benibachi fulvic grains

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thanks for the reply, I guess im worried because everyone say do not use any kh when it comes to crystal red shrimp. Im also worried that i might be getting ph swings when im not recording because i dont have buffering substrate or enough kh. I only have 1kh. The Ph of ro water after it sits is about 5.5 and it goes up to 6 depending on the ratio of gk and kh i use. Ive found that 50 tds worth of salty shrimp gh kh mineral and 70 tds worth of gh mineral givs me an tds of 120 , kh of 1, gh of 5, and a ph of 6.5 which should be ideal for crystal red, dont you think? 

When it comes to active substrate, fluval stratum to be exact. For instance , ro water mixed with gh mineral only is 5.5 like we both pointed out. When the fluval stratum keeps the ph at 6.2 , doesnt that mean it is raising the ph? When i removed the stratum, my ph dropped down to ro water ph and went back up when i added kh gh mineral. This could only mean the active substrate raises or lowers ph , depending on what it needs to do to get to 6.2. right?

Edited November 27, 2020 by [email protected]

[sdlTBfanUK]

I think you will find it is the GH/KH+ that is increasing the PH as it is meant/designed for shrimps that prefer a higher PH, cherry shrimp etc. You can check by testing the PH  with just GH+ added and then testing again after adding the GH/KH+?

KH1 should be fine for crystal shrimp, but keep a regular eye it doesn't go up with your new routine. KH does help stop PH fluctuations.

I think you are getting the best results with what you are doing and I would stick with that. You may not need to change the substrate again if this works long term. I'm certain it is just the GH/KH+ that is increasing the PH and adding KH1, which is fine!

I understand what you are saying about your previous substrate but I haven't used that one, or maybe something else was increasing PH, rock, stone etc? I wouldn't worry too much about that now though.

Simon

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Oh yes , i know that gh kh now is increasing my ph, thats why im using it. Without adding gh kh mineral , my ph is 5.5. Once i add the gh kh and gh mineral mixture, my ph goes to 6.5. 

The substrate thing really has my mind turning. Nothing in my tank changed other then the substrate. But forget the tank for a second. Ro water mixed with gh mineral is about 5.5 and that is whats meant to be used with active substrates. And active substrates like amazonia and fluval are supposed to give you a ph of 6.5. So doesnt this mean they are raising the ph? You yoursellf said your ro water has a ph of 5.5  and im sure your crystal red tanks ph is higher then that, right? If they were to lower ph , then everyones crystal tank would be like 5ph, do you know what i mean?

[sdlTBfanUK]

The PH of my taiwan bee tank did go up from starting point PH5(ish), all the way to nearly 8 (over a year), though it didn't seem to affect the shrimp bizarrely. I had rock in the tank and removed that and was then reducing the PH sowly with weekly water changes.

I think there is a lot more to PH, it naturally changes through day and night for example (I always test mine midday), KH, rock, substrate so I don't have a complete understanding on it all and as you now don't have that same setup I would forget about that aspect anyway. It sounds like you have got to the point you want to be, ie not havng to keep changing substrate!

I completly get what you are sayng about the old setup/substrate but can't personally help any further, hopefully somenoe else may have more of an understanding and reply?

Simon