Ph?...

[baken456]

Ok...so I'm the owner of a new 10 gallon fish tank that's ben running for a little over a week. I got my water tested yesterday, the ammonia was .1 the nitrite and nitrate was 0, chlorine was 0, but the ph was off the charts. The guy just said it was 8.4 since that was the highest reading he could give. He still sent me home with one "strong looking" guppy to see how he does and some aqueon ph minus. It's only been a day but the ph is still very high and the activity of my guppy has decreased. He doesn't swim much, kind of just let's the current move him, and he's hanging out at the top of the tank a lot. I was wondering if maybe I could help the ph decrease by doing a 25% water change and replacing it with half treated tap and half bottled? I really don't want the fish to die even tho it's looking that way, I just need a way to fix the ph since there is nothing else wrong with the water. Any help would be great, and I need it soon. If it helps at all, I used tap water to fill the tank, treated it with dechlorinator and QuickStart, our tap water is well water, and it's hard water. We usually need to treat it with a ton of salt a couple times a year

 

[FishyBusiness]

I'm guessing you have an uncycled tank so read this:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now/

As for the ph, you can do a WC might help and try not to use any chemicals unless absolutely necessary. Adding driftwood to the aquarium will naturally lower ph. www.drsfostersmith.com has wonderful Malaysian driftwood for real cheap. For a 10 gallon, get a small or medium piece.

 

[baken456]

My tank is cycled, all the levels are fine except for ph. He's now swimming a little more which is making me nervous about trying anything, but the ph is still high. Idk what to do...

 

[FishyBusiness]

Try the driftwood. It will help. I have neutral ph naturally and when I had cichlids used crushed coral to keep it at what yours is. When I switched to tropical, I use driftwood and it keeps it lower. Order a piece or two and soak them or boil them. And put them in your tank. Test the ph after a couple days and it should have come down

 

[FishyBusiness]

Or get a larger tank and get some african cichlids! It'd be perfect!

 

[baken456]

Thanks for the advice since my first post he's been swimming from the top to the bottom and stuff like that, still not in the middle where the plants and decor are tho. I'll order a piece of driftwood and see how that does but in the meantime I'll do a water change and use a little bottled water to help. Maybe he wasn't swimming because f the changes to th ph the chemicals caused? We'll see

 

[FishyBusiness]

Possibly. Chemicals usually cause rapid swings that can overly stress and kill the fish. Definitely using distilled water will help! Not cheap in the longrun doing that but temporary will work til the DW comes. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

 

[BillD]

I wouldn't worry about the pH.The guppy should do fine in that.

 

[baken456]

Maybe he is doing fine, this is my first guppy btw. He just wasn't looking so good over this past day. I've had goldfish before but that was when I was 10 lol. I'll just do what I said I was going to do, I'm just so nervous about killing the **** thing lol.not to sound terrible or anything, but even if this guppy does end up dieing at least I'll know what I have to do to my water before buying any more ��

 

[FishyBusiness]

Most fish if acclimated properly are better off with current water conditions. Stability is more important than "perfect" water. However, using driftwood will bring it down naturally and add a great natural piece to the tank.