pH level went up

[koiman61]

Was wondering if someone could tell me what could cause the water in the tank to raise? Tap water is 7.5 and tank water is about 8.2

Thank you
Mark

[jmf3460]

Hi Mark and welcome to SD. There are many factors that could cause your PH to rise. The first that comes to mind is the fact that the water in the tank is aerated and therefore the PH will rise due to the CO2 gasses being bubbled off. That is why many of us (myself included) age our water because the ph out of tap is lower than the ph once aged. I have a feeling this is the rise you are seeing. You may need to start aging your water to bubble off the c02

Also, there are various types of rock that could cause a rise in PH because they leech mineral hardness into the water. what do you have in your tank other than water and fish?

[fishbubbles]

I completely agree with Jackyln about the off gassing of Co2 possibly causing your rise. I actually have the opposite happen with my PH than most other people. My PH drops a few points after aging for 24 hours. I have to age my water in a 300 gallon tote with some air stones to stabilize my PH but most importantly, to help dissipate the high levels of chlorine that is in my tap.

[Bizarro252]

+1 to dissolved gases, namely CO2.
CO2 + water creates carbonic acid, and lowers the PH - it will raise up once the CO2 concentrations go down.
You can test this by just getting some tap into a 5 gal bucket with an airstone, check it after 24 hours and you should see the same swing.

With that large of a jump between your tap and tank I would suggest you age your water in a barrel with an airstone if you can. If not stick to smaller, more frequent water changes (the smaller amount exchanged will move your tank PH less).

[Filip]

Was wondering if someone could tell me what could cause the water in the tank to raise? Tap water is 7.5 and tank water is about 8.2

Thank you
Mark

I have the exact same pareters in my tap prior and after aging. My fish were always stressed after a bigger , I.e. + 40% WC until I started to age my water . Du to lack of space in my appartment for aging barrel I age only half of the water for WC and my discus cope this practise fairly well .
They search for food and can be fed 10 min after the waterchang is done .