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New to shrimp

2K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  FishRFriendz 
#1 ·
I've been having mixed results with new shrimp, so I finally got an API KH/GH test kit.

Ghost shrimp - 0 out of 1
Red cherry shrimp - 2 out of 3 alive

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
pH 8
kH 4 drops
gH 8 drops = 143.2 ppm

Tap:
pH 7.6
kH 3 drops
gH 7 drops 125.3 ppm

I have no idea what gH is/means as I have a TDS pen that reads about 60 ppm from the tap. Haven't checked the tank water yet, will do that tomorrow.

Plants: Java moss, nano moss, star moss.
2 small catappa leaves

Just added a Wonder Shell today.

So I still have 2 RCS, and I think I need to make their water better somehow. What do I do? I have no idea why the pH is so high and I think the gH may be too high but I don't know how to lower it since I don't really understand what that is. I'm thinking I can pass the water through peat to lower the pH, but I don't know how/if that'll help the kH/gH situation.

Help!
 
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#6 ·
The pH is perfectly fine for shrimp, no reason to change it. Actually, parameters appear fine to me!
Are there any rocks in the tank? If yes, do you know what type?
Do you remineralize the water with anything???
GH is calcium and magnesium. KH is carbonates and bicarbonates.
Has the tank ever been treated with copper? Or any medications that contain some type of copper?

So 8 pH is ok? I was googling around for water parameters and most of the sites that came up said RCS liked slighly acidic water.

There are some rocks in the tank, but even before the rocks were added the pH was 8. It's still the same as it was a month ago.

I don't remineralize the water with anything.

I hope the Wonder Shell raises the kH.

Never used any meds, it's been an empty tank with just moss for a while. It's a moss growing tank. I used to run the lights 24 hrs, but now that there are shrimp in there, I've cut it down to 12 hours of light.

If I could get away with leaving the lights on for 24 hrs then I would, just to grow the moss faster.
 
#7 ·
I would personally remove the Wonder Shell. That could be causing stress to the shrimp.


Still trying to wrap my brain around something... With a KH of 3 and a GH of 7, your TDS from tap should be higher. I get up to 60 TDS from tap with 3-4 KH and GH, so having that low of a TDS with higher parameters just doesn't make sense.


Do you calibrate your TDS pen or clean it in vinegar at all?
 
#8 ·
Still trying to wrap my brain around something... With a KH of 3 and a GH of 7, your TDS from tap should be higher. I get up to 60 TDS from tap with 3-4 KH and GH, so having that low of a TDS with higher parameters just doesn't make sense.

Do you calibrate your TDS pen or clean it in vinegar at all?

Calibrate? Clean? I didn't even think of doing that with the TDS pen. It's an HM digital TDS pen, I thought they came precalibrated.

The 60 ppm was a result I got a few weeks ago. I'll test the tap with the pen tomorrow since I did the kh/gh testing today, I just remembered we had our heater changed and some plumbing work last week due to a leak.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, the Wonder Shell is raising both your KH and pH (and maybe GH), and I agree your TDS is just a bit low for that GH. My TDS is around 60 ppm, and my GH comes out at 4 dGH ;)

I think your tap parameters are great and should be left alone. Catappa leaves may lower pH just a hair, but that's ok, and they are great for shrimp.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
I have the HM Digital TDS-EZ pen. I occasionally soak it in vinegar to try and remove any potential mineral build up. I haven't calibrated it, but there is a calibration solution that can be purchased.

Although they may come pre-calibrated, the calibration can go off over time. This is why many TDS pens have a hole in the back for a small screwdiver. This is used to calibrate the pen to the solution.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I just checked my water from the tap with the TDS pen just now, and it is around 75, so I'm chalking up the 7 drops on the gH water test I did as user error.

The TDS count on the tank water was over 500 so I've started a drip water change, to bring that down.

In any case there's a lot of who knows what mix of stuff in the tank. I don't have tests to find out what the whole breakdown of the water is, so better to toss the wonder shell into the water change bucket and start a water change.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Things are going well now. The problem was the TDS 500+.

I got 7 more RCS yesterday after I did the drip change and got the TDS down to about 320.

The store had a TDS of 140ish and I have no idea what the breeder originally had.

Drip acclimated the 7 for an hour. All 7 survived.

Also, tested my dechlorinated water, using API Tap Water Conditioner.

kH: 4
gH: 5
TDS: 100

Without the dechlorinator the TDS is in the 70s.
 
#14 ·
Drip change has finally hit the right water params. Took 3 days and overall about 250% water was changed in that time.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 8
kH 4
gH 8
TDS 210
 
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