PH Problems

[ProMom]

Hello there all,

I am hoping someome can help me out. I have a goldfish tank with an algae eater. I am using bottled water as our city uses a *lot* of chlorine & other additives since a coloform bacteria scare 2 years ago. My problem is my PH is over 8,, no matter what I do. I've had other tanks, but I've never had this issue b4.

I also have a beta in a separate tank,,, same PH,, same water source.

The PH doesn't seem to bother the goldfish,, but the algae eater isn't liking it,, not one bit. He isn't as active as other's I've had.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

T

 

[Guest]

What kind of rocks, decorations, and gravel do you have? Certain kinds of gravel and rocks will make the water alkaline.

 

[ProMom]

I am using plain old plastic plants, bought from the pet store,,,, and the gravel is blue & light grey. Made the mistake of using the white that pushes the PH up in my first tank. Won't make that one again . The plants and gravel are all the same ones I've used since I started my first tank about 3 or 4 years ago.

Incidentally,, last night the algae eater died. I think it was PH shock,,, so I'm going to have to get the PH down before I can attempt another algae eater. I honestly have never had a problem with PH stabilization b4. I'd get it at a near 7,,,, and it would stay there. This is new and rather disturbing territory for me. The high PH is also making for a lovely algae growth in the tank.

 

[shawmutt]

Before you use pH down, check the General Hardness (gH) and carbonate hardness (kH) of the tank. If either is high, bring them down by adding distilled water at your next water change. http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/ is a good article on testing these parameters.