What causes pH to rise? And why are my fry dying?

mishi8

mishi8

Go fly a kite!
Jan 13, 2005
768
0
16
Alberta
Okay, I have a dilemma. My 10 gallon tank, which has been established for a few months, now has a higher pH. It used to be pretty steady at 7.6. For the last month, the pH has been between 7.9 and 8.1. The decor, filtration, gravel, etc has remained the same. The tap water has had steady parameters as well. The difference now is that it houses only platy fry and a zebra snail.

I moved the four adult platies and the amano shrimp to a 20 gallon. This tank has had a much higher pH (the gravel may be part of the issue here). Lowest pH reading has been 7.8, the highest 8.4.

What should I be looking for to find out why the pH has gone up, and seems to be staying up? KH & GH of the tap water should not have changed (daily readings from the water company have been consistent), but I will test again for it. The KH & GH values in the tank (8-9 KH, 11-12 GH) should not have changed since I haven't done anything to the tanks, and, if anything KH would be going down instead of up, right? Anything else to test for or look for?

I have had some problems with the adults being a bit lethargic when I first moved them, and a couple of them showed some white patches on their fins. I added some salt and raised the temp, and they returned to normal health. After lowering the temp to 76F and gradually removing salt through water changes, they became lethargic again, and another platy started showing a white patch on her fin. Temp is back up now, and I've added salt again. They instantly seem livlier! (My tests show 0NH3, 0NO2 & 10NO3)

The fry are dropping one by one. Almost one a day now. I saw one struggling to swim and stay away from the draw of the filter (there is a sponge over the intake), it went down again, and then I lost it...can't find it anywhere...the snail may have gobbled it up after it died. Now I'm down to 4 fry and am seeing one looking not so happy. It's hard to tell what's wrong since they're so small, but I'm suspecting it's the same health problem the adults were showing, since they had been sharing the same tank earlier. So, I've added salt and raised the temp to see what happens. (Tests show 0NH3, 0NO2 and ~7NO3)

I change at least 25% of the water weekly, and have had no changes in ammonia or nitrite. Both tanks are understocked. Anything else I can do? Am I missing something obvious?
 
could it have something to do with what you use to transport water to the tank? Like if something is in the bucket you use to carry water from the tap to the tank?
 
Have you tested the tank for it's KH? At a guess, since the bioload declined, the water change regiment and evaporation are concentrating the dissolved calcium, and the lower bioload is no longer eating away at it to keep it stable. It's a guess, though.
 
FisheyLisa said:
could it have something to do with what you use to transport water to the tank? Like if something is in the bucket you use to carry water from the tap to the tank?
Click to expand...

I use a python, so the water is coming straight from the tap.
 
OrionGirl said:
Have you tested the tank for it's KH? At a guess, since the bioload declined, the water change regiment and evaporation are concentrating the dissolved calcium, and the lower bioload is no longer eating away at it to keep it stable. It's a guess, though.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought. I'm going to do KH tests all around tonight to see what's up.

I'm not feeling very confident about the fry making it. It's really sad, since I started with about 11 or so. And they, one by one, met various fates...some got themselves caught the breeder net & frame when they were originally separated from the adults, and three ended up in the filter when they were released into the tank (teeny tiny space left where the sponge filter didn't cover the intake completely), and then others just disappeared one by one. I wonder, once the adults are finally healthy again, if adding to the bioload of the 20 gallon will help. I'm looking at adding 3 Panda Corys, another couple of amano shrimp, and a zebra snail or two. With the 10, I'll wait to see if the fry survive. If not, I may just change to a different type of fish altogether.
 
Well, the platy fry (2.5 months old) are still dying one by one. As each one weakens, it struggles to swim, rests on the bottom, and then tries swimming again. Eventually they just disappear (so tiny I can't find them when they die.) Because they're so small, it's hard to see what is wrong with them. The two biggest ones seem to have bent spines, though...crooked from side to side. I'm down to three, soon to be two. There's also a zebra snail in the tank, who appears to be okay still.

The adult platies in my 20 gal (used to be in the 10 with the fry) don't look great. One is hanging out near the top of the water, and looks thin...this is the same fish that is always chased away by the bigger male. Two others are glancing off objects. Two have white spots on fins. They haven't been 100% themselves since just before I moved them to the 20 gal.

I've increased the temp in both tanks and added salt. It helped a couple of the adults get rid of white fin spots earlier, so worth a try again. I've since added Melafix as well...I figured worth a shot.

I did test the KH, BTW, and it hasn't changed from the original level of the tap water. So that isn't playing a part in the changes in pH I mentioned earlier.

Any thoughts on what is ailing them? I'm really hoping it's not something like fish TB...I can't face losing all my fish, and tearing down the tanks just to recycle again. I worked so hard to get this darned cycle established, and these fish were doing so well for a long time...growing, healthy, mating, dropping fry without problems...the Calicos are now the same size as the full grown MM platy. :sad:
 
Last edited:
mishi8 said:
Okay, I have a dilemma. My 10 gallon tank, which has been established for a few months, now has a higher pH. It used to be pretty steady at 7.6. For the last month, the pH has been between 7.9 and 8.1. The decor, filtration, gravel, etc has remained the same. The tap water has had steady parameters as well. The difference now is that it houses only platy fry and a zebra snail.

I moved the four adult platies and the amano shrimp to a 20 gallon. This tank has had a much higher pH (the gravel may be part of the issue here). Lowest pH reading has been 7.8, the highest 8.4.

What should I be looking for to find out why the pH has gone up, and seems to be staying up? KH & GH of the tap water should not have changed (daily readings from the water company have been consistent), but I will test again for it. The KH & GH values in the tank (8-9 KH, 11-12 GH) should not have changed since I haven't done anything to the tanks, and, if anything KH would be going down instead of up, right? Anything else to test for or look for?

I have had some problems with the adults being a bit lethargic when I first moved them, and a couple of them showed some white patches on their fins. I added some salt and raised the temp, and they returned to normal health. After lowering the temp to 76F and gradually removing salt through water changes, they became lethargic again, and another platy started showing a white patch on her fin. Temp is back up now, and I've added salt again. They instantly seem livlier! (My tests show 0NH3, 0NO2 & 10NO3)

The fry are dropping one by one. Almost one a day now. I saw one struggling to swim and stay away from the draw of the filter (there is a sponge over the intake), it went down again, and then I lost it...can't find it anywhere...the snail may have gobbled it up after it died. Now I'm down to 4 fry and am seeing one looking not so happy. It's hard to tell what's wrong since they're so small, but I'm suspecting it's the same health problem the adults were showing, since they had been sharing the same tank earlier. So, I've added salt and raised the temp to see what happens. (Tests show 0NH3, 0NO2 and ~7NO3)

I change at least 25% of the water weekly, and have had no changes in ammonia or nitrite. Both tanks are understocked. Anything else I can do? Am I missing something obvious?
Click to expand...

:eek: Yikes :eek: 7.6 thats high allready use perfect ph 6.8 and some prime and feed little tiny meals
 
NDferro said:
:eek: Yikes :eek: 7.6 thats high allready use perfect ph 6.8 and some prime and feed little tiny meals
Click to expand...

No, it's normal for my water. I won't use perfect pH, because with my high KH, it will just rebound immediately...a stable pH is preferred. 7.6 had been perfectly fine for my tanks thus far. I already use Prime. I feed sparily, plus test and change my water by at least 25% once per week. My tests show 0 NH3, 0 NO2, and 5-20 NO3.
 
What kind of fish like mollys or guppies ????
 
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