# alkalinity high



## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

i set up a 55gal fish tank for my friend an the alkalinity is very high . an she has lost some fish . an they have what i think ick they have little white dot all over them. so she very upset now  . *c/p*


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Ich looks like someone salted your fish, ie all the little white dots. It can be easily cleared with a commercial ich medication (make sure you carefully read the instructions).

We need to know what your friend's alkalinity is running at, as well as the other parameters of the tank. What seems high to you may very rightly be where it needs to be for the fish she's keeping. Can you get us the readings for:

-pH
-Hardness
-Alkalinity
-Ammonia
-Nitrite
-Nitrate

As well as what type of fish she has and how many? Ich is caused by stress, which can be the result of any number of different reasons. Without some readings to go off of, we can't really give you much advice.


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

She's going too let know test sd an I will post it it here . As for having too many fish yes there are too many fish its her first tank an wanted every thing she seen there's I think 19 fish in there


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

joe2011 said:


> She's going too let know test sd an I will post it it here . As for having too many fish yes there are too many fish its her first tank an wanted every thing she seen there's I think 19 fish in there


Let me see if I understand this tank.

55g, 19 fish, signs of ick (white spots) and suspected alk too high but no known actual values, no mention of plants.


I would do a beaslbob build if it had been me. but that said I think there will be considerably less then 19 fish in there shortly.

Hopefully things will settle down.

my .02


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

There are no plats in the tank don't have lighting to grow them. Thing I don't get is we both have tanks same size same water an mine is fine but hers is off ?


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

Alkalinity100
Nitrate 20
-Nitrate25
Hardness 0
ph 7.8 
dont have test for Ammonia have to pick one up 
down to 18 fish


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

I think your friend may want to retest that. A hardness of 0? What exactly is -Nitrate? Or did they mean NitrIte? Sounds like there's bigger issues at hand here than the alkalinity of the tank, if you've got nitrites.


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

she txt me 
20 nitrate 0 nitrite 25 hardness 0 chlorine 100 alkalinity 7.8 ph 
i dont know if its her spelling or mine


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Its not an alkalinity problem. How new is the tank and when did fish first go into it? If you are sure it is ich, some form of treatment should be started soon. I would recommend bringing the temp up to 86-88 and start to get the ich under control. Either the fish died of ich, or if it is a new tank having too many fish, too soon.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

joe2011 said:


> There are no plats in the tank don't have lighting to grow them. Thing I don't get is we both have tanks same size same water an mine is fine but hers is off ?


something is different if even just the initial fish's health.

IMHO one of the great advantages of plants is they stabilize the tank. So that differeneces/changes in operation in one tank or between different tanks are rapidily brought into acceptable environments to the fish.

Try less feeding, letting any algae grow, stopping water changes and see if the ich goes away in a week or so.

my .02


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

tanks about a moth old . first few fish went in in the first week an so on .i let my tank sit for 3 week with nothing in it an then got 3 fish an it seems fine . an she sd she dont want plants


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If the tank is only a month old and there are that many fish, then it is still cycling and that is more than likely what killed the fish. She will probably loose more before it's completed. Cranking the temp up will not hurt anything and doesn't require anything special. Letting ich go hoping it will go away will just lead to more fish infected or allowing the ich to kill the fish. Ich many times starts in the gills which impedes their breathing and although not sure, probably what kills the fish. Don't know if just having the protazoa attached, even a lot of it, can kill a fish.


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

stilling hang in with 18 fish . we dont use a heater in that tank so will have to pick one . she treating ich with meds at this point


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)




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## Fearmancer (Apr 24, 2011)

Ok, I'm confused. Isn't alkalinity a value of pH? As in being alkaline (high pH) or acidic (low pH).


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Fearmancer said:


> Ok, I'm confused. Isn't alkalinity a value of pH? As in being alkaline (high pH) or acidic (low pH).


pH can be alkaline, but alkalinity is a totally different cow. Without getting into the intensely technical explanation of what alkalinity is, how it works, and how it affects your tank, I'll just say that it's how resistant your tank is to pH changes.


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## Fearmancer (Apr 24, 2011)

Ah, in my neck of the woods they call it Total Alkalinity Buffering Capacity, or just pH buffering cap. Makes sense, the science alert went off, and I got confused.


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## Fearmancer (Apr 24, 2011)

That being said, I couldn't possibly think Alkalinity would cause problems unless it was too low but I could be wrong.


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

If you're trying to dial in your pH to a certain range (ie, trying to get to neutral when your source water is exceptionally high/low), a high alkalinity can be a pain in the butt.


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

the ph in the tank is 7.5 at this point . an no more ich !!!!


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## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Glad to hear you got rid of the ich!


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## joe2011 (Jul 6, 2011)

tanks doing well now .


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