Strange PH Issues

[ghostbear35]

Hello all!
I am having a strange issue with pH. Our kids won some goldfish at a fair a few months ago. So, we got a 10 gallon tank from a family member, a marineland penguin 150 filter, and put the fish in. No issues! Yay! Time goes on, the fish get WAY too big for a 10 gallon tank. Time to upgrade. So we go and purchase a 60 gallon tank, two marineland penguin 350's, and fill the tank up with filtered, sofened water. Tested the pH before and after placing the fish in the tank, all is well. 24 hours later, we tested the pH and all was still well. Sitting at dinner we noticed the fish acting a little strange. SO we tested the water again....pH was up from about 7.5 to 8.8. AHHHH!!!!! Luckly we kept the 10 gallon tank prepped and ready just in case. We got the fish out and put them back in the 10 gallon tank, which was still in the 7.5 area. Weirdest thing, a few hours later while trying to figure out how to tune up the new tank we tested the pH again....same as the other tank now. What in the world?! What would cause the pH to fly up to 8.8 in 10 hours, and then cause it to go back down to 7.5 in a couple of hours?!

Any advice would be appreciated. It would really suck to kill the poor fish because I'm a moron.


Thanks,
Ghostbear35

 

[jlk]

Welcome to AA!!!

What type of tests are you using to test your water (liquid or strips)? What type of substrate (f any) did you use in the new tank? Have you tested the ph straight from the tap? Have you been using softened water the entire time you have had the 10g? Some more information will help us to help you better!

 

[ghostbear35]

Thanks for the welcome!

I am using liquid tests. Substrate was some light and dark blue small rocks from petsmart (I threw the bags away already or I would elaborate.) Have not tested the pH straight from the tap, but I will tomorrow. We have been using the same water for both tanks at all times. Thank goodness the fishies are doing well again in the 10 gal. We took a pwc from the 10g and added that water to the 60g. Figured that might help the cycle get started better. Had two filters in the 10g filter, took one out and put it in one of the filters on the 60g to try and seed that way too. 60g was crystal clear yesterday, it's a little cloudy today after all alterations. Testing both tanks, the pH's are both 7.4 and the ammonia is 0.25, nitrite is 0, nitrate is 0.

 

[jlk]

I suspect your tap ph may be higher than you realize (straight from the tap). As dissolved gasses leave the water, your ph is dropping down to its actual ph level that you normally see on your tests. A test of your tap water straight from the tap followed by a second test of tap water that has been allowed to sit out with aeration for 24hrs should offer a better idea!