I have a small tank of orange shrimp (cherry morphs) that has been having some mysterious deaths. Not a lot, but pretty steadily and I don't know why. They're berrying and breeding steadily and I have babies, but the adults keep dying. The one odd thing that I have found is that something in the tank is changing the water pH and I don't know what it is.
Tank: 3.5 gallon
Sub: Black sand
Hardscape: Spiderwood
Flora: Dwarf water lettuce, anubias, mini pellia, subwassertang, java moss
Fauna: Orange shrimp (10-15?) and ramshorn snails
Temp: 76
Filter: HOB style filter (built into tank), sponge filter
Light: Finnex Planted + LED Light
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
gH: 120
kH: 80
pH of water in tank: 8.0
pH of water before it goes in tank: 7.4-7.6
WC: I'm doing multiple small water changes throughout the week, probably about 10% of the water three times a week. I rinse out all of the filter sponges at this time.
The only odd thing I can see is the pH. Do you think the pH swing could be causing the deaths? Why is my pH increasing in the tank? I would have thought that if anything the wood and plants would cause a decrease in pH.
Tank: 3.5 gallon
Sub: Black sand
Hardscape: Spiderwood
Flora: Dwarf water lettuce, anubias, mini pellia, subwassertang, java moss
Fauna: Orange shrimp (10-15?) and ramshorn snails
Temp: 76
Filter: HOB style filter (built into tank), sponge filter
Light: Finnex Planted + LED Light
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
gH: 120
kH: 80
pH of water in tank: 8.0
pH of water before it goes in tank: 7.4-7.6
WC: I'm doing multiple small water changes throughout the week, probably about 10% of the water three times a week. I rinse out all of the filter sponges at this time.
The only odd thing I can see is the pH. Do you think the pH swing could be causing the deaths? Why is my pH increasing in the tank? I would have thought that if anything the wood and plants would cause a decrease in pH.