How to test for..

[ycwoon]

I am a complete newbie seeking advice
Recommendations of test kits will be appreciated for testing

Carbonate Hardness (KH):
Total Hardness (gH):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):

I have teh following:
pH : pH pen accuracy 0.1
NH4 (ppm):Tetra tester but do not tell ppm only color
NO2 (ppm):Tetra tester but do not tell ppm only color


What are the general thoughts of automated pH monitoring/Co2 dosing?

My wife just called me from home and all my shrimps in tank just died (20 of them) and all of turn red. All plants are bubbling and I guess the Co2 dose is too high!!

Time to go home to check pH. Wish I have taught my wife on using the pH pen. If pH is low, what is the next action?

Thanks

[sherchoo]

Use this to provide the information. The more info provided, the more help you'll get.

Anyway, the first thing you should do is remove all dead matters and do 50% water change.

Good Luck!

[bclee]

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On 4/23/2003 2:08:58 PM

I am a complete newbie seeking advice
Recommendations of test kits will be appreciated for testing

Carbonate Hardness (KH):
Total Hardness (gH):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):
----------------

I have used Sera test kits for the above. My comments:

KH - no comments all KH kits are about the same
GH - short life span. The test kit seemed to go bad very easily. The reading not accurate after a while. The reading tends to drift upwards.
NO3 - Sera kit gives good colour distinction. Easy to read charts.
PO4 - Sera kit gives good colour distinction. Easy to read charts.
Fe - not a necessity. Sera kit seemed pretty good.

----------------
I have teh following:
pH : pH pen accuracy 0.1
NH4 (ppm):Tetra tester but do not tell ppm only color
NO2 (ppm):Tetra tester but do not tell ppm only color
----------------

Make sure you calibrate the pH pen for initial use. Calibrate periodically to ensure accurate readings.

NH4 & NO2: you have to use the chart provided to get the values. Each colour correspond to a value. The readings are usually in mg/L or ppm (both are equivalent).

----------------
What are the general thoughts of automated pH monitoring/Co2 dosing?
----------------

Luxury item. Not need for it at all. Save the money for other more useful item.

----------------
My wife just called me from home and all my shrimps in tank just died (20 of them) and all of turn red. All plants are bubbling and I guess the Co2 dose is too high!!

Time to go home to check pH. Wish I have taught my wife on using the pH pen. If pH is low, what is the next action?
----------------

To get the CO2 concentration, you need to know both the pH and KH.

If you suspect the CO2 level is too high, aerate the water using an air pump, turn down the CO2. If you still have fishes in the tank and they are having breathing problem, you can do a water change to save the fishes.

Check the NO2 and NH3 readings? They are also a likely culprit for shrimp deaths.

BC

[ycwoon]

Beginners Info Sheet
--------------------

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 36" x 15" x 18"
Tank Volume (litres or gallons): 32G/120L (approx)
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 120W
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : Not sure: Aquarium fl tube from Europe
No. of Hours your light is on : 8hrs
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : ~ 20 per minute
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Diffusor
Substrate Used : TaiKong No water change + Monterrey sand Mesh #8
How Thick is your base fert : none
How thick is your gravel : 3"~5"
Liquid Fertilizers Used : None
Frequency of fertilization : NA
Tank Temperature : 27C
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Canister Jebao-Taiwan answer to Eheim
Filter media used : Bio (Taiwan brand)
How long has your tank been set up : 3 days
Other equipment : none

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
---------------------------------------
Carbonate Hardness (KH): unknown
Total Hardness (gH): unknown
pH : 8
NH4 (ppm): unknown
NO2 (ppm): unknown
NO3 (ppm): unknown
PO4 (ppm): unknown
Fe (ppm): unknown

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------
Shrimps x 30 - 2 left
Fake SAE
Chinese Algae Eater

Describe your problem :

Water-Half tank now
Plants still in pots. Thought of letting them acclimatize in tank before planting.

All was OK this morning when I left for office. Decided to turn on the lamp+C02 before I leave for work. Have not set up the timer ie 8hrs. But then the shrimp is dead ~6hrs. My son told me they are sleeping!

The algae eaters are OK, but maybe half dead.
Got my wife to turn off the Co2 and lamp. Raised the water filter returns so that some air is introduced into the tank.

[wynx]

Hi not an expert here.

According to what you have just described...It is possible that your tank have not fully cycled yet since you said the tank been set up for 3 days only. Well, initially, the beneficial bacteria are not established to take care of NO3, N02, NH4, etc.

If I am not wrong, shrimps are pretty sensitive to nitrates and therefore it is possible it is due to high nitrate...but not really possible too..Your tank should not have such a high level too...

My suggestion is that you remove all dead shrimps...for now and wait 2 weeks or so..when your tank gets more establish 1st..then slowly introduce your shrimps by batches....

Hope it helps....

Just my two sens

[PeterGwee]

Ammonia and nitrite are more deadly than nitrate...you would need a very high amount of nitrate to kill off inhibitants though.

[tawauboy]

was the shrimps acclimatised before releasing into your tank?
was there anything for the shrimps to cling on while transporting them home?

[ycwoon]

The shrimp do not have anything to cling on, on the way back, but then again they were doing Ok for about 10hrs.

LFS here indicates temperature may be the killer. We are still in Sping and yet the temperature now is about 31degC. Tank temp is 28deg C. LFS tanks temp is about 25degC

Dumb thing I did last night. I accidntally increased the KH from 3 to 7 by putting in too much KH plus- forgot that I have only half tank of water.
The pH shot up to 10. I added some maybe 10 liters RO water hoping that the KH will go down

Last night:
12midnight
KH=7
pH=10.3
Nitrate=12.5ml
Switch off lamp

After overnight Co2 injection,
9am
KH=5
pH=6.8
Nitrate= did not measure.

The Algae eaters and leftover shrimps will hate me for life! The KH swing and pH swings is just TOO high.

I am a newbie..and I nearly flunk my Chemistry...



[] []

[michaelmah]

A bit mess.
Thing may help

1) DO wc, make sure the water you add (RO water) is free from clorin.

2) Never introduce shrimp to your tank when you cycling your tank, unless your Nitrite (NO2) and ammonia (NH3/NH4) reach O ppm (mg/l) mostly properly need to wait for 4 to 8 weeks. Opt for adding some nitfying bacteria can brought from LFS which help to faster complete cycling process.

3) Algae eater will help in cycling your tank.

4) Canister filter help to grow bacteria, dont disturn the filter for some time, as you may see it turn browndish color.

5) temp suite for shrimp is about 25 -27c. If can get a chiller to reduce the temp.

6) Shrimp extremely sentative to any liquid you add in to water, especially contain copper. Read the label on bottle. This is go thru try and error wherther which liquid fertilier suit for tank with shrimp.

Try search for other articles in website , do help a lot.

[sfk7]

Bro, although what you have replied is to a 5 year old thread but i'm sure your input is useful to newbies to shrimp keeping