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I have one male betta and one albino cory in a 10 gallon freshwater tank that was set up a month ago. My problem is that in the past two weeks, the pH level keeps rising dramatically.


The water parameters are:

Ammonia - .25 ppm
Nitrate - 10 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Hardness - 120 ppm
Alkalinity - 150 ppm
pH - off the chart, guessing it to be around 9

I've been using the same bottled spring water, and I've tested each bottle before adding it to the tank, and they've all tested out the same. (Hardness of 100, alkalinity of 150 and pH of 6.8)

What I can't understand is why the pH level started rising now. For the first two weeks (the first week being fishless), the pH remained at a steady 7.0. If outgassing were to have occured from the bottled water, wouldn't the pH have risen within those first two weeks, as well as these last two? The same goes for the gravel and decorations. Wouldn't a change in pH have showed up during those first two weeks? Why am I having problems now?

I'm starting to get concerned because the betta is showing signs of ammonia burn on his fins. The tank is cycling, and I've been forced to change 20% of the water every other day to lower the pH since the ammonia is hovering around .25 ppm. (And has been around .25 for the past three weeks, despite the frequent water changes.)

Is there anything I can do to get the pH to stablize? Or is this something that will pass naturally as the cycling occurs?

Bettas aren't good for cycling, neither are corys. That's going to be a problem. I'd get more appropriate fish for cycling that tank.

Ph can rise due to decor or substrate. What rocks, shells, gravel, substrate ect are you using in the tank?

And why are you using bottled water?

^_^
[hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

I found out about bettas being bad for cycling a little too late. I have no where else that's safe for him to be, or I'd switch him out. (My house is way too cold for him to be in an unheated bowl, and I have three cats as well.)

The gravel is TopFin "coated" natural river stones. (Mainly quartz by the look of it.) The decorations are polyresin. I've used both products before in my last set-up, and had no adverse reactions in pH like this. (I bought new gravel of the same kind and threw out the old, and I boiled the decorations before reusing them.)

And the reason I'm using bottled water is because I'm not experianced (nor have the time or money) to try and mess with making my tap water suitable for life. The girl at my lfs had never seen pH or hardness so high before. She didn't even have a test kit that could measure the pH accurately. She told me that it had to be over 9.0, and was probably somewhere around 9.5.

Wood,

Reduce your costs and your carrying requirements by using tap water for your water changes. Your LFS should do water tests for you just to see the water parameters. Tapwater should be fine for your fish.

Since the tank is cycling and your ammonia level is creating problems for your fish, do 25% water changes to reduce the impact. Some may say that water changes extend the cycling process but the existence of ammonia indicates that the process has started, there is no need to kill the fish.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

wodesorel,
Tap water over 9, that's high. Personally I'd get a kit and measure it for myself. Aquarium pharm has two "master test kits" on the market. The blue greenish one contains two PH tests (regular and high range). The other one (magenta if I remember correct) contains NitrAte. Pick one up, I'd say the one wtih high range ph in your case, and just buy the nitrAte seperate. You'll need the tests @some point in your fish keeping career if you're going to be serious about this. The LFS won't be open for tests @3am when you need to check something. The tests take no more than 5 minutes and if you can read and follow directions they're not hard @all .
As for lowering the ph. That can also be done easily thru addition of driftwood, peat filter packets, or even adding CO2.
Small water changes will reduce the ammount of ammonia/nitrIte in the water but as they also lenghten the cycling process there is debate as to if they actually reduce the stress on the fish. Less poison on one hand, but longer exposure on the other hand.

^_^[hr width='40%']"Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness
I need to calculate,what creates my own madness...
and I am waiting for disaster"

I am using a mardel master test kit. I've been having to check the water every other day because the pH has been spiking so quickly. It measures pH from 6.4 (orange in colour) to 8.4 (true red). When the pH in my tank spikes, the colour is around a magenta tone, and with my tap water, it's a bright neon pink. I haven't been able to find a pH test kit that accurately measures pH abouve 8.4.


Okay, so one more question. If I do use the peat filter packs (if I can find them at one of the local stores, we don't have any "good" fish stores) or driftwood, what are the chances of the pH dropping too much? Or is that not such a problem as high pH?

I would highly doubt peat filtration is going to budge 9.0 ph water without giving you really black water. Aquarium pharmaceuticals high range ph test only goes to 8.8.. My water filters through a limestone quarry 10miles upstream and has given me 8.8 water before. I also have a tetra ph kit which measures by .5 till 8.5 then 9 and 10 ph. Between the 2 I've been able to keep track of my ph.
I would use bottled water because while fish can adjust to a wide range of ph that is a bit out there. If your using bottled and getting a high ph then it has to be something in the tank raising it. You said you boiled the resin coated decorations? Can the coating boil off? I would test everything in your tank with vinegar and if it bubbles then it will raise ph. Maybe you have a ph raising ornament that is chipped or no longer coated and doing weird things to your ph. Also you could remove the decorations and change out the water then test it a few days later. If it raises it's your gravel if not add decorations back one at a time. You will not have much if any outgassing from bottled water. It almost always tests 6.8-7ph even days later.
Also make sure your not changing the ph too quickly. Let the fish have time to adjust. For the ammonia you need to be doing daily water changes or you're likely to lose a fish.

Last edited by sham at 17-Feb-2005 15:42