Jump to content

Exhausting soil substrate - neocaridina

sdlTBfanUK

By sdlTBfanUK
in General Questions/Discussions

 Share

Recommended Posts

sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

Posted
Posted

It is probably too early to start this but as I have no idea really what I am doing I thought it a good idea to maybe get others thoughts/ideas from the beginning?

The aim is to find out if I can reduce the life of the 'buffering' of soil substrates for anyone wanting to use soil substrate with cherry shrimps which do better at higher PH than buffering substrates run, until they are exhausted, and before they get shrimps in the tank - that can't be many people I know???

I set up a betta tank mid March and the buffering with the JBL substrate stopped about 4 months later., though you may be able to knock off a month as I was only doing part (25%) water changes?  Obviously no one wants to wait that long so I am just trying this experiment as I have 2L of shrimp king soil left over anyway. that I won't use!

At the moment I have put 5L dechlorinated tap water in a bucket with 1L of substrate. The tap water is PH7.5 (KH3, TDS 154) and I am planning to do 50% water changes twice a week until the PH gets back to the 7.5 at which point I can assume it is exhausted? I will then try the same experiment using PH+ to see if that will speed up the process, but I haven't ordered that just yet?

Any suggestions, am I doing it correctly, does it even make any sense?

So this should give me an idea of how long it will take to stop buffering just using tap water but doing twice weekly 50% water changes, and then whether using PH+ would speed it up notably?

This is just to get an idea, and different soil substrates will probably be different so I am not really looking for a definite answer as to the time length etc, more an idea as to whether either of these will work well for others in the future that want to keep cherry shrimp with the soil substrates. Having said that I have always kept cherry shrimp in lower than recommended PH (to start wirh) without a problem anyway?

Simon 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

Posted
Posted

Cool experiment.

But PH+ products are just Bicarbonate of Soda. Go get it from your local supermarket for a tenth of the price of a PH+ product.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

Is that all it is

Yep, some products might dilute it for you into a liquid form, which means you get more water than bicarb.

You might already have it in the kitchen.

Edited by jayc
  • Thanks 1
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
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Join Our Community!

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

  • Must Read SKF Articles

    Shrimp Disease and Treatment
    Tibee, Taitbee, Pinto, Mischling, F1, F2

  • Tropical Fish Forum
    Discus Breeding Guide
    Discus Disease and Treatment Guide

  • Posts

    • sdlTBfanUK
      Finally set up the 30L Shrimp Tank

      By sdlTBfanUK · Posted

      It has been a few weeks now and I have done a couple of large water changes. I tested the water parameters this morning, GH6 and KH2, TDS 140 and PH 7.5. Obviously the PH is off but there isn't anything in the tank that should cause the PH to rise to this figure so I will just run the tank for another month with 10% weekly water changes (probably just with RO water) and see where we are at that point. The RO water tests at PH6, and the KH and GH in the tank could come down as they are at the upper limits for Caridina shrimps! There are only about 10 very small snails in there at this point, but they seem to be doing well enough.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Pure Red Line (PRL) Shrimps Western Australia seller

      By sdlTBfanUK · Posted

      I believe these to be very rare in Australia so you may even consider making it a longer term plan and produce your own by starting with the best CRS you can get as that is where the pure lines started! Depends how patient and interested in the project you are, but would save money as well? If I recall correctly it takes from 8 generations of selective breeding? They sell them at micro aquatic shop but do not ship to Western Australia, but that means they are available in Australia. https://microaquaticshop.com.au/products/pure-red-line-grade-ss-shrimp Good luck and just maybe smeone on here may point you in the right direction or be able to supply you with some.
    • Jimmy
      Pure Red Line (PRL) Shrimps Western Australia seller

      By Jimmy · Posted

      Hi Guys,  Does anyone know where to buy PRL shrimps in WA, not the CRS please. Thanks Regards  
    • Subtlefly
      Is this garden hose end alloy pipe safe to use for aquarium piping?

      By Subtlefly · Posted

      Yes it’s super accurate to position where I want now and stay there- I am satisfied.  All the fish and shrimpers are doing excellent! Coming up on 4 years running!
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Is this garden hose end alloy pipe safe to use for aquarium piping?

      By sdlTBfanUK · Posted

      You must be pleased with that, it looks better and is much more robust and less likely to damage or leaks! The tank looks very natural now it has been running for a time. I see the ember tetras, how are the blue shrimp doing, I see a few? The cat and dog look very content and unimpressed, lol.
×
×
  • Create New...