Mckinney Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 As the title says. Using RO water with NilocG GH booster and NilocG liquid macro and micro ferts for the plants plus fluval shrimp Stratum 10 gallon tank, plus pressurized co2. Ph keeps hovering around 7.5 to 7.3 TDS of RO water is 15. Water in the tank has a TDS of 75. Any theories why the PH is so high? Will my blue bolts breed at that ph level? Any help would be greatly appreciated Jeremiah Schultz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuri Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 What are thooooooooooose? I only add beeshrimp gh+ to my ro and voila a steady ph of 5.5 (keep it simple) How did you test your ph? It might show the wrong ph level and you should do a ph test with another instrument to be sure if it is really 7+. There are couple posibilitys with ph 7+ 1. Taiwan bee's will die or they wont die and never get berried. Or they will get berried but you will definitly have a rough time raising the shrimplets due to high ph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. F Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 It's gotta be the substrate or maybe the media... Are you using any aragonite based items? Texas holey Rock, crushed coral, etc? Also, do you have other tanks that don't have this problem? If so, what's different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckinney Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Mr. F said: It's gotta be the substrate or maybe the media... Are you using any aragonite based items? Texas holey Rock, crushed coral, etc? Also, do you have other tanks that don't have this problem? If so, what's different? Nope only driftwood and fluval shrimp Stratum. This is the only Caridina tank so nope 2 hours ago, nuri said: What are thooooooooooose? I only add beeshrimp gh+ to my ro and voila a steady ph of 5.5 (keep it simple) How did you test your ph? It might show the wrong ph level and you should do a ph test with another instrument to be sure if it is really 7+. There are couple posibilitys with ph 7+ 1. Taiwan bee's will die or they wont die and never get berried. Or they will get berried but you will definitly have a rough time raising the shrimplets due to high ph Those are ferts for the estimative index method of fertilization. Don't think any of my shrimp have died none berried either though. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckinney Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 I actually just tested the PH meter with some cherry coke. Googled the average ph of it and the PH tester was spot on so inaccurate readings isn't the problem. Also should note that I had the same problems with the PH before I started using those aquatic plant ferts. Was just 50/50 RO and well water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kakarot Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Substrate needs to be replaced. Your previous usage of well water exhausted its buffering ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuri Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 No need for substrate.. I habe tanks with only 0.5 cm of akadama with ro and still a constant ph of 5.5. The substrate only helps with no buffering. What are the parameters of your ro and aquawater. (Ph and kh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuri Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Only ro water should already make sure that your ph should be less the 7 for sure.. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuri Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Wait a minute a light just poped up... What do you have in your tank? What ornimentals or rocks do you have? Maybe something disolves calcium/chalk in your water and this explaisn why your ph is above 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckinney Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 1 hour ago, nuri said: Wait a minute a light just poped up... What do you have in your tank? What ornimentals or rocks do you have? Maybe something disolves calcium/chalk in your water and this explaisn why your ph is above 7 Nothing but the shrimp Stratum and a piece of driftwood and cholla I'd think so lol. Even with co2 running it never gets below 7 1 hour ago, nuri said: No need for substrate.. I habe tanks with only 0.5 cm of akadama with ro and still a constant ph of 5.5. The substrate only helps with no buffering. What are the parameters of your ro and aquawater. (Ph and kh) Ph is 6.6 after sitting in a jug about an hour and 15 tds. Don't have a kh tester, wouldn't think it's much of anything though 2 hours ago, Kakarot said: Substrate needs to be replaced. Your previous usage of well water exhausted its buffering ability. I only mixed well water for about a month, worth a try though. Sadly now money for substrate right now though. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuri Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Kh tells more then ph.. If kh goes up pH goes up automaticly too. Goes the kh down the pH goes down too. My kh is 0 (huge buffercapability and very low ph) Looking at kh 1 or 2 is more likely to be pH between 6 or 7 I like to keep the kh lower then 2 (best kh level is 0 to stimulate all year the rain seizoen and stimulate breeding) EricM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kakarot Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 44 minutes ago, Wakspiddlevak said: I only mixed well water for about a month, worth a try though. Sadly now money for substrate right now though. Lol I've noticed from using Fluval stratum before that it's easy to exhaust when I use anything other than RO. If you can't replace substrate right now, try using peat moss or drop a few alder cones to buffer the pH. You'll have to experiment a bit tho to find the right amount for your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckinney Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 18 minutes ago, Kakarot said: I've noticed from using Fluval stratum before that it's easy to exhaust when I use anything other than RO. If you can't replace substrate right now, try using peat moss or drop a few alder cones to buffer the pH. You'll have to experiment a bit tho to find the right amount for your tank. 35 minutes ago, nuri said: Kh tells more then ph.. If kh goes up pH goes up automaticly too. Goes the kh down the pH goes down too. My kh is 0 (huge buffercapability and very low ph) Looking at kh 1 or 2 is more likely to be pH between 6 or 7 I like to keep the kh lower then 2 (best kh level is 0 to stimulate all year the rain seizoen and stimulate breeding) Thanks I imagine I'd best get a Kh test when I can and some more substrate hopefully that'll do the trick before my shrimpys pass away ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dao Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 If you have an active substrate then it has no more buffering ability. You need to either restart the tank with new substrate or use proper filter media in an external filter. Active substrate usually consumes kh, so if you have any detectable kh it's also a sign that your substrate is gone. Mckinney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 we've heard many bad stories about Fluval Stratum not being able to hold a low ph, not lasting more than a couple months, turning to mush quickly. 100% my opinion your Fluval Stratum not doing what its designed to do. Mckinney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrimpP Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 Still with just using R/O, wouldn't the pH be closer to 7 flat, or lower, especially with injecting co2. What's your KH? (tank and straight RO) Can you mention your full dosing schedule with dosage amounts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckinney Posted June 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 1 hour ago, ShrimpP said: Still with just using R/O, wouldn't the pH be closer to 7 flat, or lower, especially with injecting co2. What's your KH? (tank and straight RO) Can you mention your full dosing schedule with dosage amounts? Don't know my kh, need to buy a test kit. I follow the dosing recommended on http://nilocg.com. And test tds to make sure it's not crazy high. Anyway I was cleaning out some overgrown plants out of the tank (from the stream near me) I was experimenting with. About took over the tank... Well I found 5 small lava rocks I had in there with Moss growing on them. Last I knew lava was inert but I googled it a few people have said it can have carbonates in them. Long story short I took them out and tested ph 5 hours later and it's at 6.5... Lol So I don't know ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kakarot Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 It's not the lava rock. Since you've been using RO for a while now, your KH is most likely 0 which will results in unstable pH without an active substrate. Anything done to disturb your tank will cause a pH swing. Mckinney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckinney Posted June 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 1 hour ago, Kakarot said: It's not the lava rock. Since you've been using RO for a while now, your KH is most likely 0 which will results in unstable pH without an active substrate. Anything done to disturb your tank will cause a pH swing. Shrimp at least seem more active now hopefully the rapid change didn't kill any though. I'll be sure to order some substrate (not fluval) on payday Unrelated photos from Neocaridina tank just because ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.