Zach Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Hello everyone! I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Zach and I have been keeping aquariums for over ten years now. I currently have two running, a 20 gallon long that houses crystal red shrimp and a 55 gallon with pearl gouramis, cardinal tetras, kuhli loaches, Australian rainbowfish, and a bristlenose pleco. And my first question has to be this: First things first I am still having problems with the ph in my Crystal red shrimp tank, as well as the hardness and the alkalinity. Ph reads 7.4 and I used test strips (yeah I know they're not accurate, but I lost my cards to my KH and GH test kit) and my hardness was 75 and my alkalinity was 300 . What I was wondering was could I add straight RO water with the salty shrimp GH+ additive I bought? I have had different answers online saying that I should mix it with my aquarium water in a jug and let it sit for a while. I had put some indian almond leaves in there until the broke down and then I tested my water and it read what it is now. I really don't feel like going through that again since I lost most of my plants because of the tannins. The thing that I cannot get over though is the fact that my shrimp are thriving in these conditions. MableBile 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 I'm guessing you are using inert soil and tap water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted July 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 I'm guessing you are using inert soil and tap water? I am using a dirt substrate (Miracle Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix) capped with flourite for the plants. And for water I have been using the water out of my well that is pretty acidic. I did have a few rocks from a local stream that I put in there, but I took them out a while ago thinking they were the source. I tested the water in the stream and it is very hard, very alkaline, and the ph is pretty high. I took two more rocks out today that I thought could be the source, every other rock in there has been used in my other aquariums in the past with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumlover10 Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 welcome over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 Most of us that keep CRS use active substrate with RO water to keep PH down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 I have one TB tank with inert substrate, after time it naturally settled at pH of 6.8 with RO water and remineralizer. To get the pH down to a better level I added about 2-3 tbsp of aquarium peat granules made by Fluval. This works great and I have not changed them in a couple months. The pH in this tank is the lowest of any of my tanks and sits at 5, shrimp are thriving and I have a number of TB babies growing fast. This is not the ideal pH I would want but I learned long ago if the shrimp are doing fine its better to leave it than to try and change it. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted July 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Thank you for the responses. So do you suggest I purchase the peat granules? Or do you reccomend I slowly add the remineralized RO water to the tank over the course of two weeks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishprinceofca Posted July 14, 2015 Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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