Hello all new member from Cincinnati question on PH issue

[wwpo]

Have few questions on the PH levels.

Have 1 Biocube 29 Gal with Topfin Pebble Beach gravel only no plants.
Tank has been established for over 5 years with no issues ever.
All tests result normal to 0 levels but the PH is 6.5-7.0
No live plants.



New tank:

Set up 75 Gal
Substrate:
Eco Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate
"Bottom Layer"

Thin Topfin Pebble Beach gravel
"top Layer"


Plants:
Green Cabomba x 3
Anacharis X 2
Myrio, Red x 3
Wisteria X 5

Filtration:
Magnum 350 canister filter "low pickup"
Hagen Fluval 206 "Top pickup"

Heater:
None
Tank is maintain a tempature of 73.6 day - 71.5 night.

Lights:
2 - AquaticLife 48in Dual-Lamp T5 with:
6000K daylight and one 54watt 650nm Roseate.
1 - 48" AquaticLife LED 21.6W 10K/460nm.

LED strip is constant on.
T5's are on 9 Hr light & 15 Hr dark cycle.

75 gal tank has had half of the 29 biocube's water transfered to it.
Topped off then treated with water conditioner & Flourish Excel Organic carbon.

Plants also treated with API Root tabs.

I have been testing water twice daily from starting the tank 2 weeks ago.
PH was testing 7.0-7.6, Ammonia 0 ppm, NO2 slight shift between 0 ppm - 0.25 ppm & NO3 0 ppm.

Just today the PH sky rocked to 8.8 or higher that all the high my API mater kit will go.

What could be causing this sudden jump in PH.

Water from tap PH is testing between 7.2-7.6.

Biocube PH is testing at 6.6-6.8.

I did add 2 neon tetra's from the biocube & 2 Dalmatian molly's 48 hrs ago.

Both neon's died within 36 hours molly's still seem ok.

Water color is clear and tests all seem good besides the sudden overnight climb in PH from 7.2-7.6 to 8.8+.

Any idea on what I can do to decrease the PH or what could possible be causing the sudden rise in PH?

I have also been doing 25% water swap on every 7th day and also today due to sudden rise in PH today did a 50% exchange.

After water change of 50% today PH changed to 8.0-8.2.

 

[Rivercats]

First off the neons probably couldn't tolerate the cold water unless your other tank is that cool and they acclimated. Tetra's for the most part are tropical fish and your temps are way too low. If you don't want a heated tank then you need to look into stocking fish that thrive in cool water such as Hillstream loaches, White Clould Mountain Minnows, Gold and Rosy Barbs, Bloodfin and Buenos Aries Tetra's, to name a few.

As for the ph rise do you have any rock in the tank? Sea shells or anything that leaches buffers into the tank? Never mind I just looked up your gravel as I kind of suspected that was the problem and here is it's warning on the bag:

"Note: Gravel may contain minerals that affect water pH. Monitor your water pH after adding gravel and adjust as necessary to avoid sudden pH changes"

You will need to remove it. There is no reason you need to cap your Eco complete.