aqua_che_scapes Posted October 8, 2018 Report Share Posted October 8, 2018 I realize low ph and Ada Amazonia are a common subject on forums cause it’s how Amazonia works but I have a slightly different scenario I need help with... Earlier this year I was prepping for a rescape in one of my other aquascape fish tanks and I aged and cycled a big bag of Ada Amazonia powder type in a bucket with a filter for several months. I ended up with a bunch of leftover Amazonia from the rescape so I decided since it had finished leaching all excess ammonia in the bucket previously that I could dry the leftovers in a pan in the sun outside and re-bag it for later. So I did this. Recently I’ve been setting up a shrimp tank for my Caridina raccoon tiger shrimps that would need a good low ph (6.2-6.5) buffer substrate so I decided to use the leftover dried out aged Amazonia. In my other nano tanks the Amazonia buffers around 6.2-6.4 and I use RODI water (ph 6.4) with bee shrimp GH remineralizer (0 KH) . But in this shrimp tank the previously aged Amazonia is still dropping the ph below 6 down closer to 5.5 or lower. The tank is three months running and has been cycled, only substrate now and water and eheim canister filter. (I added the pre dried Amazonia to this tank LATER on after a mishap and algae issues I was having with spiderwood and plants and took everything out of the tank for now and added more of the pre-aged and dried Amazonia substrate a few weeks ago (bear bottom tank with Amazonia and water now). Super confusing setup story I’m sorry. 😕. Anyways, i thought after this Amazonia had been aged in a bucket and re dried after a few months it wouldn’t have this ph drop issue it’s having in my new setup. But I honestly don’t know what it’s doing or what to expect concerning the ph level. It does not leach ammonia at all which is why I liked that I had previously aged and dried it out. But the ph is definitely unstable still. My raccoon tiger shrimp have been in a small temporary tank for so many months now cause this tank I’ve been trying to setup for them has been having so many problems. I just want them to go in their tank already 😒😩. I am considering adding a few pieces of crushed coral to the tank to see if it helps the ph stay above 6 until the Amazonia quits buffering below 6. I don’t think my tiger shrimp could handle ph 5.5 and live long. Any ideas or thoughts? Thanks. My setup is a 5 gallon UNS 5N rimless tank with an eheim 2211 canister filter. I plan on adding bucephalandra, moss and cholla. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpfoot Posted October 23, 2018 Report Share Posted October 23, 2018 I had a similar problem using ADA Amazonia light it dropped my pH to the low 5’s it just finally started raising this week after like 5-6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 I wouldnt add the crushed coral personally as it will continue to exhaust the soil and use up the life span of the soil. I think you would be better off getting a different soil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua_che_scapes Posted November 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 4 minutes ago, chappy6107 said: I wouldnt add the crushed coral personally as it will continue to exhaust the soil and use up the life span of the soil. I think you would be better off getting a different soil. Oops I forgot to update this thread but I was told that letting aquasoils dry out is bad and destroys the clay granules and causes a plethora of parameter problems and muddy water, so I ended up ripping the substrate out and replacing with SL Aqua Soil a few weeks ago and so far so good! It’s in the middle of recycling the tank right now. Definitely won’t be making that mistake again. It was a huge mess and pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted November 5, 2018 Report Share Posted November 5, 2018 54 minutes ago, aqua_che_scapes said: Oops I forgot to update this thread but I was told that letting aquasoils dry out is bad and destroys the clay granules and causes a plethora of parameter problems and muddy water, so I ended up ripping the substrate out and replacing with SL Aqua Soil a few weeks ago and so far so good! It’s in the middle of recycling the tank right now. Definitely won’t be making that mistake again. It was a huge mess and pain. that is good to know. fyi most of the active substrates eventually will break down and turn into a muddy mess. It seems that your dry out process just increased the pace that this happens. Glad you got the SL Aqua in place that is a solid product. aqua_che_scapes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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