So I have a fairly new tank, has been set up for about 1.5 weeks now. I added Tetra Safestart and currently have about 8 small fish in my 20G tank. I have it set up with standard aquarium store gravel, 2 small pieces of driftwood and three small live plants. I also put a couple of pieces of old pottery in it for interest.
My struggle is the pH, it keeps getting quite high, like in the 8.0-8.2 range and I have no idea why.
My test results this morning were pH 8.0-8.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrites:0, Nitrates 0.
I did a 50% water change Friday night (night before last) because I was having ammonia readings between 0.25- 0.5 and I had a couple of fish die. I think my ammonia spiked because I added fish too fast (although readings before adding fish were ammonia 0-0.25, pH ~ 7.4). I'm really not sure why my fish died, I wonder if it was a combination of stressors.
I've tried adding driftwood to lower the pH with no effect, ad about 12 hrs ago I tried adding some Indian Almond leaves, but my pH just went up over night from 7.6 up to about 8. I did add an ayirstone yesterday, because of the fish dying/ ? ammonia stress, which may have contributed to the rising pH.
I have resorted to dosing with a little white Vinegar when pH gets up over 8, but I intentionally never lowered it past about 7.6. I tested my treated tap water and pH was about 6.8, so I'm just completely at a loss.
I don't want to lose anymore fish... Thanks for any help you can give me.
I know I've made a bunch of rookie mistakes, but I'm doing my best to sort it out now.
View attachment 224118
My struggle is the pH, it keeps getting quite high, like in the 8.0-8.2 range and I have no idea why.
My test results this morning were pH 8.0-8.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrites:0, Nitrates 0.
I did a 50% water change Friday night (night before last) because I was having ammonia readings between 0.25- 0.5 and I had a couple of fish die. I think my ammonia spiked because I added fish too fast (although readings before adding fish were ammonia 0-0.25, pH ~ 7.4). I'm really not sure why my fish died, I wonder if it was a combination of stressors.
I've tried adding driftwood to lower the pH with no effect, ad about 12 hrs ago I tried adding some Indian Almond leaves, but my pH just went up over night from 7.6 up to about 8. I did add an ayirstone yesterday, because of the fish dying/ ? ammonia stress, which may have contributed to the rising pH.
I have resorted to dosing with a little white Vinegar when pH gets up over 8, but I intentionally never lowered it past about 7.6. I tested my treated tap water and pH was about 6.8, so I'm just completely at a loss.
I don't want to lose anymore fish... Thanks for any help you can give me.
I know I've made a bunch of rookie mistakes, but I'm doing my best to sort it out now.
View attachment 224118
Last edited: