55 Gallon Tank Having trouble with my PH/GH/KH

Hello,

I bought myself an API Freshwater Master Test Kit to check my PH/GH/KH because the strips said they were "High" and the Petco associate told me they can't sell me fish when all 3 are testing as "High". The main problem I have is I am partially colorblind, and I can't seem to match the colors correctly. I took samples of my tap and tank water, and to me it looks like my tank ( has the blue lid in the Picture) has a higher PH then my tap water. (Waiting on the KH and GH test kits to come tomorrow as Petco didn't have them. Sorry for the paragraph any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Hi,

I don't understand how test kits work. I know they have some inaccuracy and that they cost money. In short: I don't use them. Plenty folks on this forum do use them and can help you reducing any possible portions of inaccuracy.

Regarding pH values / difference between tank and tap:

• Pure water in an open system (meaning, access to atmosphere) has about a 5.7 pH.
• An aquarium filled with tap water, which contains carbonates (and possibly other buffers, collectively 'KH'), has a pH of about 7.8.
• The tap water itself, might very well have a lower pH. The difference between tap water and tap water in an open tank is CO2, which reaches an equilibrium based on the carbonates in tap water and atmospheric CO2.
• An aquarium with tap water and life, will lower the pH somewhat.
• An aquarium with tap water and photosynthesising life (plants, algae, cyanobacteria), will also increase natural occurring fluctuation in CO2, and therefore pH.

So if pH is marked as 'high', and 'high' means around 7.8, Petco loses 95% of fish sales.
The other 5% works with RO/DO water and might not buy fish at Petco, so no more fish sales.

 

Looks like your tap pH is in the mid 7's 7.6-8. The tank water looks to be slightly higher. What fish did you want to buy? Some fish thrive in that pH, but if you were trying to buy fish that need soft water with a low pH, it's not ideal. Did they say they would not sell you any fish at all. Some of us create those conditions on purpose so we can keep fish that need / prefer high pH, KH and GH.

 

Your tank pH looks around 8. It’s really bizarre that they won’t sell you fish, depending on what you want some fish they sell even prefer higher pH. A pH of 8 is not a death sentence for just about any fish they sell. I’ve never heard of this happening, but it could be worth exploring why your pH is a bit raised in your tank. What substrate are you using? And what fish would you like to buy?

 

sorry for starting the obvious but have you considered shopping elsewhere? since this store is giving you bad dogmatic advice, I would be suspicious of their fish health

 

According to your test results you pH is fine. the low pH test is designed for testing water whose pH is bellow 7.6 pH. The high range pH test is designed for measuring pH levels of 7.4 and higher.

Your tap water pH is fine at around 7.4 pH on both tests.

Your tank water, however, is showing a pH of around 8.2 which is perfect for a saltwater aquarium and for certain freshwater fish such as African Rift Lake cichlids, and livebearers. However, it is too high for many freshwater species.

Generally, fishkeepers have an issue with pH dropping due to nitrate buildup in their tanks. Your issue is with high pH. Do you have crushed coral or limestone rocks in the tank that might be raising pH.

I would suggest that you do 50% water changes every few days and monitor the tank pH until it starts to drop. If you have an issue with matching colors, enlist the help of a friend or neighbor to help you read the charts, or just post photos here so we can help you read them.

 

To answer some questions and to clarify somethings.

The tank has been set up and housing fish for almost 3 years. I just recently started having issues with high PH, but it doesn't seem to be bothering my fish.

I had to take a water sample to petco after I lost a fish (peppered Corydora), and they said they won't sell me ANY fish until I bring in a sample that has the PH in the "Ideal" range.

Petco is the only LFS that is within a 2 hour drive, and ordering online isn't always affordable/easy to do.

I didn't start having issues with "High" PH until the last 2-3 months it was one bar lower previously.

As for substrate. I had issues with extremely low PH (5.7) at my old house, (moved almost a year ago) and had crushed corral substrate but I dug all but maybe 1/2" of it out and replaced with sand as it wasn't needed after the move. Changing it all out is nearly impossible for me as I am in a wheelchair and I can't easily reach the bottom of the tank.

I have a ton of driftwood and plants supposedly lowering the PH. I added almond leaves, addler cones, and mopie wood to try and combat the high PH. Unfortunately the Almond leaves were almost completely dissolved within a couple of days. The Petco rep suggested I get these weird water softening pillows to put in my canister filter, but all that did was tank my GH from the "Ideal" Range to the "Danger" low range so I removed those as it caused all my Panda Garra and Hillstream Loaches to die. I had them all since before the move.

For everyone that is going to ask, I have 2 Leppard Bushfish, 2 Bristlenose Pleco, 8 Silver Hatchetfish, an assortment of 4 different groups of corydora, 4 Pea Puffers, and some random Ghost and Neocaridina Shrimp that were given to me when my brother's tank was torn down.

 

Your older fish have been in the aquarium for a while. As the pH gradually increased over time, the fish acclimated to those changes.

Corydoras come from South America where the water tends to be soft and either neutral or slightly acidic. Corydoras are armored catfish which means they have bony plates, but they do not have scales like most fish. The lack of scales makes them quite sensitive to water quality. When you brought in a new Cory and placed it in your high pH water, it could not adapt.

How often do you do water changes? My suspicion is that you are either doing them infrequently or the amount of water you change is insufficient, or most likely both.

The best thing you can do for your fish is to do frequent water changes with a minimum of 30% of the watre being changed. Many forum members change 50% of the water weekly.

 

Your older fish have been in the aquarium for a while. As the pH gradually increased over time, the fish acclimated to those changes.

Corydoras come from South America where the water tends to be soft and either neutral or slightly acidic. Corydoras are armored catfish which means they have bony plates, but they do not have scales like most fish. The lack of scales makes them quite sensitive to water quality. When you brought in a new Cory and placed it in your high pH water, it could not adapt.

How often do you do water changes? My suspicion is that you are either doing them infrequently or the amount of water you change is insufficient, or most likely both.

The best thing you can do for your fish is to do frequent water changes with a minimum of 30% of the watre being changed. Many forum members change 50% of the water weekly.

The new Corydora died from an Ich outbreak that one of the 4 (9 left in tank) brought with them (30% daily water changes while I treated with Ich X). I do a 50% water change every week and have been since I got the tank.

 

If you are doing a 50% weekly water change as you indicate, I am surprised that the tank pH is not much closer to the tap water pH.

While the corydoras might have been infected with ich, the change in water quality between the store and your tank might have stressed the new fish allowing the infection to become worse.

Because they do not have scales, cory catfish are not as suscptible to ich as most other fish. However, because they are scaleless, they can react poorly to the addition of salt and other medications. Hikari claims that Ich-X is a modified form of malachite green that is tolerated by scaleless fish.