10g "fake" tank, very high ph

[MartinBlank]

10g tank, silk plants, no driftwood, fake castle. 6 white clouds, 1 betta. Fish all seem happy, active and are eating well.

I was testing the big three tonight (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates all come back fine). Decided to test ph tonight for the first time (tank has had occupants since late Feb, but betta is newest occupant and has been in there a little under 2 weeks) and it came back way high. Like 8.4-8.8-off-the-charts high. I did feed them around 2 hours before I did the test. Would that have an effect if there was anything left over?

I feed them flakes mostly (I will throw a couple betta pellets in there for the betta when he comes up to eat). Freeze dried brine shrimp 2 nights a week and freeze dried blood worms about every other week as a special treat.

I do 20-25% water changes twice per week (Sundays and Wednesdays). Usually I fill a plastic bucket with water the night before and treat it with dechlorinator (I use API Tap Water conditioner) and then let it sit overnight. On Sunday I forgot to do this so filled the bucket and treated it right before I did the change. Could this have done it?

So looking for advice on next steps. I am hesitant to treat the tank for ph since the fish appear well and don't want to shock them with a big ph change.

Do I do a water change tomorrow as scheduled and then check the water again? Should I check the water straight from the tap? Should I test the water I have sitting out tomorrow before I put it in the tank?

Could I be adding to much tap water conditioner? not enough?

I am not super worried as White Clouds and Bettas seem to not be affected to ph levels (though mine seem absurdly high). But I plan on adding a 75 gallon later this summer that will have some other types of fish (nothing super sensitive I don't think.. but still).

Any advice would be truly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Crepe]

Uhh what's the Ph of your water out of the tap. It may be the cause of your problem. After all, your pH may have been that this whole time. A solution if your tap water is high in pH is filtering your water through peat.

 

[mellawson]

I wouldn't worry about the ph as long as it's stable my ph runs high and never had a problem well except for when I thought it must be lower and used that ph down crap (that was before AA) totally screwed my tank up. I honestly DO NOT recommend using that stuff.

 

[MartinBlank]

I will test it right out of the tap and see. I didn't know if I should test it right out of the tap, or if I should test the water I have sitting out and treated for the water change.

I guess testing both won't hurt

 

[mellawson]

I don't believe letting water sit changes the ph any.

 

[MartinBlank]

Tested out of the tap and it comes back around 7.6
Tested out of the treated bucket and it also comes back 7.6
tested out of the tank again, and it is 8.4.

Weird. Any ideas?

 

[Crepe]

what's your substrate, what's that castle made out of? How long have you had your tank? Your substrate could be leaching out minerals as could your castle. Also, overtime minerals will concentrate in your aquarium, especially with hard water like yours.

 

[MartinBlank]

The substrate is Petco brand aquarium gravel. The castle was also purchased at Petco out of their aquarium section. The tank is a 10 gallon kit from Petco. The plants are all fakes (3 plastic and 3 silk) from Petco. Ironically the only thing that wasn't purchased at Petco was the fish... heh

The tank has been occupied since the end of February. I cycled with 3 of the white clouds (they have been in there since the end of Feb). I added 3 more white clouds in the beginning of April (Good Friday actually). To soon it turns out, as I mini-cycled. That was when I finally went out and bought the API master test kit. 4 days of water changes and have been at 0 ammonia every time I have checked since. The betta has been in the tank for a little under 2 weeks now

 

[Crepe]

well, there doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Just keep monitoring ph and make sure it doesn't swing wildly and it won't matter.

 

[mellawson]

well, there doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Just keep monitoring ph and make sure it doesn't swing wildly and it won't matter.

+1

 

[MartinBlank]

Yea. While I woudl be very curious as to the cause, I am not going to worry about it now.

Thanks everybody!

 

[meegosh]

I don't believe letting water sit changes the ph any.

You will see a change. That is why they recommend testing the pH out of the tap, and then let sit for 24 hours and test. You would be surprised when you see the difference.

 

[mellawson]

You will see a change. That is why they recommend testing the pH out of the tap, and then let sit for 24 hours and test. You would be surprised when you see the difference.

That fact just slipped right by me but now I know, thanks!

 

[meegosh]

The gases in the water and the container the water was in (pipes, bottle, etc) can all affect the pH. In reality you could test the water out of the tap after a few hours as pH changes are usually rapid or instantaneous.