PH is 8.4! and INCREASING?

[HappyPercy 136]

Where is the form that you copy and paste into your post?

I have never had this problem before. I actually have a very low PH out of the tap: Around 6.4 usually. Because of this, I have to add baking soda to the water. I can't give you a specific amount, because it varies every time. Basically I have a 60 gallon tank, so if I want to do a 1/3 water change on the tank, that's 20 gallons, which is four 5gallon buckets full of water. I put the baking soda into the buckets until I get a PH that matches what the PH is in the tank, which I usually keep around 7.4. Well I added the baking soda slowly, checked the PH hours later, added a little more, checked PH hours later, etc. and waited a day for the PH to stabilize. I thought it had stabilized because it stopped going up and had been in the water 24 hours. Well, now I've noticed that the PH has been climbing steadily over the last week and now it's above 8.0!! All my PH monitors are giving me slightly different readings but ultimately its around 8.4!!!!

I did calibrate all of them two days ago so they should be accurate. I'm freaking out because I don't know why this is happening. It's extremely time consuming and hard on my back to do water changes right now becuase of the fact that I fell off my horse recently and cracked my tailbone.. however I will do it or find someone who can if this is an emergency. Is there any possible way to use the hose without the buckets? Why is this happening?

I guess i'll just write the details on my own:

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 20

PH out of tap: 6.4

PH out of tank: 8.4

KH: 120

This is a 60 gallon tank with 3 fish in it. One of the fish is about 3 inches, while the other two are about four.

The screen on the second one has always been hazy, both PH monitors gave same readings for PH out of the tap.

[DawnMichele 6,045]

Hope you feel better.

[yafashelli 9,540]

Try testing your tap parameters again. I wonder if something has changed there.

[Mikey 6,780]

Also, maybe leave a bucket of tap water out overnight to see if there is gas that is released that raises your pH.

[jenzaar 11,605]

I can't help with this, but I hope you figure it out. And that your back feels better!

That picture of Wiggles... I still can't get over him

[Daniel E. 10,021]

Have you added anything to the tank? Rocks gravel... etc.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[dnalex 13,633]

With baking soda, unless you are adding buckets of it, I highly doubt that the pH can rise above 8.4. That's a big reason why it's used.

How is the pH situation?

[HappyPercy 136]

PH is down to 8.29... as you can see I used two different PH monitors and the readings are almost identical. The strips I use are drops are useless because they all are off the charts for measuring PH. I don't have the high range PH test anymore. So strange. It's never done this.

[dnalex 13,633]

It's not enough just to measure the pH. You need to know the kH of your tank, and keep track of exactly how much baking soda you add.

I bet you added more baking soda this time than you normally do.

[HappyPercy 136]

The KH is 120 sorry forgot to tell you that. I must have, but I thought by now the baking soda in the water would have stabilized?

[dnalex 13,633]

The KH is 120 sorry forgot to tell you that. I must have, but I thought by now the baking soda in the water would have stabilized?

I have no idea what you mean by that.

[HappyPercy 136]

It's not enough just to measure the pH. You need to know the kH of your tank, and keep track of exactly how much baking soda you add.

I bet you added more baking soda this time than you normally do.

lol... I meant to say, I don't just measure the PH. I always measure KH. I then said the KH happens to be 120. What I mean about the baking soda is usually when I first put it in the bucket, I don't measure it right away. I wait a good 8 hours because it seems like the PH continues to climb until its reached whatever PH its going to reach with the baking soda. I would just be surprised that the PH would continue to increase after 4 days. Usually it'll go up with the baking soda and then stop definitely after a day. Does that make anymore sense?

[dnalex 13,633]

Yes, that does make sense, but then that begs that question of what you have in the tank that might contribute to a rise in pH suddenly.

Do you have crushed coral or any type of substrate that might shift the pH that way? It is strange, since a kH of 120 means that your pH should be quite resistant to change.

[HappyPercy 136]

Not that I know of. I have two aquaclear filters hooked up.. a 70 and a 110. The only thing in the filters is the biomaxx and two sponges (instead of using carbon I've just put a sponge in as a replacement) I have not added anything unusual to the tank. Maybe both meters are off? The funny thing is, I also have a third meter that you dip in the water and that tested high too although it was slightly lower. PH now says 8.26

This is Wiggles just now. I was going to film the whole tank but look at him wiggle!!!

PS- tank is a little overstocked right now. I had to take the tank down where I work because I'm going to go back to another job. I will probably set that tank up here.

[HappyPercy 136]

PH is back up to 8.4....

[dnalex 13,633]

Well, a dip of 0.1-0.2 is tolerable, and I really do not think that it will go higher than 8.4. May be it's been doing this for a while, and you've just now noticed?

[HappyPercy 136]

No these are live PH readers and I've used the strips, the test tubes, and a meter you dip in. It is now saying 8.45..... I am going to have to do a water change to lower it I dont know what else to do. The problem is that will lower the KH and I know its more dangerous to have the PH go down than up but what else can I do? I know I read on the goldfish connection page that they keep their PH at 8.4 and that they don't do anything as long as it doesn't go above 9.0. I'm frustrated though because this is not the PH I want. Is there any kind of product I can buy?? There is something about this past water change that is different and I really can't figure out what it is other than that maybe I used too much baking soda.... but the PH levels were stable for a few days before they started increasing.

[bodoba 2,980]

Maybe try oxygenating the water before adding it? If your water source is compressed then adding bubbles will help stabilize the pH. I think the swings are in range especially for the way you are reading your pH. It just sounds like the bumps of oxygen exchange not the steady consumption the cycle bacteria use.

When did you add your last fish?

[HappyPercy 136]

Wiggles was added two weeks ago. I had to take down a tank I had set up, so compared to how long the tank has been set up he's fairly new

[Honeygold 2]

I'm not sure if this is your case, but my tap water comes out reading about 7.4/7.6. After I aerate it overnight it climbs to about 8.2/8.3 and stabilizes. It has to do with carbon dioxide gassing off. Maybe your PH rises due to aeration in your tank maybe? Just adding my thoughts.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Honeygold

[dnalex 13,633]

I'm not sure if this is your case, but my tap water comes out reading about 7.4/7.6. After I aerate it overnight it climbs to about 8.2/8.3 and stabilizes. It has to do with carbon dioxide gassing off. Maybe your PH rises due to aeration in your tank maybe? Just adding my thoughts.

Yes, this has been something we've discussed multiple times.

Tap is like that as well.

[Honeygold 2]

I'm not sure if this is your case, but my tap water comes out reading about 7.4/7.6. After I aerate it overnight it climbs to about 8.2/8.3 and stabilizes. It has to do with carbon dioxide gassing off. Maybe your PH rises due to aeration in your tank maybe? Just adding my thoughts.

Yes, this has been something we've discussed multiple times.

Tap is like that as well.

Opps my bad. I should try reading the entire thread before opening my mouth. at myself.

Oh, and you have one incredibly adorable and gorgeous fish HappyPercy.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Honeygold