Decommission or Juggle?

[Wolfgangs246]

Hi Guys,

I setup a 3ft shrimp tank approximately 3-5 months ago and have discovered that for some reason, my pH level can not be lowered beyond 7.2-7.5

This is a problem as I am keeping CRS in this tank and am currently using various methods such as PEAT filter media to try and keep the ph level down. what I don't understand is what could possibly be pushing the ph up. All substrate is ADA soil and all filter media is ph neutral except for the peat which still only manages to bring the ph level down to around 7.

I'm beginning to get fedup with the tank and am thinking to decommission it. But due to my limited space available, I don't have the option of setting a whole new tank system to transfer my current stock of 60-100 CRS/BDS.

Can I get some feedback on if it would be better in the long run to sell my livestock and then decom the tank and start again from scratch, or if I should continue to chemically manage the existing tank?

[eviltrain]

Bro. If the shrimps are breeding for you and no massive death occur, i suggest you just leave it as it is.

[k3nlim]

What are the other parameters? Is it heavily planted?

[Wolfgangs246]

Nitrate and Nitrite are 0,
Ammonia is undetectable probably due to large water volume and low bioload.

My concern is that I've seen berried mama's but seen more dead shrimp than babies. So you can understand my desire to see this problem resolved.

[eviltrain]

In that case, i guess its better to sell all your shrimps first and decom to restart.

Scape tank is normally not a breeding tank for shrimps.

[Navanod]

Bro, maybe your rocks are the cause? Think you got a few from me? I've heard that it may raise GH, but I'm not sure about pH
Also, try testing your aged tap water (not right out of the tap, must age, as tap water have CO2 dissolved which may lower the pH). If the tap water is high KH or pH, then restarting the tank may not help unless you get a filter.
No coral chips anywhere in the tank/filter right?

Although you may have to restart, its better to find the cause so as not to make the same mistake again. Try using distilled water if you want to continue for awhile more

[Kenng]

Bro,

You have rocks or stones that might affect the PH?

[Wolfgangs246]

The rocks causing the raised PH is possible I suppose. I never really tested the rocks before throwing them into the tank, guess that is something that I'll test when I get back. You drip vinegar on them to check for acidity right? What do you throw on them to check for alkalinity?

Would using a Reverse Osmosis machine be an option? My GF actually already has one installed in her house and she drinks a steady supply of alkaline water, which suggests she has a fair amount of highly acidic water as a byproduct. But I'm not sure about the mineral content of the water or its suitability for CRS.

[Wolfgangs246]

I'm not sure how to describe the rocks I bought, they appear to be made of dark-light grey material with veins of white, I would hazard a guess they are granite.

[eviltrain]

You drink vineger on rock to test if it reacts with acidic water. If it does fizzle, your rocks may be alkline base.

[3inone]

just to make the approach more complete, u might wanna check on your pH tester. im new, but i felt that it may be possible cause there is no way pH is gonna maintain as long as u add H+ in, its gonna drop.

[dnsfpl]

encounter the same issue with my office tank
i use purely DI water for topup, it doesnt help

berried mama but no sign of shrimplets
decom after 3 months, now change to fire red shrimp

please let me know if you find any solution
cheers

[Wolfgangs246]

I don't think the ph tester is wrong, I'm using the drop test version not a stick or dip test. and I've used 2 different test kits, and their readings are similar. It's probably the rocks. But that means destroying a perfectly good scape for the sake of the CRS. *sigh* Too bad, was hoping to achieve a perfect combination of scape and fauna.

BTW what do H+ and DI mean?

[eviltrain]

Normally, scape tank is not a breeding tank for shrimps.

[Wolfgangs246]

Hi Guys,

Update for you all, I just took the plunge and decimated my 'skull' scape and tested all the rocks for alkalinity. As it turns out, 9 out of the 10 tested rocks reacted with vinegar. So now I'm going through all my rocks to see which ones are ph neutral to see what I have to work with.

I'm kind of pissed because all the nice looking ones invariably have alkaline ph. But at least now I know the reason for the ph problems. I'm delaying testing the final rock cause it's a fricking monster weighing in at 12 kg and to haul it out of a 1.5ft high tank on a cabinet isn't going to be easy.

On a similar note, can I expect the PH level to drop rapidly now that I've removed the majority of the reasons for the ph to be pushed up? Or will the peat reduce the ph gradually?

[stormhawk]

Peat gradually reduces the pH of the water. The side effect is that peat may stain the water brown, which may or may not be annoying to you. I guess leaving that one last rock should be fine as long as your shrimps do not show any problems.

[Wolfgangs246]

I would normally agree but it's the largest rock in the tank, outweighing probably all the others in total. I guess I can leave it in for now and monitor the situation, I also came back to fnd that my PH test solution all evaporated through a crack in the bottle. -_-' So need to go buy a new one and monitor the situation over the next week or so. If the ph doesn't reduce convincingly, I'll take that last rock out.

New Years Resolution: Bring a bottle of water and bottle of vinegar when looking for new rocks. :-p

[eviltrain]

lol~ bro, thats funny lei~

" auntie/uncle, can i test your rocks with my acid? "

try to get those ADA rocks. supposedly won't react or cause reaction with tank water.

[Kenng]

Hi Guys,

Update for you all, I just took the plunge and decimated my 'skull' scape and tested all the rocks for alkalinity. As it turns out, 9 out of the 10 tested rocks reacted with vinegar. So now I'm going through all my rocks to see which ones are ph neutral to see what I have to work with.

I'm kind of pissed because all the nice looking ones invariably have alkaline ph. But at least now I know the reason for the ph problems. I'm delaying testing the final rock cause it's a fricking monster weighing in at 12 kg and to haul it out of a 1.5ft high tank on a cabinet isn't going to be easy.

On a similar note, can I expect the PH level to drop rapidly now that I've removed the majority of the reasons for the ph to be pushed up? Or will the peat reduce the ph gradually?

Bro just be careful as rapid drop in PH might be damaging to the shrimps.

[dersuz]

Just a question since I am new to this hobby, can we inject more CO2 to reduce the pH level?