need some help with substrate

[wicca27]

ok so i have had crs in a tank with fss for about a year now. its finaly starting to break down some and slowly loosing its buffering ability. im wanting to use this tank for tigers. i dont know weather to go with just sand or capp the fss with sand and keep the soil for the plants. its not leaching anything just ph has come up to 6.5 from about 6 in the last couple months. any ideas cause i dont want to buy a new buffering substrate cause i dont know how long the tank will be up

[plamski]

Are you using RO water?
Personally I never had success breeding tigers in water with greater than PH 6.5.If you cover used-dirty substrate with sand you may create bacteria bomb under. Get some trumpeter snails to dig and clean FSS if it is dusty already -replace it with new one. You will miss a lot of troubles and time if you skip substrate replacement in the middle of the breeding season.

[lauraleellbp]

You have any rocks in the tank? Checked your hardness in addition to the pH?

I had liquid rock tap water when I lived down in Naples, and my pearl blue Tigers bred like crazy... *shrug*

[ravensgate]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

You have any rocks in the tank? Checked your hardness in addition to the pH?

I had liquid rock tap water when I lived down in Naples, and my pearl blue Tigers bred like crazy... *shrug*

What are pearl blue tigers? Only heard of pearl blue neos.

[wicca27]

i breed oebt quite well in my tap water for 2 years untill last march when we had a tornado really close and they dumped all kinds of crap in the water and the tank got to hot. they ended up with bacterial infection from that and lost my colony. but ive since had red tiger and a few oebt that breed in my water. but now want to try another type. i think i will just get rid of the soil all together, and go with the sand alone. my parameters are

ph about 7.2 with just tap
gh7
kh2
tds = verrys per tank and what is in it

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by ravensgate

What are pearl blue tigers? Only heard of pearl blue neos.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...l+tiger+shrimp

[ravensgate]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...l+tiger+shrimp

Doesn't answer my question. OEBTs are OEBTs. Blue pearls are neos.

http://www.planetinverts.com/Blue%20Pearl%20Shrimp.html

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by ravensgate

Doesn't answer my question. OEBTs are OEBTs. Blue pearls are neos.

http://www.planetinverts.com/Blue%20Pearl%20Shrimp.html

Shrimp common names come and go with the wind, I don't try and keep up LOL

[sbarbee54]

Wicca that tap is perfect for tigers what is tds f the water. All my tigers are breeding like rabbits in 7.1-7.0 gh 5-6 kh 1-2 tds 200

[ravensgate]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Shrimp common names come and go with the wind, I don't try and keep up LOL

Are they tigers or neos? I'm genuinely interested since I raise tigers. So I'm trying to get an actual answer out of you

Sorry for the derail wicca!

[CookieM]

From experiences Tiger shrimps do best in 7.0-7.2 PH that's my normal RO water PH. They breed like crazy in my tank along with Fire Red. Unlike CRS Tiger are very hardy just like Cherry and the water parameter for Tiger and Cherry are the same. My TDS was spiked to 700+ for couple months without my knowledge and my Tigers still breed like rabbit.

[wicca27]

Originally Posted by sbarbee54

Wicca that tap is perfect for tigers what is tds f the water. All my tigers are breeding like rabbits in 7.1-7.0 gh 5-6 kh 1-2 tds 200

tds is any average 210 can be up or down a bit depending what all is in the tank decor wise, tigers tend to get more bacterial infections though cause of the higher ph or that has been my experiance with them. kinda have to keep a close eye on tank temp. i will prob run extra air for more surface movement when it gets warmer but with hubby home this summer and not deployed im sure it will only be between 65 and 70 in the house lol

[wicca27]

thanks for the help all i guess i will use the old sub for house plants and just use sand for the tigers

[sbarbee54]

Ph no effect on bacterial infection. Temp is the key and clean water