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Ada amazonia soil reduce the ph for sure, hows your source water ? Tetra are fine with ph 5 i believe
I got one planted tank with moss and few other plant, not heavy planted. soil is ADA new 1inch high. I keep cherry and tetra inside they all live well, didn't check PH since day 1. but recently bought a ph test kit and found out the PH is 5 or belowis it too low for a planted tank? how to raise and maintain it?
I use a bit of baking soda the ph immediately turned to 7, but after a day it returns to original again. CO2 level should be high, but after stop for a day the ph still the same
Ada amazonia soil reduce the ph for sure, hows your source water ? Tetra are fine with ph 5 i believe
Not sure about the tetras, a ph of 5 is far from ideal for the cherries.
i used aged tap water. ph7. weekly 1/3 water change.Originally Posted by milk_vanilla
they are still alive, but seems not breeding. I'm not sure how to adjust the ph, maybe change the soil?
Try using coral chips. Make sure you don't use too much and also that you monitor your ph meanwhile. It can easily swing to the other extreme if not careful
i'm new to shrimp, what's the common setup of shrimp tank which will have a stable PH? yes coral chip is a solution but where is the root cause? ADA new?
Just curious, how long has your tank been running for?
pH of 5.0 is really low even for ADA Aqua Soil substrate tanks, that effect usually only occurs during the initial period of a tank's cycling process... usually it should stabilize at around 6.4-6.6 pH once the tank is fully cycled.
Yours is a planted tank for shrimps? Well sad to say that it will be tough to cater to the needs of both. When your plants do well your shrimps will suffer. That is why so many of us have dedicated tanks for shrimps. The cause of your low ph is very likely the ADA soil, the CO2 that you are injecting for your plants also has a part in pushing the ph even lower.
Then either wait for couple months till your ada mature, push down your co2 a little bit ( it may suffer your flora, depend on your lights power & biomass number), wc little bit more like 40% and beyond, and coral chips .?
the tank been runing for 3 month.
i got another nano tank for cherry too, PH also 5 or below, inside have one drift wood, few moss only. filter is one small canister with Eheim substract pro.
i will try to wc more a week, and put few coral chip, but i worry it will not solve the root cause.
I'm using the ada soil and currently in the 3rd week of cycling. PH maintain at 5.5 now.
One last thing,
How confidence are you with your meter accuracy? Without realize we sometimes overlook this.
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test tap water is 7(green), tank water is full yellow, i'm waiting for API test kit have stock. so can use API test again. visit C328 few times last month dont have.
What test kit are you currently using?
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 22nd Feb 2013 at 10:22.
API can test minimum ph 6.0 only
I only have tetra PH tester, the range is like 5 6 7 8, not those accurate type. however the difference between tap water and tank water is there, so ph sure too low. I'm not sure 1 month time is enough to settle down the soil. just hope to. meanwhile I'll moniter if wc 50% will make a difference.
Yeah, i guess the Tetra test kit isn't as precise... if you get a 5.0 pH reading with it on your tank water, it could be a high 5.0 (maybe even close to 6.0), and if you got a 7.0 pH reading for your tap water, it could be a low 7.0, so there is a higher percentage of uncertainty there.
With the API test kit, my cycled tank water is 6.4-6.6 pH and my tap water is 7.4-7.6 pH, there is also an approx. 0.8-1.2 pH difference too, just that i can see a more precise measurement.
I think your tank parameters should most likely turn out to be quite similar to mine too, since you are also ADA aqua soil as substrate (unless there are other chemicals or additives added to the water).
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 22nd Feb 2013 at 11:27.
Try pen digital ph meter, i found it's quite accurate, quick result, ease of use.
I was api ph test user too...
The ph pen needs calibration too. If not it's no different from using expired test kits.
Calibration still necessary indeed. I do preferably number than colors.
In the end it's individual choices.
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