high ph

drewby9

so i just added my first 2 fish yesterday (royal gramma, purple fire fish) and i tested my water today and my ph is a lil high at 8.8, and here is everything else nitrite-0, nitrate-0, ammonia-0, and salts at 1.025...is there anything i should be worried about or do...do i need to do a water change yet i just did one 3 days ago.

Loman

It ias a little surprising to have zero nitrate but not completely unheard of. I would not do a water change until you see the readings come up some. Hopefully you will see ammonia and nitrite stay at zero and a slow increase in Nitrate. I would change the water when it reached a level you wanted to maintain. In some ways it is your call depending on inhabitants but typically I would keep nitrate below 20 ppm

drewby9

ok ill keep checking it everyday and if i see the ammonia go up ill do a water change then

unclejed

Hi drew, if you just added fish then those numbers are correct since there is nothing breaking down i.e. fish waste. You don't say much about your tank. From one of my posts; "I will suggest that when you post and are asking for help or for ideas, please include all basic information. Basic information should include; all water parameters, size of tank and complete set up meaning, filter type (sump, canister etc.), lighting (what type and total output) and if you have fish only with live rock and if you keep corals. Also how long the tank has been up. I know some of this is your bio but many bios don't contain this info." Sounds to me as if alkalinity is your problem, what is your alk reading and along with that what is your calcium reading? These all work together synergistic.

drewby9

well ok let me try again...i have a 55 gal FOWLR about 60 pounds of rock, i also have live sand....the light are odessia and 260watt...there are two power heads...and a aqua c remora skimmer...as for water tests this is all i got

salt- 1.025
nitrate-0
ph-8.8
nitrite-0
ammonia-0

chadf

I don't think it's surprising to have zero nitrates, I rarely ever regester any. If I do it's zero again in a few days. The ocean is like .2 ppm, that's what we all want to maintain.

Nereaga

Truth be told, MOST test kits dont register anything under 1 ppm for Nitrates. I know my Hagen's only go as low as 5 ppm. So it could actually register 0 ppm with a kit, but in reality you just have less concentrations than what you test kit can pick up....

As for you pH, it is common in new setups for pH to be high like that. I would let it ride out, eventually it will begin to decline and thats what you really need to keep an eye on. Make sure it doesn't dip below 8.0.

if I were you, I would also pick up an alkalinity test kit. I would assume that your dkh is abnormally high aswell.

With time these will level out.....

Brad

Loman

Chadf,
I agree the ocean converts ntrate to nitrogen. It is by all estimates, larger than the tanks we keep and has much more filtration in the form of live rock, though. If you can keep the nitrate at 0 great my hat is off to you. Do you have a denitrifing coil or anything? I think most people see some level of Nitrate in an establsihed tank

drewby9

honestly i dont even know what a denitrifing coil is..so thats a no there...and as for the ph this is the first time ive seen it go above 8.4...but ill keep a eye on everything and well see how it gos

chadf

I agree that high ph is not unheard of in new tanks, like brad said it should stabilize over time. What kind of test kit are you using?

No, denitrator or anything. Just a very deep sand bed and lots of live rock.