High PH

[Jasuimiss]

I am trying to get a 10gal freshwater tank set up for my toddler’s first fish. I’m doing a fishless cycle per instructions on this site. I’ve got ammonia levels dropping to zero everyday. Nitrites are maxing out the scale but haven’t started to drop; nitrates seem to have stalled at around 80ppm. I’ve added a sprinkle of food a couple of times this week and done a 50% water change, but seem stuck for approximately 4-5 days.

My PH out of the tap is 8.2. Apparently our water is very hard. My tank ph is maxing out the reading (8.8), so maybe higher. The 50% water change didn’t drop it so Thinking higher.

What’s my next move? I don’t want to go throwing random chemicals in until I get some consistent advice on what to do.

Thanks all!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Its going to be very difficult to lower pH. High pH is caused by minerals in the water that absorb acids. This is know as buffering. Its easy to increase pH by adding these minerals, but much harder to lower pH because to do that you need to remove or use up those minerals. Chemical means of lowering pH rely on adding acidity to use up the buffering, so you need to tons of these chemicals to get over the waters buffering capacity, then more to actually lower the pH. Its mostly a futile experience.

Much easier to dilute your high pH water with reverse osmosis (RO) water or distilled water which is essentially water with zero mineral content and will lower the pH.

Some fish like high pH, hard water. What do you plan on keeping?

 

[Jasuimiss]

Ok. That makes sense! And with the small tank we’re starting with, it’ll be easy to just purchase water to replace with.

My kiddo’s request is “one yellow goldfish”. Which we’ve learned since embarking on this journey that our tank is much too small for. So, if he can’t be swayed to a betta or a couple of glofish tetras (Which I’d hoped he’d go for), we’ll probably be increasing our tank size rapidly. Unfortunately my kid is a bit of a hyperfixater like myself and doesn’t easily change his mind once he’s set on something.

Who knew this wasn’t as easy as throwing a 30 cent goldfish in a bowl like my parents did…I still wonder how that thing lived over five years, with everything I’ve read since setting out to get my kiddo one.

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok. That makes sense! And with the small tank we’re starting with, it’ll be easy to just purchase water to replace with.

My kiddo’s request is “one yellow goldfish”. Which we’ve learned since embarking on this journey that our tank is much too small for. So, if he can’t be swayed to a betta or a couple of glofish tetras (Which I’d hoped he’d go for), we’ll probably be increasing our tank size rapidly. Unfortunately my kid is a bit of a hyperfixater like myself and doesn’t easily change his mind once he’s set on something.

Who knew this wasn’t as easy as throwing a 30 cent goldfish in a bowl like my parents did…I still wonder how that thing lived over five years, with everything I’ve read since setting out to get my kiddo one.

Most likely the goldfish back then lasted because they were much healthier back then. Today's comets, ( the type of goldfish your parents probably got for 30 cents) are bred more for feeding other fish so their health has not been of major concern to most breeders. Many people have stopped using them as feeders due to the health issues.

If I may suggest, show him some yellow colored Platies (if the color is what excites him) which would do much better in your water and tank size over the glo tetras. If you have a local pet store that's not one of the big chain stores, you can also look into some fancy Guppies. Those too will do well in your water. ( Chain store Guppies have a bad tendency of being extremely fragile and carry internal issues. )

 

[Jasuimiss]

Most likely the goldfish back then lasted because they were much healthier back then. Today's comets, ( the type of goldfish your parents probably got for 30 cents) are bred more for feeding other fish so their health has not been of major concern to most breeders. Many people have stopped using them as feeders due to the health issues.

If I may suggest, show him some yellow colored Platies (if the color is what excites him) which would do much better in your water and tank size over the glo tetras. If you have a local pet store that's not one of the big chain stores, you can also look into some fancy Guppies. Those too will do well in your water. ( Chain store Guppies have a bad tendency of being extremely fragile and carry internal issues. )

Yellow is definitely the color of the day. I’ll see if we can find those around. We’re in a rural area and options are often pretty limited. We have a petsmart and one local shop which has been very helpful; I’ll see what she’s able to order in. I think Platties are what he has at preschool, which inspired our fish journey to begin with, so fingers crossed that could be a good sell! (I’m definitely not negotiating with a brilliant but iron-fisted household foreman in the shape of a 3 1/2 year old here). ? Unfortunately he was lecturing me on the differences between backhoes and excavators at barely two years old (his dad verified that he was, in fact, correct), so I’m confident the platties will have to be bargained as an ALTERNATIVE to goldfish, not goldfish themselves. Because he knows. ??*

Thanks for the tips! On we go and I’m sure I’ll be back with lots more questions after we get the tank cycled.

 

[Andy Sager]

Yellow is definitely the color of the day. I’ll see if we can find those around. We’re in a rural area and options are often pretty limited. We have a petsmart and one local shop which has been very helpful; I’ll see what she’s able to order in. I think Platties are what he has at preschool, which inspired our fish journey to begin with, so fingers crossed that could be a good sell! (I’m definitely not negotiating with a brilliant but iron-fisted household foreman in the shape of a 3 1/2 year old here). ? Unfortunately he was lecturing me on the differences between backhoes and excavators at barely two years old (his dad verified that he was, in fact, correct), so I’m confident the platties will have to be bargained as an ALTERNATIVE to goldfish, not goldfish themselves. Because he knows. ??*

Thanks for the tips! On we go and I’m sure I’ll be back with lots more questions after we get the tank cycled.

I know it's a youngster but he has to know that goldfish are not an option because they can not live well in a 10 gallon tank. But a good alternative is another yellow colored fish that can.

In reality, what you are reading about fish keeping today is not really anything we didn't do back in the day. ( I started keeping fish in the 1960s so I know because I was there. ) Today, we have more knowledge of the whys and hows it works but it's not something new.