featherblue Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Im working on dialing my tanks back in after a move to a new water source. Ive had some scattered deaths the last few weeks and im trying to figure out why. Ive got a glass divided 20g long, with shrimp in each end. Blue jelly neos, michlings, and tibee on one end,orange neos and CBS on the other. Neutral substrate on both ends. I know my tds is low (about 100tds in each tank), im doing wc to bring it back up towards 200. My ph is stable at 7. Kh is 4 and gh 7 Could my low tds be causing the random deaths?? The crystals are a newer adventure; but ive been running the neo tanks for 2 years with breed to excess headaches. Now everything is just not working well. As far as long term ph fix, im considering aging some Amazonia in a seperate tank and adding it slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Tibee, mishling and cbs need 6.0- 6.5 ph 80-150 tds kh 1-2 gh 4-6 the parameters your keeping them at could be the cause of deaths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 The cbs have been living and were breeding with the orange neos this last year (their sucess was what led me to try the michlings and tibee recently). And the random deaths gave been fairly equal between neos and crystals. Ive lost 4 of each over the last month. Anything other than substrate that can help correct my ph? My wc should be moving my gh and kh back into the correct range (might take 2 or 3, going slow to limit shock). As far as fixing my substrate, can i add aged Amazonia to a tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Is each compartment separate from the other's? My best advice is to set up tank's for your cbs, tibee and mishling with these parameters 6.0- 6.5 ph 80-150 tds kh 1-2 gh 4-6 if you want to see successful breeding and reduce deaths. Your cbs maybe surviving but that's all there doing short term you may have some success long term you will continue to have problems until you provide them with proper water parameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Yes the compartments are all seperate, no water exchanges between them. At this point my ph seems to be the biggest issue. My kh is 2.5-3 (color flashes on 2nd drop but doesn't quite change til 3rd), and gh is 6 after wc today. Im planning another small one in 3-4 days to bring the kh down a little more. Any advice or suggestions for adjusting ph in a running tank? Will any of the ph altering substrates be ok to add at this stage (no ammonia spike, just ph buffering?). I wouldn't at much at once, a cup every day or three till I reach my desired ph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 You said '' move to new water source'', are you using tap water for water changes? trying to adjust PH at the moment will cause more harm, maybe there is another cause for your shrimp death, possibly water quality issue since it's killing shrimp in separated compartment, assuming the water change source is the same for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Yes; i just moved 2 hrs east. While in portland I just used tap water with mineralizer and dechlorinator (my tap tds was 16), now im using ro and mineralizer (salty shrimp gh+). Both compartment s get changed at the same time, usually the same bucket of mixed mineralized water. My shrimp deaths have been in both compartments and both neos and crystals. Mostly random singles; yesterday I found 2 m ischlings (first double). All peewees to sub adults, not the tiniest tho. Before the move I had crazy breeding from both neos, and some with the CBS. Ive checked ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite 3 times in the last 2 wks (covering bases usually dont test these three; been 0 since cycled over a year ago....but checking everything with these deaths), and all read 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Do you know what was the TDS before the move? if they got used to higher TDS then keeping them all the sudden in lower TDS will shock them to death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 About where it is now; maybe as high as 160 or 180. I wasnt testing it regularly before the move (just at the store randomly); got a tds meter of my own and a rodi unit for the new house How fast can i raise it? Went from 100 to 125 today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Skip 1 or 2 water changes, your TDS will raise slowly then continue water change with slightly higher TDS than tank water, skip water change again, keep testing until you get the right reading. When you perform water change, let it drip slowly about 1 drip per 3 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Did the deaths follow a water change? What's your water temp? Do you age/aerate your r/o re min water? It takes Salty shrimp some time to dissolve, maybe the move and change of water source. You can adjust your ph it just has to be done very slow if you have pre cycled substrate. Alder cones, Indian almond leaves and drift wood will lower it a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 The deaths haven't been right after wc, closer to when wc are due. I've been mixing salty into a warmed bucket of ro with a powerhead. Haven't really aged it; just leaving it mixing for 1/2 hour or so. I think part of my slightly higher ph (ran 6.7-6.8 at last house) is the age of my driftwood. A pound in each tank; but they're 2+yrs old now. Ph adjustment is going to be super slow. My current plan (feel free to help me make this plan perfect) is to cycle sone brand new Amazonia in a seperate tank/bucket. *do I need to keep this heated??* once its thru ammonia leaching, ill add .5-1 cup 1-2 times a week til I see 6.5. Once I get 6.5 ill stop adding (guessing 2-3 wks) and just see how stable it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
British Reds Posted September 26, 2014 Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 Nitrates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 Zero nitrates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
featherblue Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 I guess im headed the right direction; 2 berried mischling mommas today! At least 6 berried orange neos on the other end (but they've been breeding during this entire random death spree) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Good news! Hopefully it was just an isolated thing due to the move and water source change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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