Constant spike in ammonia after feeding.ph has gone up from 6.4 to 6.8.Soil dying?

[Urban Aquaria]

i will add on 1" to the current 1 "... dont dare restart. i will only be shifting the prl to bare tank. will keep the rcs and betta in while i add.

ok. new tank when i set up will be like yours. little soil so that its not transparent. i done with using soil. will continue to use distilled water to keep ph at 6.4. dose minarales to up tds to 130 and gh 5... but not sure how to buffer kh. worried 0 kh will cause a swing.

will this do?

Hmmm... you mentioned originally only using 1 inch of the RAC soil? Maybe that could explain the quicker than usual reduction in buffering ability. Usually around 8-9kg of active soil is recommended for 2ft tanks which work out to around 2 inch substrate depth, that would enable a longer buffering lifespan.

Anyways, you can try going minimal soil or barebottom too, just that you need to make sure the shrimps are gradually adapted to those new conditions.

Actually, i've found that pH isn't that critical an issue for shrimps (even the sensitive types), they can adapt if the changes are gradual. There are people who successfully keep and breed CRS in higher pH water too. Personally i've kept CRS in sand based tanks before with pH 7.0-7.2 and they still manage to breed. I guess whats more important is a clean environment and stability in water parameters.

[Subdave]

Boss how do you buffer ph in bare tank.cause distilled water 0 kh.

[Urban Aquaria]

Boss how do you buffer ph in bare tank.cause distilled water 0 kh.

I just use de-chlorinated tap water and there seems to be a little bit of kH in it (last i tested, maybe 1 or 2?) so i guess there is abit of buffer there. The livestock i keep in bare/sand tanks aren't too fussy with parameters anyways.

If you are using distilled water, then you'll need to put additives in to re-mineralize the water to your requirements before usage (ie. Mosura Mineral Plus Ultra)... that should help to keep the water conditions in balance.

If you need to control pH further, then can consider various options, either dosing chemicals like pH down or using natural sources like driftwood or ketapang leaves, though the tea colored water may obscure your viewing of the shrimps.