Reset of tank

[lizhien]

Hi everyone.. I'm not new to shrimp keeping but this is my first reset of the tank. I currently have a 1.5ft (~45L) tank with an Eheim 2222, GEX slim L HOF and HC-150A. I have ADA2 powdered soil that has been in use for ~9 months.

I've noticed for quite sometime that the soil's ph has been slowly rising although the gh stays at 3. The current ph is ~ 7.4-7.5. Even after using mosura ph down, the ph is still the same.

I've had a few pieces of CRS that have managed to survive in this tank for ~ 2 weeks. They have all up lorry one by one after molting. TDS level has been <200.

I managed to get some new soil and plan a complete reset of the tank. Do i keep as much of the current water or do i dump the lot and just add new conditioned water? I have 2 buckets of aged water standing by. The filters and canisters are all well seeded with BB as this tank has been kept running pending arrival of the soil.

Would appreciate the advise and opinions of everyone. We can all learn from each other.

[merciwash]

The soil is suppose to keep the ph down, but the water tds is quite high, so i would recommond keeping 50% of the water. If the tds is high usually it would be because of rock, mineral, or plant going black recommend that you take it out. Putting a piece of driftwood will help bring down ph. Than buy some active carbon or charcoal to absorb the ammonia etc and than throw it away after 3 month.

[gryphon]

What is the height of Ada soil in your tank? 9 months should not have pH that high.
Did you add coral rocks in your tank or coral chips as filter media?
How much water are you changing weekly?

[eviltrain]

since you wants to reset, i would suggest you get a bigger tank 2x1x1 since all your equipments are good enough for a 2 feet. better control of water parameters too.

[cheetf]

Did you originally setup the tank with all new stuff or did you buy it off someone?

[lizhien]

Thanks for the quick replies..

Merciwash,
I've changed water numerous times to rectify the problems. I've tried 50% and even 100%. I have a piece of driftwood with fissidens in the tank. I'm not sure what's wrong with the tank but the shrimps have problems molting. They either die while molting or die after molting. I've drained the water 100% once and let the tank cycle shrimpless for a month. Added in some fire reds and the molting issues surfaced.

Gryphon,
This soil height is 7 cm around 9L of ADA2 powder soil. There's no coral rocks or chips as filter media. There were 3 larva rocks in the tank for a month. I removed them last week. I'm changing 3L (~7%) weekly.

Eviltrain,
I like this 1.5ft tank leh.. I'm also worried my desk can't take the weight. I have the canister filter just behind the tank.

Cheetf,
I got it off someone. It was 6 months old when i got it. Tank was stable with ph 6.5, gh 5, TDS unknown.

[cheetf]

Could it be that the soil is a bit older than what you think it is, since there seem to be nothing in your tank that should raise the pH?

Anyway, doing a full reset sounds like a good idea. Remember to note down when you started the reset.

Since your filters are already prepared, I think you don't need to keep any of the old tank water. Just make sure you don't kill what is already in the filters. Use aged water.

[gryphon]

Cheetf,
I got it off someone. It was 6 months old when i got it. Tank was stable with ph 6.5, gh 5, TDS unknown.

Trustable seller? Tank at 6.5 was based on what you tested when you got from the seller?
Are you using those paper strip testers for GH and PH

[lizhien]

Trustable? Yes. Got it from a friend when he upgraded his tank set. He had >100 CRS in the tank at one time before he decomm this set. This is a close friend, so i know how long he had set up his tank for. But he did mention that there was no substrate base in the soil.

I think i'll keep the filters running till i do the actual reset. 1 shot drain out old soil, clean tank then prepare substrate base and dump in the new soil and top up with aged water.

Ph was 6.5 when it was at his place and after i set up at my place. I'm using the ph pen and sera liquid test kit for gh. Tank was pretty stable until there was this outbreak of green water and bacterial bloom. After that, i think the soil/water was permanently screwed and shrimps couldn't survive in the tank for long. Been putting off resetting the tank because of lazyness and cost. But of all the things i've tried, couldn't get the shrimps to survive for long. Not to mention getting berried and having shrimplets.

[gryphon]

Trustable? Yes. Got it from a friend when he upgraded his tank set. He had >100 CRS in the tank at one time before he decomm this set. This is a close friend, so i know how long he had set up his tank for. But he did mention that there was no substrate base in the soil.

I think i'll keep the filters running till i do the actual reset. 1 shot drain out old soil, clean tank then prepare substrate base and dump in the new soil and top up with aged water.

Ph was 6.5 when it was at his place and after i set up at my place. I'm using the ph pen and sera liquid test kit for gh. Tank was pretty stable until there was this outbreak of green water and bacterial bloom. After that, i think the soil/water was permanently screwed and shrimps couldn't survive in the tank for long. Been putting off resetting the tank because of lazyness and cost. But of all the things i've tried, couldn't get the shrimps to survive for long. Not to mention getting berried and having shrimplets.

You must be waiting to lay your hands on Mosura soil before resetting the tank.
GreenChapter carrys an interesting product PowerHouse medias which is suppose to be able to buffer pH. Very expensive but I don't know if it really works.
QUOTE:
Soft Type's pH Rise Controlling Principal
The main component of Power House Soft Type products is kaolinite activated silica. When water’s pH level rises, hydroxy ions in the water increase. The nature of activated silica is such that it takes in the hydroxy ions, and at the same time separates and releases hydrogen ions, controlling pH level from rising. This does not involve emission of acid substance, thus making the product safe for use with all types of living organisms.

[lizhien]

Bingo. But it seems to be out everywhere! I think i'll just stick with the tried and tested CR and old sea mud powder formula as the substrate. haha..

[lizhien]

Do you guys/girls turn on your chiller while cycling the tank?

[gryphon]

Do you guys/girls turn on your chiller while cycling the tank?

Not for me, only when my ammonia and nitrite is 0 then I turn on. BB grows slower in cool temperature.
It also depends if you have plants in the tank during cycling that needs cool temperature.

[SeahSengYong]

Agree you should change a bigger tank.

[Ecalyte]

I am decomming my tank. Reason? Increase of pH. Over the last couple of days my pH has been increasing. Then today it's increased from 7.0 to 7.4. HARDCORE -_-

I have no rocks in my tank, nothing that can attribute to an increase in pH. I use full biohome media in my canister, filter wool in my prefilter. I use ADA2 Amazonia soil at the base topped up with ADA2 Amazonia powder.

Until about 1-2 months ago, the front lawn partition of my tank has been empty. I filled it up with ADA 2 Amazonia powder. Before filling it up, my pH was 6.4ish. I HIGHLY suspect it's the ADA 2 Amazonia powder soil. Why? I set up an external breeding box and used ADA 2 Amazonia powder soil (same packet used as the front lawn). Filled it up with tank water. When I measured the tank water at 7.2, the pH in the breeder box (after 5 hours) was 7.4. AN INCREASE????

CURRENT PH PARAMETERS: Inside tank 7.40, External breeding box 7.46.

How can I isolate that this is a problem with the powder soil? My cull tank that is set up with the EXCESS ADA 2 Amazonia (Normal) soil I had from filling up my 2ft tank is measured at 6.5 pH! (Using the SAME pH meter). So even IF my pH meter was calibrated wrongly, there is a difference of 1 pH. The cull tank was started using water from my main tank roughly 2-3 months ago.

I decided that this soil is hardcore faulty. I have no idea why it would be like this. So, I will decom my tank and restart it when I come back from Hong Kong.

Byebye CRS and BDS flowerheads, byebye KK

[Ecalyte]

You know what's so sad about this? I have about 8-10 CRS Flowerhead shrimplets that are damned solid. The white is super thick, the red is deep. redsuns was over my place to see it.. WHAT A PITY. ARGHHHHH

Sorry, emo-ing.

[Ecalyte]

Very sorry to hijack your thread bro lizhien, but since my problem is related I would like to ask the bros here an urgent question.

If you only have the one tank, and you had to reset (ie. my situation) what soil will you use and why?

I know there is a lot of hype about the Mosura soil, but I was at colourful yesterday and the packing is REALLY dodgy.. I mean, it's basically just a transparent bag. There's no labelling, no branding, no listing of contents. Is that even legal? To sell something without stating the contents of it? Anyway.. would like to know why there is so much hype about the mosura soil, i'm thinking of getting it solely because the colour is very nice.. I have no knowledge of the water parameters it buffers.

[SeahSengYong]

Mosura soil is quite good and clean.
It clears the water very fast.
But not that good for plants.

I use it for quite some time, so far no problem.

[gryphon]

Huh, is all Mosura soil packed like this? Previous batch from Colorful or other shops are also just a transparent bag with no labelling?

[marimo]

Merciwash,
I've changed water numerous times to rectify the problems. I've tried 50% and even 100%. I have a piece of driftwood with fissidens in the tank. I'm not sure what's wrong with the tank but the shrimps have problems molting. They either die while molting or die after molting. I've drained the water 100% once and let the tank cycle shrimpless for a month. Added in some fire reds and the molting issues surfaced.

If you mentioned they all died because they have problem molting.
Did you observe if the empty shell is complete?
If the empty shell looks out of shape and broken, meaning shrimp had problem to molt.
if the shell looks complete, meaning they had problems to regrow shell after molting.

Shrimp molt when there is a large WC, a 50% WC will trigger molting. Iodine also trigger molt.

Molting ideally will be in shade of rocks and plants or darkness night, as after that shrimps will need to hide to regrow the shell for several hours. Which they need Calcium Oxide in water to aid.

Also shrimps dont molt for no reason. every 2 weeks to a month, fertility stage.

If they molt too often , they will die because of stress and vulnerable .

Thats why i know..