# Help with shrimp water paramenters



## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

Greetings, 

Just wanted to say that i love the ADA soil. I was wondering, my tap is about 7.2ph. I set up a tank for crystal red shrimp and now after five weeks with the ADA soil the PH is set at 5.7, without CO2. I have not put in any shrimp yet as the tank is still cycling.

I was wondering if this will be permenant or will the PH rebound back to around 6.5. The GH and KH are almost non existant now, whereas before it was around 6 and 3 respectively.

Will this still be a good set up for breeding CRS?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

7.2 ph should be fine for your CRS. 5.7 is too low for them. They like acidic water but not that much. I think ADA aquasoil will loose its effect over time.

Mine never lowered the ph more than 6.4. Although my water ph is around 8. I would do a couple of water changes and see how the ph behaves. I would not put shrimp if the ph is that low. Also, test your water with different ph meters, test kits, etc.

-Pedro


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## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

*Shrimp Water*

I guess I will do water changes, but since the tank is still "cycling" i did not want to mess the cycle up. I have no fish in there but have been cycling the tank for the last four weeks with "CYCLE" water treatment.

What could I add to raise the PH without raising the KH or GH that would be safe for the shrimp?


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

Not sure what you can do with the aquasoil in there. It will probably eat most of the stuff you put in and kee lowering your ph. 

Mayb eyou can post if in the fertilizing forum.

-Pedro


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## Purrbox (Jun 1, 2006)

First off you're cycling your tank with Cycle and no fish. What are you using as an ammonia source? Without a source of ammonia you're tank won't go through the cycle. If you are adding a source of ammonia, or the Cycle has some ammonia in it then it could be that this is affecting the KH and GH of the tank. 

Once your tank has cycled and you are doing regular water changes, there shouldn't be quite as much of a problem with the the KH and GH dropping quite so low. I wouldn't recommend buffering your water with anything to fight the affects of the Aquasoil as this will just lead to very unstable water conditions that are even more unhealthy for fish and shrimp that overly low stable conditions.


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

I had no luck keeping CRS at a PH of 7.2....I would keep the PH at around 6.5-6.8 if you can.

If you find you can't lower the PH enough why not opt for shrimp like c. babaulti, RCS or snowball shrimp that can handle a wider variety of PH's.


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## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

Please dont take this the wrong way, but do you guys read the entire thread before you answer or are you just interested in upping your own posting numbers. It seems lately that people just answer to hear themselves without offering good advice. I know we are all here to learn, but please, sort of know what is being asked and what u are talking about before you answer. I do not want to sound like an A hole, but please......


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## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

You've actually received some good solid advice from some well known experienced shrimp keepers. 

S&S is known to be an experienced shrimpkeeper, and probably mis-read your first post in this thread. Had you politely questioned S&S instead of made a negative attack, you might receive even more help.

I'd offer some more helpful advice on how I adjust my water conditions in low pH tanks, but I'm just here to bump up my post count. :heh:

Although they don't say exactly what is in the ADA soil, it appears to have a pretty high content of peat which is what I use to naturally lower the pH in my tanks. Peat lowers pH in two ways. First, it absorbs hardness. Second, it adds acid to the water. Eventually, the effect will wear off. 

The "Cycle" water treatment is not generally considered to be very good. Much better would be Bio-spira which actually does have a living culture of the bacteria needed to cycle a tank. 

As was said before, you do need a nitrogen source for the beneficial bacteria to consume. 

Miliac's advice to do a few water changes is probably the best advice yet. There is a good chance that the initial acid from the ADA will significantly decrease with just a few water changes. I would do two 50% water changes over the next week and see how it goes.


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## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

All I suggested was keeping a species more suitable to your tap water PH if you can't control the PH for the CRS. PH swings stress out critters big time and they are expensive shrimp to lose.

By the way the member's here give out free advice...no-ones getting paid for it.

Now let me check my post count.


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