Nick_R Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 Hello, So I started a new tank for my prl shrimps in the beginning of July. The tank is a 30g cube. I decided for this tank to use the tried and true ada amazonia soil. All my other tanks have mr aqua soil and one has fluval stratum. This tank use to be a planted tank with Eco compete and fish in it with tap water. I used the eheim 2217 filter, sponge filter that was running in the tank for Alittle over 3 years. Tank has a manzanita branch, cholla wood, moss, all from when it was setup planted with tap water. Tank has been running RO water reminerlized with salty shrimp. Ok down to my question. The soil has not buffered the ph down at all. The ada soil stopped leaching ammonia at about week 3, tank now is kh 0, gh 5, nitrate 0, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, and last but not least ph 7.4. Could using the filter with the bacteria from before cause the high ph? Could the manzanita branch cause high ph? Please let me know any thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I have same issue, it was Amazonia soil. I have a simple setup. ADA + sponge filter. nothing else. so it's easy to point finger to ADA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I will replace it with Birghtwell soil shortly. I just waste my one+ month time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANBU Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 How much is brightwel?l I'm planning to do another tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I'd like more info on Brightwell. even the info on their site is pretty general sounding... "low gh" "ph under 7" how about some specifics maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merth Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I found an article from 2012 on TPT that said it buffered ro down to 6.2 but thats really the only review I found with any specifics..Mythin's 12 gal long journal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Mine was dragging 7.6 ph tap water down to 6.0 that doesn't sound right for substrate that a few months old. Maybe bad test kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_R Posted October 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I don't think it's the test kit. The tube on the left is the 30g with ada soil, the tube on the right is my 12g taiwan bee tank with fluval stratum that usually stays right around 6.8 or so. Also the 30g had a 9l bag of the ada soil to make about 2.5 inches thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Are you using salty shrimp +gh or salty shrimp kh+gh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_R Posted October 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Im using salty shrimp gh+ I will be switching to mk breed blue diamond, but have not started using it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I have both ADA Amazonia and fluval plant/shrimp stratum both tanks are siting 6.0, I used tap water to cycle the ADA Amazonia then did a 100% ro/di 6.4ph water change and it dragged it to 6.0. What's the ph of the water you put in the tank? If it's razing the water that's going in something is affecting your kh but you said your kh is 0 so idk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_R Posted October 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I just checked jug of water that I have for water changed that is remin to 5 gh and tds 98. It has a ph 6 solid yellow. I also just checked the tank and it takes only 1 drop to turn the water yellowish orange for testing kh. So it should be 0 if not close to 0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 How much is brightwel?l I'm planning to do another tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk It's $40 at Drs. Foster and Smith. add $10 other stuff, you get free shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I bought couple bags of Amazonia 1st generation before, from same box. My other tank, the pH will drop down to 5.5, I struggle to push it up. Once I open a new bag, the pH is always above 7. I have a 20L about 4 months old. Now I have a newly cycled tank with only ADA and sponge filter, even not adding GH+ yet. so clearly, it's ADA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I'd hate to think ADA is shipping out bad batches of aqua soil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Hello, So I started a new tank for my prl shrimps in the beginning of July. The tank is a 30g cube. I decided for this tank to use the tried and true ada amazonia soil. All my other tanks have mr aqua soil and one has fluval stratum. This tank use to be a planted tank with Eco compete and fish in it with tap water. I used the eheim 2217 filter, sponge filter that was running in the tank for Alittle over 3 years. Tank has a manzanita branch, cholla wood, moss, all from when it was setup planted with tap water. Tank has been running RO water reminerlized with salty shrimp. Ok down to my question. The soil has not buffered the ph down at all. The ada soil stopped leaching ammonia at about week 3, tank now is kh 0, gh 5, nitrate 0, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, and last but not least ph 7.4. Could using the filter with the bacteria from before cause the high ph? Could the manzanita branch cause high ph? Please let me know any thoughts. Unlikely caused by ADA AS. If your ADA AS is exhausted, the pH is around 6.8 to 7.0. Are you using chemical test kit or pH pen/probe to test the pH? For pH to reach 7.4, something in your tank is leeching significant amount of minerals, carbonate, ammonium and/or borate. For the Salty Shrimp salt, are you using GH+ or GH/KH+? Do you have any rocks or mineral stones in the tank? Are you dosing those minerals powder that are for shrimps? Try to increase water aeration / water surface agitation and see whether the pH will go down. Bad ADA AS only cracks into powder easily but unlikely to cause pH to be alkaline (chemically impossible). Unless you bought counterfeit ADA AS. High5's 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I would ask Han about the Brightwell substrate as he has just setup a new shrimp tank with it. I agree with hyoushoku, I can't imagine ADA Aquasoil having "Bad" batches that would increase the PH, maybe a difference in mineral composition as far as percentages but not otherwise. Let's try to figure out other reasons that could potentially increase your PH levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_R Posted October 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Today I'm going to do a 100% water change reminerilized with the blue diamond. I'm also going to take every thing out of the tank except the soil and put it in separate bowls with strait ro water. I feel this will be a good test, as if the ph still raises it is either the eheim filter media that was setup on the tank previously, or the soil. And if it is something that was in the tank, if they are in individual bowls of water it should be easy to tell which one was the culprit. Also another thing to mention, this was the ada amazonia 2 soil, not sure if it matters though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Daddy Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 "this was the ada amazonia 2 soil" <--- Does the ADA AS packaging says "2" or "New"? If yes, then it is a very old batch; they stopped putting that more than a year ago. The difference between version 1 and 2 are the amount of fertiliser in it, especially nitrogen compound. The buffering capability are about the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_R Posted October 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 It didn't say new or 2 on the bag, it was just sold to me as this, I got it from the substrate source on eBay as ada website was out of stock at the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 I would ask Han about the Brightwell substrate as he has just setup a new shrimp tank with it. I agree with hyoushoku, I can't imagine ADA Aquasoil having "Bad" batches that would increase the PH, maybe a difference in mineral composition as far as percentages but not otherwise. Let's try to figure out other reasons that could potentially increase your PH levels. I prove it was ADA. I bought a box of ADA 9L first generation from an official ADA US dealer couple years ago. First bag was good, even the left over after 3 years, I use it still buffer the pH down below 6. I setup that in March/April, I reseal the bag after I use it, so stock on the self doesn't affect its buffer capability. then I setup my 20L in June, I open a new bag from the same box. and I add powder on top from another new bag, I was struggling to keep the pH down below 7. I have too many thing in my 20L tank, so I don't know if it is ADA causing it. Later, I setup two 10G tanks. use the left over from the bag I openned in June, nothing in the tank, only ADA soil, sponge filter and pure water. Tanks got cycled in a month, NO3 is off the chart. so it does leach ammonia. Did 100% water change with RO water afterwards, pH never goes below 7, even I add HCl into it, it bounce back above 7 shortly. I use pinpoint pH monitor and calibrate it before use. I only have RO water, ADA Amazonia soil and Angelfish plus sponge filter. what causes pH hovering above 7 is clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 It didn't say new or 2 on the bag, it was just sold to me as this, I got it from the substrate source on eBay as ada website was out of stock at the time Can you post a photo of the bag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 It didn't say new or 2 on the bag, it was just sold to me as this, I got it from the substrate source on eBay as ada website was out of stock at the time Do you have a pic of the bag? The newest Amazonia no longer says "New Amazonia", just "Amazonia". If it was Amazonia II, it should have had Amazonia II on the bag, I've heard of counterfeit ADA soil and additives but I've never worried about it since I only buy from authorized dealers. I think you may have bought yourself some bogus ADA soil. Can you PM me the eBay seller of the soil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted October 1, 2014 Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Do you have a pic of the bag? The newest Amazonia no longer says "New Amazonia", just "Amazonia". If it was Amazonia II, it should have had Amazonia II on the bag, I've heard of counterfeit ADA soil and additives but I've never worried about it since I only buy from authorized dealers. I think you may have bought yourself some bogus ADA soil. Can you PM me the eBay seller of the soil? Not necessary bogus ADA soil, I have authentic ADA soil from official dealer, it still does the same thing. I think the reason people doesn't aware of it, because if you have a big tank setup, you use more than one bag of ADA soil, you don't even notice it. But for small shrimp tank, only need partial soil from one bag, you would observe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_R Posted October 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2014 Got the brand new 100% water change done and everything out of the tank. I'll test it every few hours to see if it raises. I hope that it was just something in the tank as the soil was expensive to not even be able to use it. with the experience that James has had, it's sounding almost exactly what in going through. Also I threw the bag away already but it did say amazonia only on the bag, it just the sellers description said new amazonia 2 composition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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