Binkles Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Hello and welcome to todays' water test. Tina and I approached Animates with the knowledge that we had two bottles of water - one from the old tank, and one from the new tank. I thought I would let the minds that be have a nosey - the old tank is a week since last change, and the new one we did a partial, but with the pH being so high, I'm a tad worried. But here are the results Small Tank (Old) 2footer 6 Neons 6 Glass 2 Albino Cat fish pH 6.75 Ammonia 0.8 Nitrite 3 Nitrate 0.1 New tank 4footer Empty pH 9.0 Ammonia 0.6 Nitrate 4 Nitrite 0.1 Apart from the ph of the second one, I'm rather happy. Just need to find out what may be causing the pH to be so high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 There should be no anmmonia or nitrate reading. Don't get too happy yet Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriber Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 pH 6.75 and pH 9, wow 9 how'd you get it that high. I think Chch tapwater water is generally in the region of 7.4, so do you have something like peat in your 2footer and 10M NaOH in the 4 footer :lol: ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binkles Posted January 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 I have no idea how it got to 9, Has to be either the stones - or the plant food that we put in. Otherwise it's just h2o Does have me a little concerned though - will retest it on Monday (just done a 50% water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 do you have any calcium substact or similar in the new tank. amm..& nit.. should be zero too. wood is a natural way of softening the water too, if you dont want to do drown with chemicals. Frenchy ps; set up 4 footer with africans, they like the high ph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binkles Posted January 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 I've posted a pic of our 4 footer (have to find the url - bear with me) There it is As you can see there are 3 rocks, and a decent piece of wood in there. The "dust" from the plant food has landed on most of the rocks (we've slightly cleaned that off everything now) and is really the only thing I can think of that would of contributed to the high pH. Ammonia etc may of been introduced via Cycle??? We're looking at possibly putting our neons and catfish in there for a couple of weeks while we clean out their tank - We're going to get rid of the plants - and put proper plants in there - we were sold cold water ones and they're not doing terribly well and introduced snails - which are starting to take over the tank. By that time we may be able to afford some of the fish we want to put in the big tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 What is that white rock on the left? Maybe limestone? If so, it will raise the pH. That is what I use in my African tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binkles Posted January 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 In the shop they said it was lime stone, as well as the one on the right - the far left is slate. Heres a close up of the rock Anyway to test if it is limestone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 You can try some vinegar on the rock. If it bubbles it's probably limestone. But...That wouldn't have raised the PH to 9. Nine is ridiculously high. You could probably almost pour an entire container of baking soda into a tank with neutral(PH 7) water and it wouldn't bring it up to 9. I'm thinking whoever did the test stuffed it up and you need to get it done again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Hi there Doc - the most likely culprits are those lumps of limestone (assuming the shop knows there stuff). Unless you want to keep african rift lake cichlids take them out. Your 50% water change probably will have dropped the pH (assuming your tap water pH is lower than 9) but as the limestone continues to dissolve it will carry on raising your pH. The hardness of the water will also be getting affected by the limestone (ie getting pushed up). I'm curious about your comment about the 'dust' from the plant food - is it actually added as a powder or as a liquid? If it's a liquid I suspect that the high pH is causing it to precipitate out of solution - if this is the case I'd suggest not using any more fertiliser until the pH is sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 It would only take about 5-6 tablespoons of baking soda to get a pH of 9 in a tank of that size. The limestone rock could definitely be doing it. With the readings you are getting I'd have opted for a fishless cycle. Those readings are dangerous for the fish’s health. I've always used fishless cycling and never had fish die since using them. When I first started keeping fish I lost lots due to loading the tanks up too early. I very quickly learned about fishless cycling and ever since... Also, how long has the white cloudiness been in the water? If it doesn't go away it may well be from the limestone rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Baking soda is only a short time boost for ph,for those looking at buffering their tanks.The limestone would be the cause for your high ph binkles, either take out (bummer) or go African. geo liquid may help clear your tank, or an extra filter till it clears. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Me thinks that the gravel is also a form of calcium pollution. Any shell in it?? If so, unless you change everthing dramatically, you've got a great Rift lake set up. You plants are coldwater?? Uh Huh, the ones I see there are quite capable of growing very well in a tropical tank. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binkles Posted January 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Well we pulled the rock out and covered it in vinegar - apart from it smelling nice nothing happened. So I don't think it's limestone. The water is certainly clearer today than it was yesterday, and that's even taking into account the water change. We're going to get a test on it soon to see if it lowered it or not. It was slightly darker than a light green at the shop yesterday (contradiction in terms I know) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 I know its expensive, but i would suggest getting some test kits for home, it means you can easily keep track of whats happening day to day. Also means you can test water on its way into the tank and demonstrate to yourself that something in the tank is changing the water, then experiment by taking things out, do a partial water change, test after a day and see if the changes are reduced. If you are beginning, you need to keep the water as close to tap water as possible and buy fish that suit your water. This means there is one less thing to go wrong. and when starting out that is very important, also means no fluctuation in water quality when adding tap water to tank. take the time and get rid of what is causing it - sorry. It sound as though you have added cycle to the tank, this is useless until you have fish or a source of ammonia in there, this is because cycle supplies concentrated "good bacteria" if there is no ammonia for a food source then the bacteria dies. Lastly starting a cycle, fishless versus fish. This is up to you, can you stand only adding a couple of fish at a time over the course of many weeks to slowly and safely cycle the tank, because this is most important, every time you add fish after the first cycle (I usually use a couple of small bottom feeders for this) there is a mini cycle, add to many fish at any time in a new tank (less than 6 months) and the new inhabitants will die first followed by the old. For a fishless cycle you need to test the water daily and add more ammonia as needed, also when you finally add fish the bacteria may die back a bit so you will still need to add more fish slowly. I prefer to use fish and do not experience deaths because I go slowly eg 3-4 peppered corys in a 4 foot tank with cycle, doing this on my last tank I never detected ammonia in the tank, fish were always happy and plants grew well. rambled on a bit and hope it makes sense Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binkles Posted January 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 Just a quick update since the water change the water is sitting at 7.5pH So I'm feeling happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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