CRS water parameter questions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
G

gtclipse01

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2009
94
0
6
Centreville, VA
my water params (eclipse 6, i know it's harder in such a small tank) are:

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate negligible
pH 6.4

Here's where the problem starts. I use ADA Amazonia II, with an RO/tap mix... if I portion the water according to what TDS should be (I've heard 90-150 is best), the pH of the mix is around 6.4, but the Amazonia drops it down too low within a couple of days. If I mix the pH slightly higher to compensate, then the TDS is too high.

Also, I haven't had any deaths in a few months (lost three in the first few days since the last move, none since), but their colors have faded slightly and they aren't breeding. I would like to raise gh slightly for those reasons (i'm not sure what it is currently but my GH/KH test kit is coming in the mail), is there any way to do that without raising TDS, pH, KH, etc?

I have some crushed coral, and I feel like it would solve both of these problems, unless there's something I'm missing (maybe it would raise TDS?). Any ideas?
 
what is your tap water like?

baking soda is another option.

Is your tank being kept stable (premixing new water to match the tank parameters)? What is the temp? They sound stressed if they are fading and not reproducing. Your params sound fine, I am concerned you are getting fluctuations because your hardness is so low and this is what is stressing the shrimp. Your gh/kh can be up to 4-6 and they should still do fine. The hardness is really what is most important to these shrimp, not the actual pH number. You need enough hardness to keep your params stable, but still have soft water. Here is a link to more information on gh and kh: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/khgh.html
 
Well, the only test kit I have for hardness are pool/spa test strips and they put the hardness of the current tank water (after adding a small handful of crushed coral yesterday) at 100ppm (about 5.5dH?).. I know this doesn't give a confidently accurate measure of gh which is why i ordered the test kit. Temp is set at 76 and I do premix the water.

Our tap water is around pH 7.4 and the hardness is... nevermind, the strips are just too old and are coming out with the same reading as the tank water. I guess I'll have to wait a few days for the test kit to come in.. the crushed coral seemed to work okay without raising TDS a whole lot, is that a pretty safe bet for stabilizing the water a bit and raising hardness without affecting the crs?

Also, doesn't baking soda raise kh by the same amount as gh (i've heard epsom salt raises the gh without kh but im a little apprehensive about using any kind of salt with crs)?

lastly, is the gh or the TDS more important, because if I can raise it a little (it's a little under 150 now) I could just use more tap (TDS 245 or so) to raise the hardness. Thanks a ton for your help.
 
I can honestly say I don't know about the TDS question, its not something I measure. With my more challenging species of shrimp, I worry about the gh/kh, the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings as well as temp. Crystals like cooler water, I keep my crystal tank at about 72.

For my crystal tank, I have the gh/kh at 6. This keeps a stable pH and reading. I accomplish this by mixing ro water with my tap water in a bucket. I make sure to test the hardness of the tank before mixing my water change water so that it matches and there is no swing/shift in the tank.



I think your shrimp are stressed because of all the shifts in your parameters. Stable is better than shifting, I would wait to mess with your tank params moreuntil that test kit comes in. At that time, I would try and do gradual changes. Also, with a CRS tank (is it just the shrimp?) you often don't need to do large volume water changes. Is this a planted tank? In alot of my heavilly planted shrimp tanks, I do about 15% a week. I only feed 2x a week as well.

Crushed coral does work well, but it may end up making your water too hard. The gh/kh test will help you figure this out. In the meantime, I would just let it stabilize and then when you decide what you need to do, do it gradually so that the shrimp are not stressed further. Crystals are a bit more on the delicate side, especially the better grades and do not tolerate much fluctuation well at all.

Here is a picture of my crystal tank to give you an idea of my set-up, though its only one way of many that a shrimp tank can be done:

abby and fishroom updates 037.jpg
 
Great looking setup. I think I'll see how the crushed coral (I only used a small handful as at test dose) works out before I mess with epsom salts or any of that.. yeah, it's just shrimp.. I'll post pics in a different thread along with my CPO cray that berried yesterday :D.

It's an eclipse 6 with an additional rapids mini canister, a java moss wall, and a few marimo moss balls.. If I end up moving my electric blue ram pairs out to my parents' house, I may switch the CRS to the heavily planted 20 at my place to cut down on fluctuations. They were a present from my dad (mostly S+ with a few SS hinos) and I'd really hate to lose these things.. they seem stable enough so I'll just have to tough it out until the test kit gets here. Thanks again.
 
sure thing, the bigger volume would definitely help. such a small tank is hard to keep stable initially even without having to figure out gh/kh/tds, etc.
 
switched out the ADA for an inert black sand.. using a 2/1 RO/tap mix I leveled out params over the past week to: 73 degrees, pH 6.8, GH 4-5, KH 3, TDS steady at 135... ammonia/nitrite/nitrate zero as always. now comes the hardest part, patience :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom