chipster55

Is it possible that a high pH can kill fish. My ph is running at 7.6 (or maybe even higher). I bought 5 tiger barbs and 2 died. I then bought 3 more and 2 more died. The remaining 4 look very healthy and happy. All others appeared to be in good health but were dead by next morning. My tank is cycling but it has not yet registered any ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates...Alll readings are zero. This tank has been cycling for about 5 weeks so I would have thought it would have started by now..Would a water change help any of these issues..And if ph is too high, how do you lower it....Everything I have read on this seems to indicate not to add any ph chemicals to water..Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Tamara

you should check the ph in your tap water. If that's really high too, then you may have to buy water bottles...not sure what type or anything. Or else i get my ph down by doing lots of water changes. Sorry to hear about your fish.
tara

Isabella

You've been cycling your tank for 5 weeks, and through all this time you haven't seen any ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? Not even once? How often did you test your water for the above 3 compounds during these 5 weeks?

I would not add any fish to a tank that isn't cycled yet, or that is in the process of cycling, or that is expected to begin cycling. Something must have killed your fish - if not your water, then maybe they were bought already sick. Or perhaps the tank from which they came had a drastically different pH than that of your tank. Same goes for water temperature.

Your pH is fine. Don't do anything to alter it. When you bought your fish, did you take appropriate steps to acclimatize your fish? If yes, how did you acclimatize them? What is the pH of your tap water (or whatever the water that you use for water changes)? How often do you perform water changes and how large/small are they?

Mike

I agree with Isabella on altering the ph.

How did you acclimate them to your tank water? If your tank's water parameters varied greatly from the store's water parameters it could have stressed the tiger barbs.

http://www.fishlore.com/acclimating-tropicalfish.htm

What kind of test kits are you using? How have you been cycling your tank? You should be seeing low levels of ammonia and/or nitrites by now.

chipster55

Thank-you for your replies. Here are answers to your questions.Tap water ph is 7.2..I use test tubes and drops (Aquarium pharmaceuticals)..I tested water once a week for the 1st couple weeks, then once every 3 days, and now once a day. I am cycling tank with fish (I know some don't like this) and I added tiger barbs about 1 1/2 weeks ago to try and kick start ammonia and nitrites. I have not had an ammonia reading yet. This is my 2nd tank and I am doing the same as 1st tank which I had very good success with (did not lose a fish)..I acclimate by floating them for 1/2 hour...I then add about approximately 1/4 a cup of water every 20 minutes for about 1 1/2 hours..I then net them and add them to the tank. The water I am using for the 2nd tank is from the same source as 1st tank (city water). This is why I am stumped to why this is happening to this tank...I have only done 1 small water change when I had a brown algae problem (which went away like thise forum said it would). Please help if you can think of anything else to do...Thanks

Isabella

Maybe, like Mike said, the conditions of the fish store tank were very different from those of your tank. So much different that the transfer of fish from one tank to another killed them. If you acclimatized the fish slowly, gradually adding your tank water to the bag with fish as you described, you did the right thing. Or, perhaps the fish were already sick from the store.

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tests are very reliable, so it's a good thing you have them. As for your pH, even if your tap water pH is 7.2 and your tank pH is 7.6, I don't think it would hurt the fish if you did 15-30% weekly (or even twice a week) water changes. If you use the same water for water changes, and perform regular water changes, your water should be fine in terms of pH. As you have probably read on Fish Lore, it's better to keep a stable pH than a constantly fluctuating one.

If none of the above suggestions are what happened to your fish, then I am puzzled as well. I guess just keep monitoring your tank for ammonia and nitrite if they haven't shown up yet. Once they show up, start doing frequent water changes to remove them because they can make your remaining fish sick.

chipster55

Thank-you very much...You are probably right about LFS because I don't really see any other logical answers...One more thing...Should I be doing water changes before any ammonia/nitrites shows up??

Isabella

I don't think regular water changes will hurt you, even though you have no signs of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as of yet. You certainly can perform regular water changes, and keep monitoring your water for the above 3 compounds.

nando19

This sounds like my tank that I just started 16 days and ive only seen ammonia once but it has gone away it was only 0.25