# driftwood causing shrimp problems?



## jude_uc (Feb 7, 2006)

For some reason, I've never been able to keep shrimp in my tank. About an hour after putting them in, they start to twitch and them keel over. My roommate has successfully kept shrimp for a while now, and the only real difference between our tanks is that his didn't have any driftwood. Last week, he bought some driftwood, boiled it, rinsed it and put it in the tank. Now it looks like all his shrimp are dead. Has anyone had any experiences like this? Is it possible the driftwood is doing the damage?

-Adam


----------



## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

Driftwood can lower the pH of your water. if you do not have high enough KH, it could possibly cause a pH crash that could be detrimental to your shrimp.

What is the pH and KH of your tank? Do you have a driftwood-free tank that you could compare these values with?

I keep driftwood in all of my tanks, but I collect it myself and have never had any problems.

My pH of my average aquarium with driftwood is 7.2 and I have relatively low KH of <50ppm.


----------



## Shrimp&Snails (Mar 27, 2006)

I'm currently soaking a piece of driftwood to put in my tiger shrimp tank to try and lower the PH....the PH sits at around 6.8. My GH is >10d and KH is 3d.

Do you think adding the driftwood would be a bad idea?

TIA


----------



## YuccaPatrol (Mar 26, 2006)

My GH/KH is about the same as you and my tanks stay stable at 7.2. My tap water is only 7.4, so I don't get a huge change from driftwood.

I don't think you will cause a complete pH crash from the driftwood, especially if it has been aged and soaked.


----------



## jude_uc (Feb 7, 2006)

I don't think the driftwood caused pH crash because our tap water has a KH ~ 15 dH. The GH ~ 2 dH. With all that buffering, it's hard to imagine that the driftwood would effect the system more than the CO2. 

-Adam


----------

