Ph Is Killing Me!

[Dude]

i have a ram

14 cardinals

and a school of black neons about 10

my ph is really high

they seem fine though ...?

what should i do

my ph has been 7.5 for over 2 weeks

no deaths yet

how could this be

and whats the best way to reduce ph


here are my other readings

nitrate 50
ammonia 0
nitrite 0


what should i do

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank, and what is your tap ph, can you get that nitrate reading down abit.

http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

 

[Dude]

How many gallons is the tank, and what is your tap ph, can you get that nitrate reading down abit.

http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

17 gallon tank

How many gallons is the tank, and what is your tap ph, can you get that nitrate reading down abit.

http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

17 gallon tank

tap is 7

 

[WILDER]

Abit overstocked could tell that by your nitrate reading, what is your kh and gh reading, how much maintance do you do on the tank weekly.
What is your tap ph.

Sorry just noticed the tap ph, i would say you are not doing enough cleaning on the tank as it overstocked, what filter do you use as maybe adding a second one will help.

 

[Dude]

Abit overstocked could tell that by your nitrate reading, what is your kh and gh reading, how much maintance do you do on the tank weekly.
What is your tap ph.

Sorry just noticed the tap ph, i would say you are not doing enough cleaning on the tank as it overstocked, what filter do you use as maybe adding a second one will help.

how about one ram and 6 black tetras with 5 amano shrimp in a 10 gall
and 2 corys

same readings

.....

(my 2nd tank)

20 % water changes a week

 

[WILDER]

What is your tap nitrate reading.

 

[Dude]

Abit overstocked could tell that by your nitrate reading, what is your kh and gh reading, how much maintance do you do on the tank weekly.
What is your tap ph.

Sorry just noticed the tap ph, i would say you are not doing enough cleaning on the tank as it overstocked, what filter do you use as maybe adding a second one will help.

how about one ram and 6 black tetras with 5 amano shrimp in a 10 gall
and 2 corys

same readings

.....

(my 2nd tank)

20 % water changes a week

60 liters an hour for the filter (10 gall)

 

[WILDER]

That's not a great turn over then.
http/www.hagen.com/canada/english/aquati...=01001600011001

 

[Dude]

That's not a great turn over then.
http/www.hagen.com/canada/english/aquati...=01001600011001

yes im gonna add another filter

the question is

is this the filters fault

and what do i do about it now?

 

[WILDER]

Well you are overstocked but not to much, yes another better filter will help, what filter is it that you are using.
Wanted to see your tap nitrate readings as that would of told us alot.

 

[Dude]

Well you are overstocked but not to much, yes another better filter will help, what filter is it that you are using.
Wanted to see your tap nitrate readings as that would of told us alot.

some euro one ........

ill get a new one

do you know that site that shows you the weight and volume of your tank
by measureing the tank

do you know what im talking about

 

[IceH2O]

You need to get the nitrates down to between 10-20. Water changes and gravel vacs are the best way to accomplish this.

When you test the tap water 1st let it sit out for 24 hrs. Most tapwater needs to degass to get a correct reading. As an example my water straight from the tap is 6. After letting it sit for 24 hours its 6.8, the same as my tank water. Yours going from 7 to 7.5 sounds like the proper degassed rate.

Excess Nitrates come from to much food rotting away in the gravel.

You should change at the very least 25% of your water weekly while doing the gravel vac. You don't need to get all the gravel each week, just vac until 25% of your water is out. Then the next week do the next section over. Once you get the entire bottom done a few times you'll know where the major collection areas are and can hit them every other week.

As for filtration, you can never have to much unless the current is to much for your fish. In a 17 gallon tank I'd use 1 rated for 30-50 gph or you could use the one you have with one rated for a 20 or 30 gallon tank.

And yes you are heavily overstocked. Even trying to move fish around you'd still be overstocked in both tanks.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.petfish.net/calculators/calculate.php

 

[ringham]

I had a similar problem about a high pH but in my 450 litre tank.

I found that an affective way of lowering pH was to add bog wood to my tank. Or to raise pH add coral sand.