Api Ph Test Kit Colours

[Miss Wiggle]

Hi guys,

come home from work tonight to find two of our dwarf cichlids fighting over the body of a dead cardinal tetra, body too far eaten to identify any symptoms of disease but fish have been fine, no symptoms noticed over the last few days or anything like that. This has come completely out of the blue. So obviously first port of call is to run water tests, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0 and nitrate is around 15 so all good so far, tanks not cycling or anything like that. We have an electronic pH probe so I used that to test the tank and it say's the pH is 8.2!!! Our tap water pH has been steady at 7.2 for years with no fluctuations or problems, a sudden rise up to 8.2 would certainly be enough to knacker the cardinals.

Now I wanted to verify the pH reading because it's so surprising, just dug out the API test kit, don't use the pH test normally (obviously we use the meter which is usually far more accurate) and I can't find the colour chart so I must have lost it somewhere, the normal range pH test has gone a fairly deep blue colour, can someone tell me what that is or post a pic of the test card so I can compare it. The high range test seems to be reading about 7.8.

So yeah, if someone can tell me what a deep blue colour on the norm\al range API pH test means I'd appreciate it, thanks

should add, the tap water is also currently reading around 8 - 8.1 with the electronic meter...... not done a test with the api kit yet.... got no test tubes free until i can confirm what the normal pH one means!

 

[Ian H]

 

[Miss Wiggle]

cheers, well the water from the tank on the normal range api kit is at the highest which means the reading from the high range chart of 7.8 is probably right......... hmmmmmm

 

[kj23502]

If you have any drops for the high PH test liquid, use that. That's what I use for my cichlids which are always are 8.0 or just a tad above. The bluer color for the normal just means that it's to high to read, so you need to use the other.

 

[Colin_T]

dark blue is usually around 8+
have you calibrated the PH meter recently?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

cheers kj, yeah i know when you get the highest reading on the normal kit you then use the high range.... kept africans myself before.

well according to the api kit the tank is on 7.8 and the tap is on 7.4....... can't think what would have driven it up like that.

test meter is now giving me 8 on the tank, it doesn't seem able to make it's mind up on the tap water though, when you first put it in it reads 8 then drops down to 7.4ish then back up to 7.5...... not sure if i believe it tbh!!!!

dark blue is usually around 8+
have you calibrated the PH meter recently?

i reckon it's either broken or just needs re-calibrating...... typical i can't find the calibration fluid either.... Ian's in charge of organising all the fishy gadgets, he's having an incredibly bad day at work today and will be stuck there until 10/11 at night tonight so not like he can come and find it for me.


i think i'm gonna believe the api kits, the pH kit is usually fairly reliable.

 

[LionessN3cubs]

if your getting a really pretty deep dark blue...on the set of color cards that came with my kit...that'd be pretty dang close to 8 ish...maybe a point lower but not much. The color cards that were posted here dont look like mine do. MY color cards (api) show a pale greenish color as being bottom scale (6.0) and deep dark blue at top of scale (7.8 I think). If you have the high range thingy and run that test and it turns up a light light tan..then your regular PH test would be top of the scale for regular ph (7.6 or 7.8) if its a little more brown...then I'd say your an 8.

Hope that makes sense MW

 

[minxfishy]

Dont know how much help this info will be MW, but have you changed your dechlor recently? Some dechlor products raise the ph, you probably havent but thought Id mention it

 

[tenohfive]

I've noticed King British Tap Safe pushes my pH by the amount you've mentioned MW, if you use that.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nah we use the api tap water conditioner, seems to have fixed itself with a couple of water changes, water from the tap has gone back to steady at 7.2/4 I think I must have been caught unlucky with the water board, they must have done a clean that day or something like that and the pH was unusually high, I did a water change and bam, cardinals croaked. Unlucky but it seems to have fixed itself now so I can't draw any other conclusions from it.