Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hello,
I am far to consider myself an expert , but i dont think i am a newbie also.
but sometime better ask confirmation and idea.

so here is my problem.
I come from fish keeping like everybody Know (at least people who know me lol), i was keeping dwarf south american fish , and always have acidic / soft to very acidic / very soft water.

i have a very hard time keeping my water PH between 6 and 7.
i know some way to do that, but i am requesting your opinion and experience what is safe to use with shrimp what is not.

i am able today to have some alkaline /medium hard water with lot of effort and at the same time let me ask the same question for this range also
my cherry and green are doing fine so i am asking to know


My tap water is PH 6.6 / 6.8 and Kh=~1 Gh=~2/3
I will give my conductivity later.
all my fish tank are usually PH 4 to 5.5 depend of the species i keep.

i dont use tap directly to my tak because of multiple reason , one of them is some metal in it ..... and bad experience with my shrimp.

thanks
and if this thread can help other good , at least it will do for me

You've got the exact opposite problem that many of us have!

I tend to prefer natural passive methods to adjusting pH/hardness.

In your situation, I would use an alkaline substrate, the type frequently used for African cichlids to raise pH and hardness. But you'll have to experiment with how much substrate to use and how frequently to do your water changes to get it just right.

But do remember that a stable pH that is not "ideal" is better than having your pH jumping up and down all the time when you actively try to adjust it.

Thanks YuccaP for your answer.

YuccaPatrol wrote:You've got the exact opposite problem that many of us have!

Yes i know , it one of the reason i was doing only acidic fish , and actually was almost alone in my area

YuccaPatrol wrote: I tend to prefer natural passive methods to adjusting pH/hardness.

Yeah me also.
so dont tell me to add any strange anufactured product in my tank.
i dont even use carbon...so...

YuccaPatrol wrote: In your situation, I would use an alkaline substrate, the type frequently used for African cichlids to raise pH and hardness. But you'll have to experiment with how much substrate to use and how frequently to do your water changes to get it just right.

it is exactly what i am doing know.
i setup 2 tank with nothing a live in it , but with plant and filtration like all my other tank , and do some test, but it is a long and hard process to got stable result, but i am working hard on it

YuccaPatrol wrote: But do remember that a stable pH that is not "ideal" is better than having your pH jumping up and down all the time when you actively try to adjust it.

Yep , it is one of my first concern , so it is why i do my test on fish/shrimp less tank
ok some snail in it are the ginnypig but well......

thanks

i setup 2 tank with nothing a live in it , but with plant and filtration like all my other tank , and do some test, but it is a long and hard process to got stable result, but i am working hard on it

Your hard work will pay off and I hope you find the answer soon. Thanks for your post, I know it will help others

Before doing anything you should find out why your PH drops that much. There must be some source of acids in your tank. If your water comes out at ph 6.6-6.8 then that means that there is already some acid in your tap water. Are you putting that water through an RO system? If so, then the RO system would remove most of the alkalinity while still leaving enough acid in your water to drop the Ph even more.

If you are using RO water, have you thought about not using the RO for the shrimp tanks? Unless you are absolutely sure that there are harmful metals and chemicals in your water you should be fine using your tap water with a dechlorinator like Prime.

That should solve your problem. Then you can still use crushed coral and hydrochloric acid to regulate your ph to the approximate levels you want.

Thanks Mustafa for your answer

Mustafa wrote:Before doing anything you should find out why your PH drops that much. There must be some source of acids in your tank. If your water comes out at ph 6.6-6.8 then that means that there is already some acid in your tap water. Are you putting that water through an RO system? If so, then the RO system would remove most of the alkalinity while still leaving enough acid in your water to drop the Ph even more.

Yeah , must be something in the water , founding what is all the story.
I know it is not in the tanks because even if i leave the water in a bucket
Ph drop, and get stable around 5
And yes i am using RO

Mustafa wrote: If you are using RO water, have you thought about not using the RO for the shrimp tanks? Unless you are absolutely sure that there are harmful metals and chemicals in your water you should be fine using your tap water with a dechlorinator like Prime.

I did the test on chery shrimp
2 tanks set up the same way with crush coral together and java moss
Tank A = RO+electro rigth
and
Tank B = with tap+Prime

mortality is very high in tank B and null in tank A.
so...............

Mustafa wrote: That should solve your problem. Then you can still use crushed coral and hydrochloric acid to regulate your ph to the approximate levels you want.

i am trying that now, but i end up with crush with a PH around 7.2 (not the best for shrimp like CRS, Bee , and other acidic lover

thanks

Hmmm...you situation sounds strange. The ph goes down to below 6 even with the electro-right? That stuff is supposed to have buffers in it....

Anyway, if all else fails there is always baking soda. It's a pain to dose every time with water changes but you can control your ph more accurately then with crushed coral.