Shrimp tank help

**namska** · 13th Aug 2018, 10:37

Hi guys i just started a shrimp tank 4 days ago. Its a 30cm tank with ada soil, woods and plants shown in the photo. Running a sponge filter run by airpump on the background. Have a fan cooling the tank.

I did water chg daily but PH level is still very low... in the 5ish region.

KH is close to 0. Temp is abt 27deg cel.

I have a couple of cherries that i am holding up in a pail with shrimplets.

My tap water is abt 7.2ph but everytime i chg half a tank, the ph goes up abit but comes down quickly by the next day. I have a 1.5ft tank for fishes using similar set up but PH is abt 6.6 to 6.8. Not too sure why the ph for this shrimp tank is so low.

Should i try to put my cherries in? I am slowly acclimatising them now. Any advise is much appreciated. Attached a photo of my shrimp tank below.

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**genki89** · 13th Aug 2018, 12:26

Your tank may not even be cycled. Its in the process of cycling and adding any livestock in currently will endanger them.

You are using ada soil, which makes cycling even longer due to the nature of the soil with higher nutrient.

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**namska** · 13th Aug 2018, 13:20

Originally Posted by genki89

Your tank may not even be cycled. Its in the process of cycling and adding any livestock in currently will endanger them.

You are using ada soil, which makes cycling even longer due to the nature of the soil with higher nutrient.

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How long do i need to cycle a tank this size? This Wednesday will be 1 week. Hopefully the shrimps will survive in the pail for another week.

I did add quick start everytime i chg water though

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**genki89** · 13th Aug 2018, 13:37

All depends... cherry is quite hardy. U can leave them in the pail with air pump and weekly water change.

More importantly is the cycling of the tank. U need to have patience. If u can no longer wait, get the test kit (strips).

Its a guide but not accurate, as long as ammonia is 0, with some value in nitrate, ur tank is ready for ur shrimps. But take note, its a guide and not fully cycle yet. Ammonia and nitrite must be 0 in cycled tank.

If u need to raise ph (acid to alkaline), add coral chips (cc). But don lump all the cc at 1 go. Add portion by portion and monitor the ph. Drastic swing

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**namska** · 13th Aug 2018, 23:12

Thanks... i decided to rescape... i reduced the soil in the tank from about 2 inches thick to abt 1cm... so far the ph lvl seems ok at 6.8... i will do another test tmr to see if its stable. Removed the stones too as advised by some LFS.

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