arrrgh!!! what happened???

ok, here's an update:

i tested the kh of my tap this morning - 5 degrees

but here's the thing... does the ph of tap water fluctuate? cause i tested it this morning just in case and it was up around 8! last time i checked after letting it sit out overnight it was only around 7.4

so i assume that could be whats raising the ph in my tank... but once again, fluctuations in ph arent going to kill the fish so... where does that leave me now??
 
Depending on how rapidly they happen, pH shifts can indeed cause fatalities. Water with a KH of 5 degrees should be pretty stable, though, at least after it's been exposed to the atmosphere for a while.

Some water supplies experience variance in their water supplies that can result in pH fluctuation. A call to the utility would answer that question.

Good luck figuring out this puzzle...

Jim
 
I just want to say that I've been thouroughly shamed by this ordeal. Here i thought I had my tank in good order with water quality etc. - and then all this happens.

Whatever the fluctuations in my tap water, ph changes cant be good for the fish, and even a steady ph that high cant be good for them either. Even if it's not killing them, it's probably not good for them so I need to find a way to bring that down. Would treating the water with peat help? I know it'd be an ongoing process but if it's good for the fish...



::sigh:: the joys of fishkeeping...
 
With a KH of 5 degrees, it's not going to be real easy, although it can be done. Your best bet would be to mix RO or distilled water with tap water to obtain the desired parameters.

I'm a little surprised that you can have a pH of 8.4 with a KH of only 5 degrees. That usually signifies water treated with the lime-soda method, which drives out CO2 artificially. Water thus treated usually regains some CO2 when exposed to the air, causing pH to drop a bit as the water ages (e.g., overnight). Your water is 7.4 out of the tap AND after aging overnight, correct? Then at some point, in the aquarium, it climbs to 8.4, yes?

Jim
 
sorry, maybe that was a bit confusing. it previously had been 7.4 after aging overnight

i tested it last night and it hit 8.4. very odd. thats why im wondering if something in the way it's treated causes it to jump like that at different times. unless of course i tested it wrong the first time and it's been that high all along
 
By itself, a pH of 8.4 shouldn't cause you big problems, although a sudden shift from 7.4 to 8.4 would be pretty hard on the fish. I'd want to do some regular checks on your tapwater and make sure you know what's coming out of the faucet, after it's aged. That would be the place to start...

Jim
 
thanks for your help. sound slike perfectly sound advice.

i just tested ph of my tank water - 7.4

something is seriously screwed up here. i mean, i took out the rocks last night and did a 20 percent water change, but that shouldnt have been able to lower the ph by a full point, right?

ok, im letting another batch of tap water sit out over night to test. i need to knwo for sure whats going on with these fluctuations. once i get some consistent readings i sshould have a better idea of whats going on with my water parameters. will post info as it comes along
 
it's the kind where you add 5ml of water to a vial and add two drops of the ph indicator. there are two bottles, one for the range of 6.0 - 7.4, and another that goes from 7.6 - 8.4. usually I test with the low range bottle but a few days ago the color was so intense towards the high range that I though I'd see what woul dhappen if I tsted with the high range bottle, and THAT color went all the way up to the 8.4 range.

By the way, I left another sample of tap water out over night and it tested at 7.6 this morning. So I'm confused as hell. It could be that I'm screwing up the tests, but I dont think so. It's not hard to add 2 drops of a solution to water. Or, my tap water just fluctuates like crazy... But it does it make sense for my tap water to be on the soft side - 5 degrees of hardness - yet have a ph so high? I thought ph and kh were directly proportional to one another.

And while on this topic, does anyone know of any websites with good articles on water chemistry? (and not just ammonia nitrite etc. stuff - more along the lines of hardness and ph, and how CO2 and O2 play into it all)

and what about excess phosphates? i dont have a test for that, but could that be harming the fish as well?
 
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new development

so here's what's happened...

ive been testing for ph shifts etc and everything seems steady at about 7.4-7.5

however, after observing my fish today and yesterday i noticed that my biggest tiger barb, a male, was chasing the other 6 around mercilessly. they would try to hide in the vals and in caves but he kept on after everyone... eventually a few of the fish were bobbing up around the surface, gills beating frantically and looking really pale. sooo im thinking that maybe it was him that was beating up on the smaller fish and stressing them out to death. i have put him in a ten gallon tank by himself, but im not too sure what to do with him at this point... any suggestions?
 
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