Search the Community

I have just tested my water and the ph is the highest it can be along with high ph is at 8.8 . What could i possibly do about this. Which soil actually works but is good for plants as well. I dont wish to totally destroy my water and have it down to 5.5 by accident . . Help! Thanks Ps. I tested because i want new shrimp and snails, would this rating be okay for event a sulawasi. ? How long does buffering substrate or water buffering liquid last?

Hello. I am brand new to this forum so I apologize if I didn’t tag my post right or do something wrong. But I need some insights/help on my new shrimp tank. I am keeping raccoon tiger shrimps in a temporary 2 gallon cycled acrylic QT tank until my real shrimp tank finishes cycling. (Yes I bought the shrimp before I matured my tank 🙄 too late) i read that my raccoon tiger shrimp need a PH in range 6-6.5 but the LFS and their current QT tank are at ph 7.5-7.6 kh 3-4 Gh 7-8. The shrimp have been in the QT tank happily for a little over a month now and have been full grown but no berries or babies yet I decided after contacting other successful raccoon shrimp breeders and reading online that it would be best if I tried to lower the Ph down Around 6.2-6.5. I have pre cycled Ada Amazonia aquasoil that no longer leaches ammonia and I swapped the substrate out of the cycling tiger shrimp tank (with no shrimp in it yet) and switching from “salty shrimp Gh/kh +” remineralizer to “bee shrimp Gh+” and it’s now at ph 6.0-6.2 kh 0-1 Gh 6, which is great but the issue has been lowering the Ph in the separate raccoon tigers QT tank so I can acclimate the shrimp to the new parameters slowly over a few weeks. I started doing 10-25% water changes with the new “bee shrimp Gh+” remineralizer (at TDS 150—QT tank is currently at TDS 200) every couple of days on a SLOW drip line (takes up to 3-5 hours to refill the QT tank so the switch is easier on the shrimp) and adding teaspoons of cycled aquasoil Amazonia and some peat moss balls to the QT tank so when the KH drops the ph will be buffered. I have done three or four of these drip water changes to the new water parameters(kh 0-1 gh 6) and keep checking the ph, Gh and kh of the QT tank twice a day and they aren’t lowering down at all. It seems very weird to me. Before the switch the parameters were ph 7.5-7.6, kh 3-4, gh 8-9. I thought for sure it would be lowered down to atleast kh 2 and Gh 6-7 (halfway between the old water and the new water parameters) atleast but no changes have happened. Here is some info about the QT tank that I am trying to lowering the ph in: 2 gallon acrylic QT tank airstone and sponge Mignon 60 hanging filter Small mossy lava rock cholla wood Lots of floating plants and hornwort java ferns soiderwood pieces cattappa, guava and oak leaves Shrimp mineral balls high quality foods from Han aquatics, Dennerle, betaglucan, Bacter AE, nettle etc. very matured environment With visible micro organisms and happy shrimp. No deaths. Tank temp between 70-73 cooled by fans several small RO water top offs every day I will continue doing water changes until I see any changes but it seems odd that after changing 50-60% change by now and see nothing different when I use my test kits. (new, non expired kits and shake the bottles violently before use) any advice or ideas for me out there? I am trying to avoid any sudden rapid changes in their tank since the raccoon tigers cost me around $130 and don’t want any deaths although they do seem pretty hardy so far. The shrimps breeder is local and I found out they do use buffered substrate and low ph so the switch should be good for them.

So I've been through 3 or so of the el cheapo yellow pH meters. What does everyone use and how long have you been using them? What are your recommendations? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I am planing to acquire some crs and crb. I am wanting to raaise the ph of the tank to about 6.4 - 6.7 to get optimal conditions for the crystal shrimp. The tank is currently at a 6 possibly lower ph I can only see so much with an API test kit I have ada Amazonia soil which buffers the ph Down, how would I maintain a stable ph of 6.4 - 6.7 along with keeping a low ph. Also I have fire red cherrys stocked so any changes would have to be as steady and subtle as possible. I was also thinking of weaking the buffer but idk how to go about that with shrimp inside idk what to do at this point.

I am planing to acquire some crs and crb. I am wanting to raise the ph of the tank to about 6.4 - 6.7 to get optimal conditions for the crystal shrimp. The tank is currently at a 6 possibly lower ph I can only see so much with an API test kit I have ada Amazonia soil which buffers the ph Down, how would I maintain a stable ph of 6.4 - 6.7 with a low kh. When I am fighting against the buffer along with almond leaves and alder comes which want to lower the ph even more Also I have fire red cherrys stocked so any changes would have to be as steady and subtle as possible. I was also thinking of weaking the buffer but idk how to go about that with shrimp inside idk what to do at this point.

Hi, I am new to the forum and to the hobby. I have just setup a new 10 gallon tank and all I have so far is: - ADA Amazonia Light Substrate - A little bit of Dwarf Baby Tears - CO2 with about one bubble every 2 seconds - My filter is an Aquaclear 30 with Plurigen and Seachem Matrix media. - Tap water treated with Seachem Prime - I have also dropped some API Quick Start in the first day It's only the second day of my fishless cycle, so I don't have too much history on it yet, but my PH is at 6.0 (Maybe lower since 6.0 is the minimum I can see in my test) I am also going to add drift wood as decoration, which i hear lowers PH even more. I will have CRS shrimp in the tank at some point when the numbers are good. Does anyone have experience and tips for me? Will the PH likely go higher after the cycle is complete? How often should I do water changes during the cycle, and how much water? Thank you.

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has good knowledge about the effects of kH and temperature to the pH? I noticed that sometimes the pH of my small 10G tank fluctuated, but the substrate, ADA Amazonia, was still fresh. To this day, it has still not been a year since putting the new substrate. For instance, as the season changed from winter-spring-early summer, the pH seemed to have increased to 6.3 ish (before it was very consistent at 6.0). Plus, during that season transition, I ended up losing blue bolts and some high grade CRS as the temperature unexpectedly increased too much (I suspect it was the temp. because other parameters were all within the normal range) - it was my first time trying out BB :(. So, in order to solve the temperature issue, I moved my 10G tank down to the basement, and now the temperature is consistent at 20~22 degrees Celsius. What is interesting is that the pH is now back to being 6.0; the API test kit appears as yellow! Now, I have more than 40 shrimplets which are very healthy and growing. Many have successfully entered the juvenile stage. + I think that about 3 months after setting up ADA Amazonia, I noticed the pH change once, which I did not consider seriously as shrimps were still healthy. - I did some search online and read that the low kH levels could lead to the fluctuation of the pH... So my question is: Does the temperature usually affect the pH signficantly in a tank with RO/DI water + salty shrimp GH (hence kH <1)? Or... could it be that the substrate was defective? I doubt that honestly but meh there could be many other possibilities. It could be wrong observations, too (but others also noticed the pH increase!). The 10G tank parameters: pH 6.0 or less ammonia, nitrite, nitrate 0 GH 6 KH <1 TDS 120 No CO2 injection (only have mosses and low light plants for shrimps) During the season change and shrimp deaths: the temperature increased a lot, and pH increased by ~0.3 Thanks!

Hi all! I'm having an issue with my Milwaulkee #SE220 probe that I'm using with a Milwaukee MC122 pH controller. I use this in my 40G breeder, but I also use the probe to check pH in my other tanks. The 40G is my high tech tank with high LED lights and CO2. I just use my well water in it which naturally has a GH of 5.5 and a KH of 7. Mixed community tank with my Bloody Marys.... They love it and thrive... A month or two ago, I set up a new 11 gallon True Aqua rimless for some *georgous* PRLs I got from TropicalAquarist. I used ADA Amazonia (regular) and cycled it. I'm using Poland Spring Distilled Water that I get from the grocery store. I'll probably get my own RO unit in a month or so. I reconstitute it to a GH of 6 with Salty Shrimp GH+. I leave the KH at zero. The weird thing is, that my pH probe won't read the pH correctly. It reads the pH as being somewhere in the mid 7's (it varies). I didn't believe it, so I broke out an API low pH drop test (not expired). The API test tells me that the pH is at 6.7, which is what I'd expect from DI water and Amazonia soil.... That seems about right.... I called Milwaukee, and they sent me out a new probe. But the new probe does the same thing.... The probes seem to read everything else correctly... It reads my well water correctly (which the API test agrees with) and the calibration fluids at 4 and 7. But it just reads the water in the new tank wacky. Any thoughts? Has anyone ever had a similar issue using either ADA Amazonia soil or Salty Shrimp GH+? Or is Poland Spring just evil water? (LOL) Thought I'd ask around here before calling Milwaukee back. One thing I'll say for them, they have great support, in that they'll send out replacements at the drop of a pin. But I'm thinking that maybe they won't know either..... And a I've already had a replacement...

Hello fellow shrimp keepers, I have started a shrimp tank with ADA amazonia soil, with thickness about 6.5 cm (about 2 inches) and it does not seem to be able to drop PH to proper levels. I was expecting PH of 6.5 - 7, maybe lower. My tap water is PH 7.6, GH 6, KH 4, TDS 150. The PH in the tank is still the same as my tap water. There is moss, lava stones and some driftwood in the tank, with 2 double sided sponge filters. Tank has dimensions width 50 cm x debt 28 cm x height 40 cm and I fill it to the 38 liters mark. The tank is still in fish-less cycle and I am about 1 week into the cycling. I tried PH down to save the amazonia buffering capability and I dropped the PH to 7, but a day after it was back to the 7.6 PH range. What the hell? The tank is for crystal bees but if the PH issue is not solved then I would have to go with rilis. Do you guys know what could be the issue? How long is it going to take until the PH drops to proper levels?

I am worried because I changed media in my canister filter and my pH has increased from 5.4 to 6. I am monitoring continuously with Pinpoint. Not only that, but when I unplug my filter the readings immediately drop by .5. So when my filter has power my pH is .5 higher than without it. Should I be worried? Just when I think I've figured out science, it goes all wobbly on me. Any advice wood be greatly appreciated. ty

Hi everyone, I've got a planted tank with Brightwell sub, CO2 and Blue Bolts. My pH cycles from 6.08 in the morning to 5.78 in the evening. Is this unhealthy? Should I aim for tightening this range? I turn off CO2 at night about an hour before my light turns off and it comes on about the same time as my lights come on. Also, is having a KH of 4-5 necessarily bad for Caradina? I have really clean tap water as I live in the foothills. So far my few tester shrimp seem to be fine, although i see markedly more activity from them in the evening as the pH climbs lower. Thanks in advance for any advise. Here's my tank too. Just cuz I'm proud of it's progress.

I just got some Brightwell, attracted by its "no ammonia spike" reputation. It only seems to buffer down to a pitiful 6.4 pH, however. I use RO water. I want a healthy bee tank and presumed a 5.3-5.5 was optimal. Am I going to be forced to use something that I'll have to cycle for months to then hope for a buffering time window of 9 months, or am I looking at this all wrong? Thx,

Hello all, I am new to the forum and to keeping shrimp and have some water chemistry questions. I recently purchased ten neocaridinas (five red sakura, two red unknown, one sky blue, one dark blue, and one yellow) and am now left with only four reds and the sky blue. The shrimp remaining are swimming around, feeding, and displaying nice coloration. I would like to purchase more but I don't want them to meet the same fate as the ones that did not make it! Any help on the matter is appreciated. My tank set-up: 2.6 gallon, cycled Fluorite substrate Planted (marimo moss balls, hornwort, crypt, myrio, chinese ivy) One large piece of dritwood Four apple snails No fish My water parameters: Nitrates: 10 Nitrites: 0 GH: 75 (soft) Chlorine: 0 KH: 300+ (super high) pH: 8.4- 8.8 I have well water that runs through a water softener, and thus seems to produce very soft yet very alkaline water. Does low GH but high KH/pH affect shrimp? Is there anything I can or should do to raise GH and lower KH/pH? Will these changes encourage the shrimp to thrive and breed (I know my snails would appreciate an oomph in the GH!)? Is there anything else I might be doing wrong? Thanks for all the help!

So I am trying Mosura PH Down because I'm trying to get the correct parameters for OEBT. I got GH 7 and kh 4 with a PH of 7.3. TDS is about 135. I believe this is good. I am wondering if Mosura PH Down will keep the parameters stable? It's amazingly powerful stuff I have been running the tank for about 3 weeks with cycled media but I didn't have everything I need to get the water chemistry right until a couple of days ago. I'm new to shrimp and trying to get it right. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Every day my PH swings from 7.3 to 6.7 due to CO2 injection. 8.15am - lights/CO2 ON. Air pump OFF (stops night aeration). PH is 7.2 or 7.3 at this time. 9.15 - 7.0 11.30 - 6.9 12.30 - 6.8 2.00pm - 6.7 2.15pm - lights/CO2 OFF - 6.7 3.30pm - 6.9 3.45pm - lights/CO2 ON 4.30pm - 6.8 5.30pm - 6.8 7.30pm - 6.7 7.45pm - lights/CO2 OFF -> Night aeration on. This blows bubbles into my tank from an airpump. 8.30pm - 6.8 Its a 3 footer community tank, moderate planted. My setup is 11 months old, ADA soil is about 3 inches thick covering 70% of the area. I thought ADA should buffer PH to 6.8. My PH before CO2 is 7.3. I'm not sure if my PH pen needs calibration or its due to blowing bubbles into my tank (night aeration). KH is 3, GH is 6 I keep Cherries, Blue Velvet, CRS/CBS, Tigers. Except for the CBS/CRS, all the shrimps are doing great and have been breeding. For the CBS/CRS, a bit of a mixed success/failure story. They've been in there for about 5 months now. Had a couple of deaths. Added 6 CBS 2 months ago - left one now (failure story). But that one recently got berried (success story). For the CRS - maybe lost a handful, but generally the population only had a slight decline. They look healthy, but so far, none got berried. I finally nailed it down to the PH swings that are affecting the more sensitive shrimps. Is there any truth to this and is there anything I can do to mitigate this factor? I certainly cannot stop the CO2, neither isolate the CRS.

Hey all, Just a quick question; I'm trying to transition over to using RO water. Today I went and got 50 Liters of "RO Water" from a garden center. When I got home and tested the PH of this water it came out at over 7.6. I used a digital meter which read 7.69 and also the API test kit which was darker than the highest reading on the chart of 7.6. This PH is like almost as high as our normal tap water in this part of the country where we have hard water. Any ideas here? is this even RO water? I thought RO water should come out at around 5 or 6 on the PH scale? Any advice appreciated!

Am wondering if I have just made a huge mistake. Been having problems keeping the nitrates low in my shrimp and decided to try R.O.water as the nitrate in the tap water was 5 ppm and have been trying to keep nitrate at 10 or below as advised by the breeder. Have just done my first water change using R.O.water as the base (TDS 4 - raised to 215 using salty shrimp - tank water TDS 280 before change and 260 after change, aiming for 250). Exchanged about 30% and now the pH has dropped from 7.8 to 6.8. Is this to be expected? Will it have harmed my shrimp? Should I have done a smaller exchange? Should I do another tap water exchange to reverse the pH dip? Have also read somewhere that once you've started with R.O. water there's no going back to tap water - is this true?

I think this might be a bit long-winded so apologies up front! I have recently started to care for cherry shrimp having had no problems with amano shrimp in my other 2 tanks. I understood they were easy to care for and could tolerate a wide range of water parameters.(Hmm!) I have a 19L shrimp tank with 10 white pearl and 1 blue phantom shrimp at the moment. Previously I bought 3 blue phantoms (not sure if they are blue jellies, but very similar). Had to keep them in a 30L tank with only assassins snails for company whilst the shrimp tank finished cycling. Lost 1 blue straight away, saw the 2nd one disappearing down the throat of an assassin snail about 3 days later so I assume it died beforehand (I hope it did!) The 3rd one survived. I then purchased 3 more blues and transferred them all to the shrimp tank which at that time was a 12L tank. Couldn't keep the temperature stable so upgraded to a 19L - that's all I have room for now. Transferred the equipment and could only find the one blue again - the same one that survived before I'm sure. It seemed to be much more settled in the larger tank so I got 10 white pearl shrimp and was advised by the breeder/retailer to keep the TDS at 250 as it helps them to moult. (I top up my tap water from 110 - 250 using Salty Shrimp GH+) He also advised keeping the pH 7.5, temperature around 21⁰C and the nitrates under 10 ppm. Here's where I'm struggling - we've had a heatwave in the UK and I'm using 2 fans to try to keep it under control. Without the fans it runs up to 28⁰ on the hottest days. Also I've been having to do water changes every 3 days to keep the nitrates under 10. Got 2 moss-balls in there at the moment which are nice and green - have moved every other plant out as they start to melt due to lack of nutrients I think and probably contributed to the nitrate situation in the first instance. However it hasn't gone away completely and I'm still having to do W/C every few days which is really frustrating. Other water parameters: Ammonia 0ppm Nitrites 0 ppm Nitrates up to 25 ppm if I leave the water changes for more than 3-4 days - had 1 shrimp jump out of the water at that level! pH 7.8 stable temperature 19.5-23.5 depending on weather. I don't have GH or KH tests as I feel I'm juggling too many balls as it is at the moment. TDS increases by 10-15 daily - return it to 250 with W/C Yesterday I added 2 banana leaves and 4 alder cones as I heard they gradually reduce the pH and since my water is at the top of the range for cherries I thought it might help. I also thought it would give them something to graze on, on the days I don't feed them. Added a guava leaf a couple of days ago and there's been a cholla log in there for quite a while now and that was very popular to begin with, but they seem to have lost interest in it and other food at the moment. The water is so dark today it's like black water so have removed the banana leaves. It's almost like they are spaced out or stoned! What am I doing wrong to need to do so many water changes due to nitrates? What temperature fluctuation is acceptable? I'm sorry for the long post, but have tried to include as much information as possible. Thank you for sticking with it this far!