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Problematic Tank that has Controsoil as Substrate


Shrimpy Daddy

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TDS is too broad to really know anything from it, correct? I'm confused as to why tds is so important unless you are only measuring to determine the amount of minerals and such mixed into the water column

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everyone who has posted, their PH is SO HIGH! my controsoil buffers at 5.8 ..i know you wanted people to post with problems, but i'd thought i'd chime in with my tank that's be running 6+ months with controsoil + sl aqua products with zero deaths... 

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Could you test if  Controsoil is leeching anything by  putting a bit of it in a smaller container  then adding RO water.  Nothing else.   and testing the TDS after  24 hours?   or maybe after a week?     The reason I say in a smaller container is  1.  so as not to waste a ton of it and 2.   Most people add things when they set up the tank so testing the tds in a newly set up tank wouldnt work. 

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Certainly not scientific  but I tosssed a handful of controsoil  into a bowl and covered it with a couple inches of water..  first night it was at 7 TDS.   Next day 32 TDS    Day after that 62 TDS   

 

I have no idea what that means . I needed my bowl back so experiment is over LOL

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This is no Bueno. I just setup a 20L with contro and moved all my TB in.

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I know several people that use it and don't have a problem. I don't think controsoil is an issue. Someone may have had a bad bag, but as for me I don't think controsoil was the problem in my tank.

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I would imagine Controsoil would leech something into the water, that's how it buffers the pH. You can't move pH without introducing something into the water, correct?

Correct. Think the idea is it leaches humic acid.

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Your temp is too high for TB,s . 72-74 is my goal. GH of 7-8 is high too. try to make it 4-5 max.

Adding stuff to the water to fix it is very stressful to the shrimps.Ones I went from TDS 185 to 145 in 10 days and lost 30% of TBs in this tank. Decide what parameter you will keep and don't mess with the tank anymore. Whatever shrimps survive work with them.Even if you do water perfect shrimps will need at least 30-40 days to settle down.

On other hand I can tell from my experience that my shrimps die rate jump a lot in July-August for 3td year in a row.

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Your temp is too high for TB,s . 72-74 is my goal. GH of 7-8 is high too. try to make it 4-5 max.

Adding stuff to the water to fix it is very stressful to the shrimps.Ones I went from TDS 185 to 145 in 10 days and lost 30% of TBs in this tank. Decide what parameter you will keep and don't mess with the tank anymore. Whatever shrimps survive work with them.Even if you do water perfect shrimps will need at least 30-40 days to settle down.

On other hand I can tell from my experience that my shrimps die rate jump a lot in July-August for 3td year in a row.

Shrimpy Daddy told me my temp needed to be 77 while using his products and that people not using his products should keep caridina at 76 degrees. I know the GH is high, but I followed dosing directions and was told that me test kit was inaccurate and the the GH was fine.

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I set up a ControSoil tank back in January 2015 and let it run dry for a month and then added Crystal Whites, Aura Blues, and some Carbon blue rilis... No deaths but even worse no breeding. They grew into nice adults...females were saddled and nothing happened. I blamed it on changing to liquid remineralizers but they still didn't breed after the change. I even messed with TDS levels.

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  • 3 months later...

One tank had a smell like kerosene, the other identical tank using the other half of the exact same bag did not have the smell. 

 

I just got some brightwell soil from their latest shipment. The dry substrate has no smell, but after adding RO it has a smell of kerosene. The tanks with Aquasoil don't have the smell. Worried about the soil.

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My tank with controsoil is still at a perfect 7.0 with 2 bags of peat  in it.      Waiting for some Super  Sera peat to come in to try that.  

My controsoil tanks stay between 5.3-5.5. I have three of them set up and running great. I did have ammonia leech in the first 2 months but after that none. It seems active soil products are not very consistent. I switched to controsoil after getting a bad batch of ADA. I really thought controsoil was going to be the answer but now i am not so sure. You should not have to add peat to a tank with an active substrate. 

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Leeching ammonium?

You are the second person I heard about this.

Just a little science info:

All humus substances will contain trace to a lot of ammonium compound. As such, any products that contains humus substance, such as active substrate, claims that it is zero ammonium, then it is not true. :)

If anyone don't detect ammonium with your aquarium test kit, it does not mean zero ammonium. It is may due to the test kit is not sensitive enough. ;)

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Just for reference... We currently keep our high grade PRL in a Controsoil tank with zero issues ever.  Our ph is a steady 6-6.2 and the tank has been running just over 10months now.

 

:huh:  :huh:  :huh:

 

This is a thread started for people to learn and troubleshoot issue. Are you able to provide more information than just telling people how it works and what to watch out for?

 

I keep my shrimp using substrate used for home gardening. It does work too.  :D  :D  :D

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Don't wanna derail the thread but anymore details on this?

 

Most of the time, I am using black lava sand that is used for gardening. It usually mixed into soil and composed for increasing aeration and drainage.

 

Either you can buy from horticulture shop or you can buy the Caribsea Eco-complete Floramax (dry)/ Planted (wet with added bacteria).

 

ShrimpFan started a journal here and you are able to get more information from this journal: http://tlc.shrimpydaddy.com/discussion/12/fans-eco-complete-inert-substrate-trial

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Shrimpscales.. Sorry I guess sarcasm doesnt translate in writing .  My comment about a "Perfect 7.0"  was sarcasm.      It is 7.0 with and without the peat.  I was just meaning to say that the controsoil still isnt working  even with peat in it it is maintaining 7.0 and it makes me think it  HAS to be buffering up.  Maybe the wrong product got put in my batch of bags..  No idea.

 

I added the super sera to the canister filter yesterday afternoon and there are 2 bags of fluval peat floating in the tank.  Will see what it tests tonight. 

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