weird water readings?

[whitedevil]

I am testing the tap PH today to get a baseline for this new tank.

I tested the tap first

low range points to 6.0-6.5
high range is too faint to match up


tank Ph
water in the tank, filled two days ago with straight tap with dechlor added.

low range is above 7.5 so went to high range and got an 8.0-8.5 reading

what would cause the jump in Ph?
this tank only has eco complete in it no livestock or plants yet

my other two display tanks have a ph of around 7.4 as of this date and time.

the only think in my tanks as opposed to the Dw is livestock,plants and driftwood.

can I fill a 5g bucket up with tank water from the tank and add DW to the bucket and let it sit for 24 hours then test? will this reading give me more of a fixed reading in the tank?

thank you

[Ardan]

IS this well water?

If there was CO2 in the water and it off gased then the ph would rise.

Put some in a bucket, test it then test it after 12 to 24 hours.
You may need to age your water before doing wc's.

hth
Ardan

[whitedevil]

city water.

[Jhhnn]

I don't know that high levels of CO2 are related to well water exclusively. Try what Ardan suggests, take it from there.

[whitedevil]

my GH test comes in today but I got my tap reading and a few more hours to till I can test the aged water. I will post results as soon as I have them in this thread.

[whitedevil]

thru the roof, went and got a whole house RO/DI unit for this particular tank.

even after days of having DW in there and peat, the PH dropped literally .4 points so I ponied up and got the unit and a 50g reserve tank.