mainly tetras, danios, cories and some invertebrates.
-Planted.  Not heavily right now but I would say definitely moderate. I will attach a picture shortly.
-External Eheim filter (I did it's servicing last water change where I rinsed noodles and blue sponge, replaced white sponge, kept substrate in tank water and didn't change it)
-Emperor 400 biowheel. I rinsed one filter or both filters and if I changed anything it only would have been one.
-I have a smaller filter for a 20 gallon I am running in this tank just to keep it mature for a 20 gallon I will be soon setting up for my sister
-I have a nice bubbler running in one corner
-Plants were recently fertilized with a gravel fertilizer (I asked if it affected pH and I was told it did not)
-My substrate is fluorite
-My normal pH is 7.4 to 7.6, nitrates are 10 to 30 right now as I was over fertilizing up until a week ago and contributing to my higher then desired nitrates; my ammonia and nitrites are 0
-This was a used 90 gallon that was mature and running when I purchased it at the beginning of June
-The only thing recently added was 3 cory catfish and 3 plants (plants were from a reputable store and healthy fish were in the same tank)
-I will check my pH in my tap again in just a minute but it is normally the same as my aquarium values
-I had been doing weekly 35 % water changes (water treated and left overnight with heater) but I have since learned to try to do a weekly 10% and stop messing with the substrate so much as it is planted)
- I feed New era flakes and supplement with shrimp pellets, algae wafers and blood worms to mix things up
- A lava rock and small drift wood(came with tank), I bought two rocks and decoration from store over last month or so.
-I am on a well. My water is hard.


I had an episode last week before my water change when my pH was 8.0. The fish looked ok though but I was curious what made it go up.

I checked the tap and after multiple tests, the tap water is normal but all my aquariums are high??

What do you think??

What do I do??  I have got my water set up now, primed, heater in and bubbler so I can do a change tomorrow at least.....

[ftan]

sounds like you're tank is going through a cycle again

[Freshwater Rookie]

Even with ammonia and nitrites 0? All three tanks? (My 50 and 20 all have high pH as well)

[exv152]

Those pH solutions are bad news, their effects are only temporary and can cause more bad than good by stressing the fish. Anytime your pH will swing in a short period of time, it will cause undue stress to your fish.  So I wouldn't recommend using them. I would let the pH change naturally. Sounds like something is leaching into the water. But to get down to the reason for the swing...

Do you know what kind of rocks you added (the two new stones you mentioned)?
What kind of substrate are you using?
What is the pH of your tap water?
What is your KH?
What chemicals are you adding to the tank on a regular basis?

[charlie]

I bought two rocks and decoration from store over last month or so.
-I am on a well. My water is hard.


I had an episode last week before my water change when my pH was 8.0. The fish looked ok though but I was curious what made it go up.

I checked the tap and after multiple tests, the tap water is normal but all my aquariums are high??

What do you think??

What do I do??  I have got my water set up now, primed, heater in and bubbler so I can do a change tomorrow at least.....

As requested , what is your KH?
Any ID on the rocks you bought or picture?
Did this happen after adding the rocks

[Freshwater Rookie]

There are only 2 small rocks that came with the tank and have been there for two months.  Not sure what they are but this hasn't happened in this tank till recently. The other two rocks are from a store and I was told specifically they did not affect my water and were safe to add. This is a large and reputable store, without naming names, so I would be inclined to trust the advise but I will include a picture in the next post from my cell.

The only weird thing is that this happened in my other two tanks and they are all different setups? I have pictures of those as well.....No, this didn't occur right after the last rock, more like two weeks and at least one water change.

I will get my water tested at the store today to find out the KH and GH and get back to you.

Thank you!!!

[Freshwater Rookie]

This is the 20 g

Just shrimp and plants.

Nitrite and Ammonia 0, Nitrates 10, pH was 7.8

[Freshwater Rookie]

90g

[Freshwater Rookie]

Ok, I went in and got a KH and GH test kit and some acid buffer. I had no rocks or coral in my tanks to affect the pH increase and lots of drift wood already in two of the tanks. The only thing was I had been doing big weekly water changes which may have negated the natural benefit of drift wood over time so I am trying smaller ones. I tested everything pre treatment and will test post. Apparently the consensus was my well water.

I did consider other water sources but my reality is I have three small children and would prefer not to be hauling in city water in the dead of winter. I am going to try to make a go using my home water and see if I can find that healthy balance.

Please wish me luck.

[exv152]

I missed the part about you using well water. Most well water contains higher than average mineral content, and those minerals will buffer the hardness of your tank water considerably.  Are you using a water softener?

[Freshwater Rookie]

I am not using a water softener, no.

I am using the 'acid buffer' crystals daily till the target KH with a stable pH are achieved. Do you know if this means when I set up my water change water I can add the quantity of acid buffer directly to it that was needed to get the aquariums balanced?

My brain hurts.....

[exv152]

My recommendation is to leave the pH as is. It doesn't matter what the pH is in your tank, the fish will acclimate to it no matter what. The only effective method of reducing pH is to use distilled or RO water, and that's expensive, and not to mention not necessary. Your fish will be fine.  

[Mike L]

My recommendation is to leave the pH as is. It doesn't matter what the pH is in your tank, the fish will acclimate to it no matter what. The only effective method of reducing pH is to use distilled or RO water, and that's expensive, and not to mention not necessary. Your fish will be fine.  

I agree. Leave the ph alone. Another suggestion would be to keep fish that are partial to that water. It will make your fish keeping a lot easier

[Pyrrolin]

8.4 is pretty high ph but shouldn't be a problem.

what is the ph of the source water from the tap?  I assume it is 8.4, if it is lower, there is something odd going on.

You could add some peat to the filter to help.

Generally speaking, most home water ph will be in a safe range and fish will get used to it

You should be able to get your water tested at a public health office or something to get more info.  I plan to do this myself to find out what all is in my well water.  I know there is high iron, just not sure how high exactly.

[Freshwater Rookie]

Thank you all!

It wasn't what the pH level was that is the issue, it was the fluctuations.  Apparently, that has to do with the water hardness and KH. Ph out of the tap is 7.6. (I want a meter....this constant testing is crazy....)the change to 8.4 can be 24 hours which means stressed fish.

So...update.  the acid buffer sets the kH and therefore, stable pH of my systems. KH 7, pH 7.6. No fluctuations and so happy fish. When I do weekly partial water changes, I treat that water and then add it to system in a day or so. No changes in GH but fish and plants are ok.

Not ideal but working out. I love these setups and though I realize cichlids are more tolerant of my water hardness and pH, for example, I so love what I have and what I hope to have some day. I use my aquariums as relaxation therapy from my crazy life and am looking for peaceful community setups.

Thank you, yet again, for all the feedback!!

[blueknight0303]

have you tried using malaysian driftwoods?

[Mike L]

You can have a peaceful African cichlid set-up as well. It just requires carefully choosing the fish.

[Freshwater Rookie]

I do have a lot of driftwood in all tanks. May I ask why Malasian specifically?

Do you have some suggestions on a peaceful cichlid setup please? They are beautiful fish.  it just seems everything I read about so many cichlid profiles talks about squabbling and super territorial outside of a species pair. I am sorry if this sounds totally uneducated. I promise I have been trying to read and learn first, buy fish second. I am striving for therapeutic peaceful, if that makes any sense.

Thank you.

[blueknight0303]

in my experience, malaysian drift wood puts the ph lower than mopani driftwood. only problem is, you have to boil the wood a couple of times in order to avoid heavy tannins.

[Freshwater Rookie]

Thank you! I just bought two pieces of Malaysian drift wood! Let's see if I notice a difference over time.