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I got myself into a little trouble adding Osmocote Plus to my HOB for nitrogen and it ended up killing my shrimp. I use it in my substrate without issues but water column was a bad idea. I looked up the composition of Osmocote Plus and it contains 0.05% copper, I found my shrimp turning pink and going into shock, they were having convulsions and contractions as well as becoming paralyzed.
I did a massive water change and added carbon to my filter, which I read will slowly remove metals from my water? I never used carbon because I was under the impression it removes things my water conditioner already removed. Anything left would be removed by plants and anything I added for plants would be removed by the carbon so it would fight my dosing. Now I am starting to think it may not absorb my fertilizers and Excel afterall, it is cheap anyway and would act as a water conditioner redundancy plus keep my water clearer between water changes?
I am afraid my substrate has been absorbing copper and metals and will release them now. I do have Osmocote Plus in my dirt capped by gravel so none of it should make it into the water but I am wondering if it is...even before I put it in my HOB I was never able to keep Nerite snails and Ghost shrimp alive and I am starting to think this is way (my substrate). However up until adding it to my HOB I have kept Amano shrimp fine, a Betta fish and mystery/apple snails. I kind of think the Ghost shrimp and Nerite snails are the most sensitive to metals though, I really do not want to re-dirt my tank...
The only thing I can do is buy a drinking water test but they are one use and pricey.
I did a massive water change and added carbon to my filter, which I read will slowly remove metals from my water? I never used carbon because I was under the impression it removes things my water conditioner already removed. Anything left would be removed by plants and anything I added for plants would be removed by the carbon so it would fight my dosing. Now I am starting to think it may not absorb my fertilizers and Excel afterall, it is cheap anyway and would act as a water conditioner redundancy plus keep my water clearer between water changes?
I am afraid my substrate has been absorbing copper and metals and will release them now. I do have Osmocote Plus in my dirt capped by gravel so none of it should make it into the water but I am wondering if it is...even before I put it in my HOB I was never able to keep Nerite snails and Ghost shrimp alive and I am starting to think this is way (my substrate). However up until adding it to my HOB I have kept Amano shrimp fine, a Betta fish and mystery/apple snails. I kind of think the Ghost shrimp and Nerite snails are the most sensitive to metals though, I really do not want to re-dirt my tank...
The only thing I can do is buy a drinking water test but they are one use and pricey.