# Lost all our fish in 24 hours - high pH?



## PatD (Jan 6, 2015)

So we've had a handful of neon tetras for probably three years or so (I didn't think they'd last that long!) Also had a dwarf frog since the beginning, and my daughter brought another home from a school project a year or so ago. That one apparently didn't make it, but we never saw it dead. Guess it just disintegrated over time under a rock.

Tank is a 10 gallon. Had, at most, four tetras and two dwarf frogs at any given time. Did a fishless cycle when we got the tank and didn't introduce fish until the tank was ready (Took a month or two!)

We lost a tetra or two over time, so my wife bought two new ones and brought them home. Introduced them as normal (Keep them in the bag in the water to get used to temps; NEVER let the water from pet store in to the tank.) About a week later, one died. Then the next morning, ALL of our tetras were dead. So we had one frog left. He's still going. . .

No idea what caused it. I have to admit, I never tested the tank once we completed the fishless cycle. Everything was going well, so just let it go. We feed the fish only as much as they'll eat every 2-3 days and generally have a clean tank. Keep it around 75 degrees, change the filter as needed, etc. We don't do water changes because our water seems to evaporate fast enough. We add about a gallon every week or two.

I did test the tank after all this happened. pH was high - 8.2 or 8.3. Everything else was a zero for testing - ammonia, nitrites, nitrates. So not sure if it's because of (What I feel is high) pH or no nitrates or something else.

Anyway, since then, I've tried replacing some water to lower the pH level. Our tap is about 7.2 and the only water we've ever used to replace water in the tank. Over the course of a week, we probably changed out 5 gallons of water. pH stays a 8.2/8.3. No change. Huh? So maybe it's something in the tank? We don't have any living plants, just have gravel and some artificial reef stuff for the fish to hide in.

Any other ideas? Or is that pH fine? Hate to get more fish only to have them die in a few days. If it weren't for the last frog, I would just empty it and start over.


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