Elevated Ph Value

[Peteinhull]

Advice please.

I have just tested my water and found an elevated pH reading of between 8.4 and 8.8.

This is a new tank which I used the old water (and filter, gravel, bog wood and slate/rock)topped up with fresh, 5 days ago See THIS post.

All other levels are within parameters.

The PF2 filer had new plain sponge and carbon sponge filters installed on Monday night. The old filter is still installed and running. Nothing else new in the tank.

All fish seem happy enough and are feeding well. Normal pH is somewhere around 7.4 - 7.8.

What causes an elevated pH, and what would be the best steps to reduce it back to 7.4-7.8?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[creeker]

I don't see anything in your tank that would raise the ph. Are you sure that's an accurate reading? I've only known ph to lower over time. If that reading sticks, I would do some small water changes to slowly bring the ph down. Again, I highly suspect a bad reading.

 

[Peteinhull]

I don't see anything in your tank that would raise the ph. Are you sure that's an accurate reading? I've only known ph to lower over time. If that reading sticks, I would do some small water changes to slowly bring the ph down. Again, I highly suspect a bad reading.

Thanks for your reply creeker,

Yes, I thought that, so I repeated the test and got the same result, I aslo checked the pH of the tap water and that is 7.6 so i't not from topping up and in any case, I checked the pH on Monday night and it was 7.6, so I don;t think it's a bad reading.

 

[creeker]

I'm stumped. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[MBOU]

What are all your other water parameters?

And also, did you add/remove rock and have you photos of the type of rock, or better still, remove your rock and do a waterchange and see if it makes a difference

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Was the tap water reading straight out of the tap? The pH of tap water can rise after it has a chance to gas off CO2 and other gases trapped in it.


Is slate the only type of rock you have in the tank? What is the substrate? Is it crushed coral sand?



BTW, generally just topping up water is not recommended. Usually you will want to do a water change and when refilling you will "top up". Just topping the water up will not remove nitrates or replenish buffering agents in the water. (Just an FYI.) If you are going to top up, you might as well remove 10-15% of the water first.

 

[Peteinhull]

What are all your other water parameters?

And also, did you add/remove rock and have you photos of the type of rock, or better still, remove your rock and do a waterchange and see if it makes a difference

As stated, all other water parameters are okay. Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 0ppm, Ammonia 0ppm.

Rock has been in for about 4 years, only transferred form the old tank, so I cannot see that suddenly being the issue.

The only new stuff is the filter, heater and a little bit of additional gravel taken from an old gold fish tank. This was washed in hot water prior to putting it into the tank.

 

[Peteinhull]

Was the tap water reading straight out of the tap? The pH of tap water can rise after it has a chance to gas off CO2 and other gases trapped in it.


Is slate the only type of rock you have in the tank? What is the substrate? Is it crushed coral sand?



BTW, generally just topping up water is not recommended. Usually you will want to do a water change and when refilling you will "top up". Just topping the water up will not remove nitrates or replenish buffering agents in the water. (Just an FYI.) If you are going to top up, you might as well remove 10-15% of the water first.

pH was taken direct from the tap. But. It's always been static at around 7.6 so that's what was concerning me so much.

Yes slate is the only rock in the tank. The substrate is that crap multi-bloody coloured gravel, which we've had for a long time and that I want to change as soon as bloody possible.

Re: topping up with water. Probably not explained myself properly there. What I meant was, the old tank was 27 litres, this water was put into the new tank. It's was pretty #105###ty under the gravel, so, I topped it up to the 64 litres of the new tank and THEN did a 60% water change.

Hope that clarifies it!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would just do a slow water change 30+%. Add the water to the tank at a very slow rate to allow the fish to acclimate to the new levels. It is always better to add water slower rather than faster for a variety of reasons (temp, hardness, pH, nitrates, etc.)

 

[Prime Ordeal]

It's was pretty #105###ty under the gravel

Yes you've now got a pretty bad case of CTS (Clean Tank Syndrome)!

All that muck under the gravel is constantly being broken down (mineralised) and in the process produces acid which lowers your pH. You then transferred all the gravel, presumably after having given it a good clean, to your nice clean new tank and because there's no muck to minerlise any more, and so no acid being produced, your pH 'rises' to the pH of your tap water. Keep the gravel clean and it'll stay pretty much at the pH of your tap water (actually the pH after it's been left to gas off for 24 hours or so) as long as you do regular water changes.

 

[Peteinhull]

Yes you've now got a pretty bad case of CTS (Clean Tank Syndrome)!

All that muck under the gravel is constantly being broken down (mineralised) and in the process produces acid which lowers your pH. You then transferred all the gravel, presumably after having given it a good clean, to your nice clean new tank and because there's no muck to minerlise any more, and so no acid being produced, your pH 'rises' to the pH of your tap water. Keep the gravel clean and it'll stay pretty much at the pH of your tap water (actually the pH after it's been left to gas off for 24 hours or so) as long as you do regular water changes.

No, actually, I transferred all the gravel directly from one tank to the other, muck and all, with all the water from the old tank. I did NOT clean the gravel, with the exception of some old gravel I used to top up the existing (being a bigger tank). Incidently, the pH of our tap water is 7.6, so if anything, it would surely lower, not rise?