New tank - ph WAY up. What to do?

[SNewlin06]

My new 46 gallon is 3 days into its 1st fish-in cycle. Ammonia this morning .25 and Nitrites barely measuring. Ph when I fist put fish (6 guppies) in was 7.2, but is registering 8.2 this morning. Seriously worried as ammonia climbs I might have a fish problem. I've read all over the Internet and there doesn't seem to be a good, long term, fool proof way of getting ph down.

I used sand as a substrate that was said to help maintain neutral ph, but that doesn't seem to be helping.

I have several bubble sources going, have read that could have an effect. Anyone have a good suggestion for me? Do I even want to try and mess with it while tank is starting its cycle?

 

[bevoholic]

I know if you have some driftwood to put in there it will lower the pH. If you can find some peat moss, I believe that will lower it as well.

 

[Dreadz]

pH can be erratic whilst cycling. Bogwood, peat, alder cones and Indian almond leaves amongst others will all help to lower pH but won't necessarily prevent the fluctuations seen during cycling. Just keep up the PWC's to minimise the stress on your fish and see where your pH sits when you're cycled

 

[Rivercats]

Yes excess areation can increase Ph. So stop your bubblers then wait and see if your Ph goes down before doing anything.

 

[librarygirl]

Have you tested your water out of the tap and then leaving a glass of water out for 24 hours (stir it occasionally) and test again? If not, try it. PH can change as it outgasses (example h out of my tap is 8.4 but it goes down to 7.2 which is what my tank's PH is). If the 24 hour PH tap test matches the tank, then that's your true PH. If not, then something in the tank is altering it (bubblers, etc). A PH of 8.2 isn't necessarily bad, most fish will adapt to your PH as long as it's stable. Trying to mess with it can often be tricky and cause fluctuations which are worse for fish. Natural solutions such as driftwood would be better than a chemical. The other issue is that higher PH (and temp) can cause ammonia to be more toxic, just use a good dechlorinator and keep on top of water changes. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

 

[fishfreak04]

maybe you could try to do a water change maybe like 50% water change