Help Fish Dying

[Tracy10]

I Have been loosing fish over last few days.Tested water and results are Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 15....but ph is at 8.2,it has always been high at 8,but the swing seems to be affecting them.In a panic now,what do i do ?

 

[Jabba]

How come it has drifted up? it usually drifts down as time goes on ... even 8 is too high unless you are keeping fish that like really brackish conditions or even marine, you don't say what fish, how many fish you have, nor do you say how big the tank is, what is the gH, kH and temperature?.

What is the pH out of the tap?

No matter, do a small water change say 5 to 10% every couple of hours till it is back where it should be, don't forget to treat the water to remove chlorine etc, you may want to put some peat granules in yout filter for a while to, this will help lower it also, don't be tempted to make huge changes suddenly.

Depending how long it took to get to 8.2 this may or may not be the reason for the deaths but Ammonia and Nitrite are more toxic at these levels so any spike could be a potential problem.

 

[rowdyburns21]

I dont think the PH change is the problem, are you testing using the high range kit? if a fish is settled in a cycled tank IMO a 0.2 change in PH wouldn't affect them, plus IMO i dont think you can measure PH to greater than +-0.2 with tester kits.

 

[Spooky76]

rowdyburns21 could be right, but considering they are saying the PH just rose suddenly and now fish are dying, it could still be that. If lots are dying suddenly you would have to think a water chemistry problem.

Yes if they are used to it they should be OK, but 8.2 is very high for alot of tropical fish.

How are you testing the Ph ? Do you use the strips or liquid test kits ? What are your GH and Kh levels at ?

 

[Tracy10]

I use API liquid test kit. just tested the kh/gh,not to sure what they mean.

Needed to add 9 drops for KH Test
needed 19 drops for GH Test Are the results bad,as i dont really understand them,any advice on what i need to do please.

 

[Jabba]

What results ??

Compare the colour in the test tubes to the colour on the appropriate card and read off the value.

 

[Tracy10]

Dont get colour card with gh/kh test, its just a chart. The kh read at 161.1ppm,but the GH was of the chart.

 

[Jabba]

So what you have seems like sea water, liquid rock, perfect for Malawi Cichlids but mega bad news for loaches, clowns need to be around 100ppm and ideally pH 7 although it doesn't need to be exact, have the conditions always been like this??

What does your tapwater test like? not a mis spelling I do mean test.

Question - do you have a water softener on the house supply?

 

[Tracy10]

Am totally puzzled now. Let me try & explain whats been going on.Started loosing fish,so tested tankwater for everything & all results good except GH of chart & ph of 8.2 My tapwater has always been at 8 since tank started 3 months ago.Didnt have any problems at all with fish,until last week i added new fish,then it all went wrong.noticed something wrong tested ph & has crept up from 8 to 8.2.but heres where i am totally confused as today my tapwater is reading ph of 7.4,but yesterday and for last 3 months been at 8.So no idea whats going on,and what to do about it.just dont know where to start,its way over my head,its my first ever tank & i am confused.I know all about ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and what to do about it,but others just dont get.
No we have no water softener on house supply.

 

[Jabba]

My initial advice is to do a series of small (5 to 10%) water changes say every 3 to 4 hours, until the tank pH matches your tap pH - but do it slow - sudden changes are bad.

It would be interesting to know the kH and gH of your tap water too.

Don't get stressed, we all start somewhere, at some point we all encounter the unexplainable, in water terms stability is generally more important than actual values, unfortunately in your case the water stats you have are totaly unsuitable for a Clown Loach and that is the first thing to address - I sure wouldn't advise putting any more in yet.

You need to do an inventory in and around the tank - what gravel is in there, what rocks, what is nearby i.e. air fresheners, you could also have introduced something with the new fish - this rings alarm bells.

But we need to get the water sorted first so do a small water change and then do the inventory, the poor water will not be helping the Loach sick or healthy and can only help.

 

[Spooky76]

Hey - looks like your GH is high ??
It should tell you how many drops equate to what on the chart ?
Also as said 5-10% changes, keep checking it. Something has pulled your hardness up I presume and youve lost your PH buffer...
Test your tap water and see what that comes up with, test for PH GH and Kh

If your General Hardness is too high your water will go alkalaine which again effects your PH. I think its the calcium content its measuring.

Basically you need to get it down, PH 7.0 should do the job, but without a good buffer it may bounce back again.

I think Jabbas spot on, small changes, keep an eye on it.

Edit: Just had a thought. If you could get some RO water from your LFS, you could then slowly add your tap water to it to correct the GH, as this will be 0 with RO water. You should then be able to bring the PH down. But make sure that if you boil water before adding to correct the temp, as carbon is reduced by boiling water also

This might help explain
http/www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/khgh.html

Good luck

 

[rowdyburns21]

PH fluctuates during ammonia spikes (you added new fish), how often do you do a waterchange? IMO youre going down the wrong route, i dont think PH is the problem but hey thats just me.

 

[Spooky76]

I thought ammonia toxicity fluctuates with PH not the other way around...

 

[Jabba]

Correct - Ammonia is more toxic at higher pH -

 

[Spooky76]

Whats the reading at now Tracy10 ?