New tank ph too low

[Cheza]

Hi everyone I was after a bit of help I've sent up a new tank to keep bb and kk pandas.

I've used Benibachi mineral soil, RO remineralised with Bee Shrimp mineral GH+, and HOB filter with stainless steal mesh over filer intake. My water parameters at the moment are:

Temp: 23C

Ph: 5.1

KH: 0

GH: 7

Nh:4

NO2:0.25

NO3:5

PO4:0.5

 

I realise my tank is still cycling so I'm not going to put anything in until the ammonia and nitrites come down to zero but I never had a problem before with the ph being so low but I've never used Benibachi soil before and my first attempt at keeping crs a few years back ended in them have problems cause I didn't know anything about keeping them and didn't want that to happen again so I've done a lot of reading, so if anyone can give me a few pointers or will the ph be more around 6.5 when the cycle is finished?

 

 

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[ineke]

I have been using Benibachi for 5 years with the same basic setup as you and unfortunately still haven't found a solution to the low ph. I have now started using much less than the 5-6 cm base of substrate but the tanks always seem to stay below 6 for a very long time. I just very slowly acclimatise my shrimp and they seem to adjust quite well. My shrimplet survival rates are excellent. I keep TB ( KK, Pandas BB  - all do well at 5.5 ) CRS, Tangerine Tigers, Tibees and Taitibees plus I keep a few Neocaridina - blues and yellows - the only shrimp that weren't breeding well  were OEBT when I had them in the low ph .  

The trouble with using any chemicals to change ph is the rise and fall in the parameters and shrimp like stability.  No doubt there will be something you can do to raise the ph but do make sure it's not using things like ph up etc.

You could siphon out some of the substrate to 2-3 cm , driftwood , IAL etc also lower ph .  

[Zoidburg]

Once the tank is done cycling, the pH may rise up higher.

I have heard of shrimp being low pH, around 5.0 (if not lower) and still thriving. Perhaps your shrimp will do fine like Ineke's?

 

If possible though, try to source your shrimp from a supplier who has them in lower pH to begin with.

[Cheza]

Thank you very much for replying, and thanks for the advice I will be doing checks again and hopefully the ph will come up a bit when cycling is finished, if it doesn't how slow would you recommend acclimatising ?


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[jayc]

44 minutes ago, Cheza said:

hopefully the ph will come up a bit when cycling is finished

It will but pH being so low is slowing down the tank cycling. How accurate is that pH reading? Was it from a liquid test kit or a pH meter?

pH dropping is normal during cycling. When pH drops that low during the cycling phase, just perform a water change, say 50%, with dechlorinated Tap Water. Assuming your tap water is like most peoples in cities, where the pH is ~7.6 - 8.0.

The tap water will give it a bit of a KH boost as well. 

This usually happens when you use RO water to cycle a tank. KH is already low with RO water. When the cycling process kicks in, you'll find KH being stripped and pH drops. Cycling with treated tap water is a better idea. 

When cycling is complete you can perform a final water change with RO water adjusted to the required parameters before adding shrimp/fish.

 

[ineke]

As a general rule I drip mine for 2-3 hours but if the ph is vastly different you might need longer. I always check that the TDSand temperature in the shrimps water is equal to the tank water before transferring. As recommended try to buy from a breeder who has a low ph tank -a lot of TB breeders do have the lower ph tanks. 

[Cheza]

Hi jayc I used just tap water to start my cycle and for each water change for the first 3 weeks then for the next 2 weeks I have used RO remineralised with the Bee Shrimp Mineral GH+, I will do a partial water change using treated tap water and go back to remineralised RO when adjusting after cycle has finished. Thanks everyone for your advice.
Hi ineke, thanks for the info I will be sure to acclimatise them real slow when I get them, and I will buy a tds. meter and check that and temp before transferring them to the tank thank you for your help and advise it is much appreciated


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[Cheza]

Update on tank
I did a 50% water change with treated tap water as suggested by jayc, and the tank has now finished cycling with parameters;
Temp: 21
Ph: 5.8
KH: 0
GH: 6
Nh: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 5
PO4: 0
TDS is on it's way bought one last week, but have EC of 0.4 should be 0.3 so did 25% water change with RO water to drop this ( will be more accurate once I get my TDS meter).
Now the tank has finished cycling would it be recommended to wait another week or two before adding shrimp? I want my TDS meter so I can check everything before adding shrimp anyway so I will wait until I have that before getting the shrimp.


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[Madmerv]

Providing you are still adding some form of ammonia to keep the BB alive and active then the longer you wait the better. It gives the tank time to build up some extra biofilm for the shrimp to graze on and helps to bring the tank into it's final balanced state. It does take months for a tank to mature fully and be balanced out but who has that kind of patience. 

[Cheza]

Thanks for your reply Madmerv may I ask what you add in the form of ammonia?


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[jayc]

3 hours ago, Cheza said:

what you add in the form of ammonia?

You can drop a bit of fish food or shrimp food into the tank and let it rot.

If you have fish from another tank, they can go in there temporarily also.

[Cheza]

Thanks jayc I did a little google and some sites say add ammonia found at the local grocery store or add small amount of fish food so I added a small amount of baby shrimp powder thinking it would rot quickly because of its size, I will add a small amount every few days just to make sure the BB is kept alive, I hope this is ok? When getting the shrimp should I get all the shrimp at once (probably 21 in total, 3 different types) or get 7at a time? And add them a week apart? What would be better? Sorry for all the questions but I've killed a few crs a few years ago and didn't want to repeat that mistake, hence why I'm here asking all these dumb questions [emoji51]


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[Madmerv]

7 hours ago, Cheza said:

Thanks for your reply Madmerv may I ask what you add in the form of ammonia?


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As @jayc said but just remember to vac it out before you do a final WC and add the shrimp. I use a small glass bowl for my shrimp food to go in (if i can get it in the bowl) and i vac that out during WC so i get any uneaten food. That would make it easy to keep track of in an unpopulated tank.