Help! pH and KH too high

S

Skate3002

AC Members
Aug 16, 2009
19
0
0
40
I just recently lost a bunch of fish after having no problems since it was set up a few months ago. I bought the API freshwater test kit and checked my levels and they came out...
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
pH - 8.0
Temp - 26 ºC
i was going to use API pH down to get my pH to about 6.5 to 6.8 range (Neon tetras, Glowlight tetras, Harlequin rasboras) but the guy at the lfs said it wont work if my carbonate hardness is out of wack... i picked up the API GH/KH test kit and got...
GH - 11 º 196.9 ppm
KH - 8 º 143.2 ppm
Apparently for my fish i want KH and GH to both be in the 3º - 6º 50-100 ppm range. i have tried reading up on how i can bring these down but i havent found much other than boiling my water. i also read something about peat but cant find any info other then what its used for. any help would be greatly appreciated, i dont want to lose any more fish and would love to get this tank healthy and stable asap.

the tank is a 29 gallon biocube, and i fertilize with seachem flourish exel

the stock in the tank are as follows...
-Animals
1 neon tetra (lost 7)
6 glowlight tetras (3 are albino)
5 harlequin rasboras (lost 1)
1 orange hatchetfish? it was a freebie the guy put in the bag by accident i think it is "chela dadibujori" if i ID'd it right.
5 amano shrimp
1 spotted sailfin pleco (thinking of trading for oto cats if i can solve the pH problem)
i also lost 8 rummynose tetras that seemed healthy right till they died.

-Plants
Rotalias
Dwarf baby tears
i added the live plants to try and fight my algea and because they look much better than my plastic ones
 
Last edited:
Your perameters look OK to me. A PH of 8.0 is not too high (IMO).

You can add peat to your filter to lower the PH and soften the water. I do not think boiling will lower KH and GH. Do you mean using distilled water from boiling??

IMO--Peat is your best obtion. You can use either boiled "Raw" peat or you can buy the peat filter pads from LFS.
 
:iagree:

I've kept a variety of community fish, including ones labeled as low GH-KH-pH fish, in water that had a pH of 8.0 or above and off the charts hardness.

pH is not the factor anyways. Fish will adjusst to pH very quickly, its the TDS (total dissolved solids) that counts. Most fish, however, will tolerate a wide range of water chemistry. About the only fish deaths that might be chemistry related are the neons. Some stocks are still imported from the wild, and do not adjust well to differing water types.
 
Peat granules media. You can find some at your local fish shop or Petsmart and Petco.
 
so i shouldnt be worried? what might have caused so much fish loss then? i would like to restock my neon population but not if im just going to lose them again... i think i might try peat. is there anything i need to watch for? i read it can lower pH and KH too much if i leave it too long.

thank you to everyone who replied, i love keeping fish and i want to continue doing so but the recent problems have been frustrating and discouraging. all the help is greatly appreciated
 
Last edited:
I agree that the ph should be fine. My tanks all read ph 8.5 or higher and a high kh, can't remember the exact number it's been a while since I tested that. Most fish are fine. I have had some neon losses, not sure if it's the ph or bad stock or what. From what I understand, with a high Kh you will have a very hard time lowering the ph. I tried pete moss and it had little to no effect on my ph, I'm opposed to putting many additives in my water so I'venever tried the ph down stuff. I decided the only way to do this would be to use distiled water, and I don't need that bill so I quit trying. Well I hope you find something usefull in my ramblings, good luck and happy fish keeping.
 
thanks for all the help i really appreciate it, ithink im going to try putting peat into one of the rear chambers and see if it helps, is there anything i should be aware of? will it continue dropping my pH and KH till it is removed or will it stabilize?
thanks again
 
Check your water source. In San Diego our water is at a ph of 8 so it might just be the water you are using to do WCs. Btw I have apistos and neons do very well ph8 water so I wouldnt worry about adding any peat.
 
abarilot said:
Check your water source. In San Diego our water is at a ph of 8 so it might just be the water you are using to do WCs. Btw I have apistos and neons do very well ph8 water so I wouldnt worry about adding any peat.
Click to expand...

ya im in toronto and our town water is pH 8 too. I lost 7 neons and 8 rummynose tetras not last week but the week before. i tested the water and pH was the only thing i tested that seemed out of wack, then again it was my first time testing it (sudden loss of fish after months of no problems forced me to buy a kit) if it wasnt the pH that did it I have no idea what did... im a bit nervous about restockin my schools without knowing what happened... any ideas what it could have been if not pH? during that week there were at least 1 or 2 dead every day i came home from work and even more missing (i suspect shrimp got to a few bodies)
thanks
 
yeps, if you havent changed your parameters recently i wouldnt go changing them now because of high ph, its likeley that theyve always lived in high ph since youve gotten them.
watch fish closely for signs of other disease
any long string poop or sunken bellies or skinny tails

when you think youve found your problem you can lower your ph if you want but thats a risky move because if your kh is lowered you can start getting ph swings like crazy

planted tanks need a high gh generally because of the co2 that is produced at night and trace minerals for the plants
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom