Fish Dying (Very High Ph)

[ProjectMayhem]

If you remember my previous discussion http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/365405-fish-dying/

I said my tap water Ph is 8.6 and my Tank was very high and all my fish died. The Ph tested from my tap today is 7.1 and now my tanks are all 7.0 - 7.2. My theory on this is there must have been some kind of works going on to boost the tap water high, has anyone had a similar problem of tap water Ph suddenly changing?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Afternoon.

I remember reading that particular thread at the time, and until you can prove your water parameters are as they should be, then i am inclined to still think your tank is not fully cycled yet..hence your sad fish loss.

If you have some sort of liquid test kit, please let us know your results, if not then get one/ ask your parents to test it for you...

Terry.

 

[ProjectMayhem]

Afternoon.

I remember reading that particular thread at the time, and until you can prove your water parameters are as they should be, then i am inclined to still think your tank is not fully cycled yet..hence your sad fish loss.

If you have some sort of liquid test kit, please let us know your results, if not then get one/ ask your parents to test it for you...

Terry.

The tank is fine now, there is the only adult oranda to surviva with 1 cold water pleco, 2 small oranda's and a small black moor. There are 4 Danios in there too but that is only until my new tank in Tropical Discussions is fully cycled. But at the time the tap water PH was 8.6 meaning this was the same for the tank but now the PH out of the tap is 7.1 which must have had some affect.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

It may well have, but try not to get too elaborate on PH and it's issues... relatively small changes will not kill your entire stock, whereas traces of Ammonia and NitrIe will...

You say it is fine, i presume you mean fully cycled and tested regulary? Again, water parameter results will usually get you the answers you're looking for.

Terry.

 

[ProjectMayhem]

It may well have, but try not to get too elaborate on PH and it's issues... relatively small changes will not kill your entire stock, whereas traces of Ammonia and NitrIe will...

You say it is fine, i presume you mean fully cycled and tested regulary? Again, water parameter results will usually get you the answers you're looking for.

Terry.

It was fully cycled before ammonia and nitrite were both 0 and I said that in the other discussion, I may have introduced too many fish so soon after it had cycled but I was new at this and have quickly learnt a lot. But I had this PH lab tested and I regularly test both tap and tank water each water change once a week and today it is 7.1 tap between 7.0 and 7.2 tank. The tank test is less accurate because it needs to be in initial sample and the test I use on the tap water is highly toxic but very accurate so I just take 3 samples in a liquid test for the tank.

I'm just thinking that maybe my tank was initially 7.0-7.2 and something happened to make the tap supply 8.6 and there was a sudden jolt because I'm not aware of any reason the mains water supply should have a fluctuating Ph.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

"It WAS fully cycled before Ammonia and NitrIte WERE both 0"...

You then go on to state you overstocked, which surely would have put strain on your filter and shown traces of Ammonia and NitrIte..i'm sorry, but until you are able to start a reply to your thread with 'just done a test, results are...' then you simply are not going to get the answers you are looking for.

And please, stop paying too much attention to your PH, i'd put money on that NOT being the problem here.

Terry.

 

[ProjectMayhem]

I did give the test results, they were 0 each test I don't know what else you want me to say I tested every day while they were dying and neither ammonia or nitrite went above 0 the strip just stayed white.

If my tap water was fine before lets say and suddenly it went to 8.6 and I did a water change and suddenly jumped my nice neutral ph up passed 8, that could easily have caused some distress, they all got white spot after the first water change and ammonia and nitrite were still 0.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Excellent, you may have given them in another thread but it would never hurt to start with your results on this thread, would you agree?

Do your parents have some sort of liquid test kit at their store (any decent LFS will have them) ? The test strips are notoriously incosistent...i know, i used them for the first fortnight of my first tank cycle, seen sense and followed advice and got rid... now an A.P.I master test kit sits in it's place.

So they all got white spot after you done a water change? I read at some point in the linked thread you do 30% every 3 weeks. There's your problem.

Without wanting to sound rude or come across as offensive i shall now wait to see what any resident expert may have to say on this particular topic... as it seems to be you're not 100% happy with how and what you should be doing.

Regards,
Terry.

 

[colleen0309]

I just went through and reread your other posts. The pH could have been high from the butane and alcohol poisoning the water. I too understand you wanting to take your parent's advice, afterall, they are the "experts" and they have been doing it for 20 years. Well, I have been keeping fish for probably 40 years. Let me tell you a few things we used to "believe" was best for our fish. We NEVER did water changes, it would "kill " the fish if the tank was too clean. My father used to "salt" his fish on a regular basis. This consisted of waiting till the fish came to the surface to eat and taking the salt shaker off the kitchen table and sprinkling salt on them. When we did clean the tank, we took it all down and washed it all with alittle soap and water. We didn't match the temperature of the tank and the new water we were replacing. Sometimes the tank would be so cold it would get condensation on it. No one have a heart attack... this is what we did a very long time ago. I have since grown up and realized that my parents weren't always right. I don't know you or your parents. I hope their business is a profitable one. I, myself, wouldn't buy any fish from a store that didn't know what cycling a filter is. I'm not trying to be mean or say anything against your parents. Either you are confused, or your parents shop isn't very reputeable. If you want to care for your fish properly, go to the beginners resourse center and start doing your research. I have 7 aquariums running, soon to be 8. I do a 50% water change on EVERY tank once a week. I haven't had a fish die in almost 2 years, except for the black ghost that jumped out. If you honestly want help with your tank, everyone on here would be glad to help, but if you don't want to listen to our advice, there is nothing we can do for you.

 

[ProjectMayhem]

I just went through and reread your other posts. The pH could have been high from the butane and alcohol poisoning the water. I too understand you wanting to take your parent's advice, afterall, they are the "experts" and they have been doing it for 20 years. Well, I have been keeping fish for probably 40 years. Let me tell you a few things we used to "believe" was best for our fish. We NEVER did water changes, it would "kill " the fish if the tank was too clean. My father used to "salt" his fish on a regular basis. This consisted of waiting till the fish came to the surface to eat and taking the salt shaker off the kitchen table and sprinkling salt on them. When we did clean the tank, we took it all down and washed it all with alittle soap and water. We didn't match the temperature of the tank and the new water we were replacing. Sometimes the tank would be so cold it would get condensation on it. No one have a heart attack... this is what we did a very long time ago. I have since grown up and realized that my parents weren't always right. I don't know you or your parents. I hope their business is a profitable one. I, myself, wouldn't buy any fish from a store that didn't know what cycling a filter is. I'm not trying to be mean or say anything against your parents. Either you are confused, or your parents shop isn't very reputeable. If you want to care for your fish properly, go to the beginners resourse center and start doing your research. I have 7 aquariums running, soon to be 8. I do a 50% water change on EVERY tank once a week. I haven't had a fish die in almost 2 years, except for the black ghost that jumped out. If you honestly want help with your tank, everyone on here would be glad to help, but if you don't want to listen to our advice, there is nothing we can do for you.

I don't think it's very fair to take the assumption I know nothing because of a mistake I made with my first tank. I took all the advice from that thread and changed how I did things, I've also been on here following all the advice that is here to read.

 

[colleen0309]

I'm not making any assumptions. I'm not saying you don't know anything. I'm saying if you don't know what a cycle is, you probably haven't done it. Hell, I still make some pretty stupid mistakes. I'm glad you are reading and following advice. I reread sections all the time to make sure I understood everything. I am honestly not trying to aggrivate you. I sincerely want you and your fish to be happy. That is my only goal. I'm sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention. You want to listen to your parents, which I find commendable, but a small water change every three weeks and cycling a filter without an ammonia source is not good advice, in my opinion. I wish to God there was a place like this when I started my tanks.

 

[XeroTolerance]

I just went through and reread your other posts. The pH could have been high from the butane and alcohol poisoning the water. I too understand you wanting to take your parent's advice, afterall, they are the "experts" and they have been doing it for 20 years. Well, I have been keeping fish for probably 40 years. Let me tell you a few things we used to "believe" was best for our fish. We NEVER did water changes, it would "kill " the fish if the tank was too clean. My father used to "salt" his fish on a regular basis. This consisted of waiting till the fish came to the surface to eat and taking the salt shaker off the kitchen table and sprinkling salt on them. When we did clean the tank, we took it all down and washed it all with alittle soap and water. We didn't match the temperature of the tank and the new water we were replacing. Sometimes the tank would be so cold it would get condensation on it. No one have a heart attack... this is what we did a very long time ago. I have since grown up and realized that my parents weren't always right. I don't know you or your parents. I hope their business is a profitable one. I, myself, wouldn't buy any fish from a store that didn't know what cycling a filter is. I'm not trying to be mean or say anything against your parents. Either you are confused, or your parents shop isn't very reputeable. If you want to care for your fish properly, go to the beginners resourse center and start doing your research. I have 7 aquariums running, soon to be 8. I do a 50% water change on EVERY tank once a week. I haven't had a fish die in almost 2 years, except for the black ghost that jumped out. If you honestly want help with your tank, everyone on here would be glad to help, but if you don't want to listen to our advice, there is nothing we can do for you.

+1

 

[ProjectMayhem]

I'm not making any assumptions. I'm not saying you don't know anything. I'm saying if you don't know what a cycle is, you probably haven't done it. Hell, I still make some pretty stupid mistakes. I'm glad you are reading and following advice. I reread sections all the time to make sure I understood everything. I am honestly not trying to aggrivate you. I sincerely want you and your fish to be happy. That is my only goal. I'm sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention. You want to listen to your parents, which I find commendable, but a small water change every three weeks and cycling a filter without an ammonia source is not good advice, in my opinion. I wish to God there was a place like this when I started my tanks.

I didn't know what a cycle was because I didn't call it cycle, I called it setting up the tank, I still did it but when I was asked did you cycle? I was a bit whats cycling, then I was told "If you don't know what it is you probably didn't do it" <--- Not very helpful so I looked it up and as I said on there I did do it, I just didn't call it cycling. No fish went in that tank at all until there was no ammonia or nitrite and nitrate had become low.

 

[KezJona]

I'm not making any assumptions. I'm not saying you don't know anything. I'm saying if you don't know what a cycle is, you probably haven't done it. Hell, I still make some pretty stupid mistakes. I'm glad you are reading and following advice. I reread sections all the time to make sure I understood everything. I am honestly not trying to aggrivate you. I sincerely want you and your fish to be happy. That is my only goal. I'm sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention. You want to listen to your parents, which I find commendable, but a small water change every three weeks and cycling a filter without an ammonia source is not good advice, in my opinion. I wish to God there was a place like this when I started my tanks.

I didn't know what a cycle was because I didn't call it cycle, I called it setting up the tank, I still did it but when I was asked did you cycle? I was a bit whats cycling, then I was told "If you don't know what it is you probably didn't do it" <--- Not very helpful so I looked it up and as I said on there I did do it, I just didn't call it cycling. No fish went in that tank at all until there was no ammonia or nitrite and nitrate had become low.

Did you use pure household ammonia? Without any other chemicals or substances on the ingredients label when you cycled your tank?

 

[ProjectMayhem]

I'm not making any assumptions. I'm not saying you don't know anything. I'm saying if you don't know what a cycle is, you probably haven't done it. Hell, I still make some pretty stupid mistakes. I'm glad you are reading and following advice. I reread sections all the time to make sure I understood everything. I am honestly not trying to aggrivate you. I sincerely want you and your fish to be happy. That is my only goal. I'm sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention. You want to listen to your parents, which I find commendable, but a small water change every three weeks and cycling a filter without an ammonia source is not good advice, in my opinion. I wish to God there was a place like this when I started my tanks.

I didn't know what a cycle was because I didn't call it cycle, I called it setting up the tank, I still did it but when I was asked did you cycle? I was a bit whats cycling, then I was told "If you don't know what it is you probably didn't do it" <--- Not very helpful so I looked it up and as I said on there I did do it, I just didn't call it cycling. No fish went in that tank at all until there was no ammonia or nitrite and nitrate had become low.

Did you use pure household ammonia? Without any other chemicals or substances on the ingredients label when you cycled your tank?

??? Why would you put ammonia in the tank yourself?