Jump to content

benibachi fulvic grains


revolutionhope

Recommended Posts

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 by [email protected]
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...