That's not necessarily true unless you do huge water changes approximating a total water change every time. The crushed coral does not just raise the ph, but buffers the ph at a certain value. Buffering means that the ph won't change either way all that easily. Normal water changes won't affect your ph all that much. I used to run several tanks with only crushed coral as the substrate and never had any problems with those tanks. You can use limestone for the same purpose, too.wendyjo wrote:This was my understanding of what would happen if I used, for example, crushed coral. That the new water I put into the tank with each water change would have different parameters than what I put into the tank since the tank water has the cuttlebone in it. And that these fluctuations would harm the shrimp.
UPDATE & ?? I'm new and need some advise
Moderator: Mustafa
OK thanks. I will get a cuttlebone (seems so odd to buy that for aquatics, lol) and get the Baby Water, although I would still like some info about using a faucet filter and if any additive are needed with that.
Should I use the entire cuttlebone in a 2.5g tank? Can I break it up into smaller peices and just kind of tuck them in here and there?
Should I use the entire cuttlebone in a 2.5g tank? Can I break it up into smaller peices and just kind of tuck them in here and there?
I'm new to the shrimp game, but here's a suggestion...if you have LFS or Petco near you, why don't you just take a tap water sample in for testing? They should be able to tell you if there is anything funky going on, espcially if you ask them to run some metal tests.
My LFS also has R/O water available at 25 cents/gal. This is the most economical way of doing things.
The Brita is capable of making your tap water people-safe, but I don't know about fish-safe. They claim to REDUCE copper, lead, etc. but they may not reduce it to levels your fish can tolerate. They are only small carbon filters, after all. Additionally, they make NO claim about ammonia - they don't even mention it on the packages.
But first things first...i would suggest water testing.
My LFS also has R/O water available at 25 cents/gal. This is the most economical way of doing things.
The Brita is capable of making your tap water people-safe, but I don't know about fish-safe. They claim to REDUCE copper, lead, etc. but they may not reduce it to levels your fish can tolerate. They are only small carbon filters, after all. Additionally, they make NO claim about ammonia - they don't even mention it on the packages.
But first things first...i would suggest water testing.
Oh, OK. I thought you meant the baby water and was getting very exasperated.
Can this baby water and also the cuttle bone be used safely with fish and snails? I have another tank with otos, a betta and a mts, and it would be easier for me to just use the same water in both tanks if I can. Plus if it's safe for the fish, the snail would probably benefit from the cuttle bone as well.
Can this baby water and also the cuttle bone be used safely with fish and snails? I have another tank with otos, a betta and a mts, and it would be easier for me to just use the same water in both tanks if I can. Plus if it's safe for the fish, the snail would probably benefit from the cuttle bone as well.
OK guys, I have gotten my Ph up to about 7.2-7.4 using a bit of cuttle bone and a bit of crushed coral. I an hoping I did it slowly enough - I added the cuttle bone last Friday and the coral last night.
Now, what is gonna happen when I do a water change? The fresh water is gonna have a Ph of about 6.4 - quite a difference. Is this gonna make the Ph swing too much? Should I just do very tiny water changes maybe every other day instead of once a week?
Now, what is gonna happen when I do a water change? The fresh water is gonna have a Ph of about 6.4 - quite a difference. Is this gonna make the Ph swing too much? Should I just do very tiny water changes maybe every other day instead of once a week?
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badflash
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From my experience (limited I admit) if you add soft acidic water to hard basic water you get.....Hard basic water.
If you water is soft naturally, it tends to be acidic. This is only because there is nothing in it to buffer it. hard water is loaded with buffers that make it alkaline. It is sort of like adding nothing. You may dilute the water a little, but that is what water changes are for.
Keep in mind that pH is a log scale. Each point is 10 times as strong as the point before it. If you were to mix pH 8 50-50 with pure water pH 7 the change in pH would harly be measurable. It might drop to 7.95.
If your water is buffered with calcium, when the acid tries to work it just reacts and fizzes out some co2. Nothing much else happens.
I have a 40 gallon tank with quartz pea gravel I've been dialing into pH 7.5 for the last week with muratic acid. Just burning off the excess alkalinity takes some doing. At first I was using 5 cc's twice a day to swing it from 8.25 to 7.2, then 5 cc's, then 2 cc's, then .5 cc's. Today is is just about there and has been at 7.5 all day.
Once I acclimate the bacteria to a certain pH it seems to hold on its own. I guess this is bacterial selective breeding, but it works for me. I have 4 different aquariums with the exact same setup with pH's from 7.2 to 8.5 and the only difference is how I burned them in. If I can get the pH to hodl for a few day it "locks in" until some sort of disaster strikes.
If you water is soft naturally, it tends to be acidic. This is only because there is nothing in it to buffer it. hard water is loaded with buffers that make it alkaline. It is sort of like adding nothing. You may dilute the water a little, but that is what water changes are for.
Keep in mind that pH is a log scale. Each point is 10 times as strong as the point before it. If you were to mix pH 8 50-50 with pure water pH 7 the change in pH would harly be measurable. It might drop to 7.95.
If your water is buffered with calcium, when the acid tries to work it just reacts and fizzes out some co2. Nothing much else happens.
I have a 40 gallon tank with quartz pea gravel I've been dialing into pH 7.5 for the last week with muratic acid. Just burning off the excess alkalinity takes some doing. At first I was using 5 cc's twice a day to swing it from 8.25 to 7.2, then 5 cc's, then 2 cc's, then .5 cc's. Today is is just about there and has been at 7.5 all day.
Once I acclimate the bacteria to a certain pH it seems to hold on its own. I guess this is bacterial selective breeding, but it works for me. I have 4 different aquariums with the exact same setup with pH's from 7.2 to 8.5 and the only difference is how I burned them in. If I can get the pH to hodl for a few day it "locks in" until some sort of disaster strikes.
Wow - what a terrific explanation! That's good - I should be OK. The cuttle bone and coral did more than I expected them to. For RCS what Ph should I be aiming for? Can it get too high if I add too much of this stuff? Perhaps I should monitor it for a while? I also don't want it to vary too much from my other tank, just in case someone needs to be moved temporarily in an emergency situation. Yesteray I added a bit of the coral to that tank as well, but I haven't checked the Ph today. I just have a betta and an oto in there.