Weird problem

[Lyana]

So I had a 10 gallon tank up for about a year with fish and didn't do anything with it, well the fish died and I checked the water permeters and the ph for 4! And after doing loads of water changes the ph was still 4, I then added baking soda to get the ph up to 7.5 because I wanted to move my pfrs to that tank.

The shrimp were pretty red but lost their color when I moved them. The nitrates were high but no matter how many times I changed water they went back up, so I concluded there must be weird stuff in the substrate and took the shrimp out and put them in a 1 gallon tank with air stone and gravel and their color come back over the course of a couple days. Both tanks are using ro remineralized with gh+.

I cleaned the substrate which is sand and put in new filter media, Added seachem stability and slowly added the shrimp back in.

Ph is now stable on its own but shrimp quickly lost all their color again. What the hell? I restarted this tank so they should be fine, they were pretty in the bowl with no heater and just an underground air stone driven filter thing.

The only thing I can think is the sand in white, but that wouldn't make pfr look clear would it? I hosed out the substrate pretty good so wouldn't think much would be leaking out of it.

[nuri]

White sand.... oh boy (why?)

White reflects light this will cause alot of stress to your shrimp. This may indicate why they lose their color.

[nuri]

Om curious how you got a ph of 4..... lol

[Soothing Shrimp]

Neos try to blend in with their surroundings.

Black substrate causes darker color, while white causes them to try to be lighter.

[sarah]

Om curious how you got a ph of 4..... lol

 

Sounds like old tank syndrome. High nitrates and plummeting pH.

 

I had it once with an overstocked overfed fish tank where I didn't change the water or vacuum the gravel enough. Amazing nothing died, but when I moved the inhabitants to a bigger tank all my problems disappeared.

[Soothing Shrimp]

I was thinking the same thing, Sarah.

[Vpier]

Sounds like old tank syndrome. High nitrates and plummeting pH.

 

I had it once with an overstocked overfed fish tank where I didn't change the water or vacuum the gravel enough. Amazing nothing died, but when I moved the inhabitants to a bigger tank all my problems disappeared.

I also had the same conclusion. It sounds like a build up of organic material.

[Lyana]

Lol yes, most have been old tank Syndome. But I cleaned the substrate and filter has new media and ph is now 7.5 but shrimp are clean.

Could white substrate really make them turn clean?

[Shrimple minded]

Are you making these coloration observations at the same time every day (or every photoperiod)?  

 

I feel that coloration can have a lot of variance throughout a 24 hour cycle.

[Lyana]

Yes, they are always clear, when lights are on and off, different times of day. I kept two shrimps in the bowl and they are always nice red.

[Vpier]

Lol yes, most have been old tank Syndome. But I cleaned the substrate and filter has new media and ph is now 7.5 but shrimp are clean.

Could white substrate really make them turn clean?

Is the tank planted and have hiding spots?  I have white sand and my RCS are bright red

[Lyana]

Yeah, it has sword plants and rocks for hiding

[Vpier]

Yeah, it has sword plants and rocks for hiding

Im just guessing now but could it be a lack of trace minerals or nutrients???? When I start a new tank I always add old sea mud or micronekuton rock and powder and other mineral rocks. Did you add anything to the substrate after you cleaned it?

[Lyana]

Yeah I was thinking that too, I actually bought some sea mud so we'll see how it goes. Going to switch to black gravel too.

[Vpier]

Yeah I was thinking that too, I actually bought some sea mud so we'll see how it goes. Going to switch to black gravel too.

Have you tried CSF Pure Mineral sticks? I have seen improvements with my shrimp and snails since I started feeding the sticks 2 months ago.

[Lyana]

No, but I feed them shrimp food like my other shrimps which are fine looking. They are also dying I just noticed one died and the head part was exploded out, kind of like a failed molt maybe but gh was 8 so not sure.

[Vpier]

No, but I feed them shrimp food like my other shrimps which are fine looking. They are also dying I just noticed one died and the head part was exploded out, kind of like a failed molt maybe but gh was 8 so not sure.

Thats too bad, I hope you get this figured out. it hard to tell what is going on without seeing what was done and seeing what is happening now.