di water with amazonia soil

[da_xiong]

hi, had setup a rack of tanks for some pure red lines and black king kong, however, as I finally gotten a ph meter, did a test to all my tanks, the ph for all the tanks measured very low..

the setup I have currently,

1 x 2ft tank with about 1 inch height of amazonia soil with some buceps and driftwoods.

4 x 1ft cube with about slightly less than 1 inch of amazonia soil each.

all of the tanks are running on sponge filters except for the 2ft tank which runs on canister filter through ss pipes.

ph reads at 4.8 for the 4 cube tanks and 5.5 for the 2 ft tank.

surprisingly, my shrimps are all ok except for the colour fading, which I am guessing is the ph problem.

I am using Deionised water, with 3 stage water filtration, sediment, carbon and resin. Tanks are cycled since last christmas 2014, which can confirm that cycling is not the cause of the low ph.

the 4 cube tanks has got nothing but shrimps, as I want to keep it simple.

the DI water reads at 5.8 ph, in which I suspect is the cause of the problem.

Question here is, could the DI water really be the cause as, the water source is acidic coupled with an acidic buffering soil, causing a even lower ph?

if it is really the water's problem, what are the alternatives to increase the ph in a safe manner without affecting my shrimps?

[eviltrain]

i would suggest you to recalibrate your pH meter first followed by liquid pH test.

[da_xiong]

i would suggest you to recalibrate your pH meter first followed by liquid pH test.

I calibrate my ph meter a number of times already, also did a test on the tapwater, measuring almost the same as the api liquid ph test.

[Urban Aquaria]

Do you use DI water directly to do water changes? Usually most shrimp keepers don't use DI water directly for water changes (it's okay for top-ups), they add re-mineralization additives to achieve their target pH, TDS and GH, before doing water changes. That helps to keep the parameters stable and to match the specific tank requirements, and also adds beneficial minerals for the shrimps too.

1 inch height of ADA aquasoil wouldn't buffer the parameters for long based on the relatively low soil vs water ratio, so your DI water is probably the factor keeping the pH low.

Low pH in itself isn't really an issue as long as it's stable, if your shrimps are doing okay in those tank environments then there shouldn't be a need to change it.

[da_xiong]

Do you use DI water directly to do water changes? Usually most shrimp keepers don't use DI water directly for water changes (it's okay for top-ups), they add re-mineralization additives to achieve their target pH, TDS and GH, before doing water changes. That helps to keep the parameters stable and to match the specific tank requirements, and also adds beneficial minerals for the shrimps too.

1 inch height of ADA aquasoil wouldn't buffer the parameters for long based on the relatively low soil vs water ratio, so your DI water is probably the factor keeping the pH low.

Low pH in itself isn't really an issue as long as it's stable, if your shrimps are doing okay in those tank environments then there shouldn't be a need to change it.

I don't really do water changes unless necessary though, but I do top ups using DI water, without additives except for old sea mud powder. as a matter of fact I tried to take out more soil leaving only 2 to 3 mm depth of soil in the tank and it still buffers the ph down, just that slower than before.. didn't know amazonia is this good haha...

[Urban Aquaria]

I don't really do water changes unless necessary though, but I do top ups using DI water, without additives except for old sea mud powder. as a matter of fact I tried to take out more soil leaving only 2 to 3 mm depth of soil in the tank and it still buffers the ph down, just that slower than before.. didn't know amazonia is this good haha...

Yeah, i guess another way to look at it could be the soft low pH DI water helps the ADA aquasoil as it doesn't have to "fight" as hard to maintain lower pH (compared to when higher pH tap water is used), so it's buffering capacity/lifespan is extended.

[da_xiong]

Yeah, i guess another way to look at it could be the soft low pH DI water helps the ADA aquasoil as it doesn't have to "fight" as hard to maintain lower pH (compared to when higher pH tap water is used), so it's buffering capacity/lifespan is extended.

yea, but the ph is way too low at 4.8...