Can High High Ph Kill Fish?

[metalcherry]

This week, one of my paired smokey angels was found dead still very young and looked like he had just died when i found him (although the fish began going for his fins), i saw no blood in the fins and his eyes were pinpoint with no clouding and no signs of damage.

I decided to test the water, Amonia, Nitrate and Nitrite are fine but PH was 8.0 - 8.2.
This is the only flaw i have found in my tank, all the other fish seem healthy enough but is high ph enough to kill a fish, it looks like it rapidly increased as i do regular 25% changes nearly weekly/fortnightly!

 

[stang1]

So sorry for your loss. Angels can be quite sensitive fish but not sure if the PH alone would have killed it, although they do prefer a lower PH.
When you say your other readings are fine, could you list exactly what they were?
Has there been anything added to your tank that may have caused your PH to become so high?

 

[WILDER]

What is your tap ph.
Clown loaches don't like being on there own they have to be kept in groups to be happy.

Did the angel look pale or darker in colour.
Any signs of being lethagic and listless.
Was the angel still eating well.
Did the angel look bloated or thin in appearance.

 

[rdd1952]

Most fish can adapt to any stable pH. Although angels prefer soft, acidic water, I doubt the pH was the deciding factor but it's possible. how long had it been in the tank? As mentioned, what is your tap pH? If it is considerably lower, it could be that you have something in the tank that is pushing the GH, KH & pH up.

 

[Behold]

I have a PH of 8.4... (YUP 8.4 not a typo....) as long as there added slowly they seem to adapt fine.

 

[geo7x]

I agree with rdd, most fish are fine in any pH as long as it is stable. Some very sensitivee (hence rare) fish, like chocolate gouramis for instance, may die in anything other than a particular pH but most fish aren't like that.

 

[MitchMan]

If the angel has been living in a pH that high for a while, it probably will have adapted to it.

The reason we're asking for the tap pH is because if your tap pH is the same as your aquariums, then the pH is not the killer, however if your tap pH is usually around 7.2 or so, and your aquarium's is 8.2, then the rapid increase of the pH is probably what did the poor angel in. Going from 7.2-8.2 doesn't seem like much, but 8.2 is I believe 100 times more basic than a pH is 7.2 is. 9.2 is 1000 times more basic, and so on and so forth.


Hope that helps.

 

[geo7x]

If your tank pH is higher than your tap pH then you should try to find the reason for this, which would probably unsuitable rocks in your tank.

Having a tank pH slightly lower than you tap pH isn't so bad as bogwood does this and most fish may prefer slightly acidic water anyway.

 

[Colin_T]

Something you might want to think about is the PH and ammonia issue. If there was any ammonia in the tank, it would have been extremely toxic at that PH. Even a very small amount of ammonia could kill a fish at a PH of 8 or above. If the angelfish was a little off colour to start with it might have been enough to push it over the edge.