PH is rising and not stoping...

[cbass179]

I have a 55 gal. I set it up two weeks ago with the filters going. I put in 9 zeba danios four days ago to get it cycling. Today i noticed the ph reached 7.7 from a 7.4. So, i did a 25% water change this morning. the ph however is still the same. My tap water is a good 7.0. What should i do or should i even worry? Thank you

Mark

 

[OrionGirl]

What all is in the tank? Many objects and substrates will boost the KH and pH of a tank. In terms of worrying--likely not. If you do have something that's raising it(like shells, or crushed coral), removing that object will allow the water to stabilize at a lower pH. Leaving it alone, though, won't be a problem either. A stable pH is much better than one that's constantly fluctuating, which is a frequent result of attempts at modifying it. You may want to select your fish with a high pH in mind, but there are many fish that prefer the higher pH, and almost all fish can be kept at a higher pH with adequate acclimation. In short---knowing the pH is more important than having a specific one.

Also--are you testing for ammonia and nitrites as well?

 

[cbass179]

I have:
9 zeba Danios
fake vegitation
river rocks that i bought from a landscaping store. I cleaned these rocks very well under water.
I also put some extra decrotive larger rocks
lastly a sunken ship

My ph is definitly stable for the most part. Ammonia was starting to get high, however, it lowered when i did a 25% water change. I still have no signs of nitrites.

How much should i feed these nine little guys? I feed them very small meals through out the day. I want you to know that there really small. I'm trying my hardest not to overfeed them.

 

[Gettin' Tanked]

You'll definitely want to keep a sharp eye on your ammonia levels with that many fish in an uncycled tank - personally, I would have started with fewer than 9 Danios.

As far as feeding, you only need to feed them a very small amount once or twice a day. A good rule of thumb I follow is to remember that a fish's stomach is only about as big as their eye. So, you can see that it does not take much food to satisfy them - despite the fact that they'll "beg" everytime you're near the tank!

 

[Paulo]

I have a 55 gal. I set it up two weeks ago with the filters going. I put in 9 zeba danios four days ago to get it cycling. Today i noticed the ph reached 7.7 from a 7.4. So, i did a 25% water change this morning. the ph however is still the same. My tap water is a good 7.0. What should i do or should i even worry? Thank you

Mark

if you intend to Lower down your PH level, I would suggest you to buy either Tetra peat moss or Azoo peat moss.

Peat moss will helped lower your Ph or maintain your Ph level

 

[Analog Saint]

ammonia is a very strong base- keep that in mind. when ammonia rises, it will take the pH with it if the solution is not sufficiently buffered.

 

[happychem]

No, ammonia is a very weak base, but even so, it will increase pH slightly. There's also CO2 equilibrium to consider. Leave some tap water in a shallow bowl overnight and measure it in the morning. CO2 is slow to equilibrate. Measure pH in the morning, this will tell you what your CO2 equilibrated pH is and that will be the pH you can expect to get from tap water.

Nitrification, which is what you are seeking by cycling your tank, will decrease the pH by adding H+ to your tank, but that's a problem for another day.

 

[Analog Saint]

I don't mean strong not as in a general chemistry sense (there are plenty of things with far lower pOHs than NH3), but as for aquaria, ammonia is probably the most basic compound you're going to see in the water column at an appreciable concentration, and it is quite capable of being the culprit of a rising pH during an ammonia spike.

A false baseline due to dissolved CO2 could also be at fault. Knowing when the baseline reading was taken, and how long after the subsequent test was would be helpful in determining that.