Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Tank stats

Ammonia: <0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
kH: 7
GH: 11
pH: 8 - my tap water is 8
20% weekly change
Heater at 25 deg Celcius

70L tank, started off with 11 RCS and now I only have 6 left.
Mostly males that have died. One die every week, but 2 tonight. Both males. I've been getting pretty desperate to keep them alive. But im running out of ideas
I know my pH is high, but Im reluctant to use pH down chemicals to drop it. GH is also high.
I've got 1 java fern on a rock, a clump of moss and 2 water plants i forgot the name of from my local store.
Is my last resort to get distilled water and cross my fingers?

How long has your tank been running? Do you use a dechlorinator for water changes? Any level of ammonia is too much..you seem to indicate that you have some ammonia there.

As for your water parameters...don't worry about pH or gh...the only important measure really is kH (pH is directly dependent on kH). You may want to mix your treated tap weater with reverse osmosis or distilled water until you achieve a kH of 1-3. A freshwater shrimp tank with a kH of 7 is very hard to maintain.

Having said that...store bought shrimp are usually in very bad shape to begin with. Most of them will die even *if* you give them the best water and best care..unfortunately.