Filter media.

[KaridinaGal]

Hi everyone, I'm having an issue with ph climbing up in all my tanks. (Among other things)

 

Having come from a fish keeping perspective, it's usually been the other way around, trying to combat too acid water, usually due to the tank needing cleaning again.

Anyway, it then occurred to me it may be the media that's in the filters. On my main 4 shrimp tanks I use Eheim canister filters, the ones that have a secondary in-tank sponge filter as well, with the addition of purigen to the cannister. These filters came with round balls, look like they're made of the same thing the usual noodles are made from. Could this be upping PH do you think?

 

I did thorough water testing today. This was brought about by me testing the water of some new shrimp i got today, in order to choose which tank to put them in that would be closest to their existing levels. In all 7 of our fresh water tanks the levels are all different & most have high ph. The only exception is the 1 tank with fish in it, who's ph is very low.

I also decided to test again, the three separate water sources I have available to me (tank, filtered tap & distilled). I was blown away by some of the results & will now have to alter one of my tanks quite a bit to put these new shrimp in. For cherries, they are in odd parameters.

 

The new shrimp are in water PH 6.0, could be lower. All my cherry tanks are on PH of 7.8-8.0 so I was thinking to put them in with the mischlings, who's tank is usually 6.4 but I now find is on 7.6.... This is just the beginning of the discrepancies.

 

The new shrimp's KH is 0. Last KH done on the misch tank was 2 but is now 6-7

 

The new shrimps GH is over 25 (didn't want to waste the drops going further with the test [emoji33] ) The misch tank was always around 8-9, but is now on 13-14

 

NO3 (nitrate) in the new shrimps water is on 80, whereas my misch tank us on 5.0.

 

& The final blow, the new shrimps TDS is 132 (expected that to be higher with an NO3 count like that) & the misch tank which usually sits around 180 is 389.

 

A big ole mess. Between the seven tanks I have tds ranging from 140-724, NO3 ranging from 5.0-160, KH from 0-10 & GH from 2-32.

 

With the exception of one tank that has been set up with shrimp earth substrate, all the other tanks have the same water source, inert substrate & WC intervals.

 

The only difference is the filters so I'm thinking it must be there.

 

Any pearls of wisdom or suggestions will b greatly appreciated.

 

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[jayc]

Take some of the filter media out and place into a plastic cup of water (new water you would use to fill the tanks).

Test the water before adding the media. Then test it again every few days to see if the parameters change.

Then you will know. 

 

In a different plastic cup add some of the "inert" substrate. Gravels are not always inert, as it can be made up of limestones.  

Try the test on this too.

[ineke]

hi @KaridinaGal I know from experience some media  balls can cause both a TDS and  PH spike - specifically Bacci balls. There was a big write up about it but i cant find it at the moment. It was eventually found that the increases were not permanent and after several weeks the readings subsided but it could be enough of a problem to lose shrimp - above all else shrimp need stable water conditions. I tested the tanks with the bacci balls over several days and was appalled at how high the ph went. testing your media separatly from the canister will let you know if that is your problem

when it comes to Caridina shrimp you really are better off using a buffering substrate to keep the ph where it needs to be. Generally breeders use rain water or preferably RO water with minerals added back in to required water parameters. while not essential it is much better to use a pure water source - tap water chemistry changes throughout the year as the water companies add more chemicals at different times of the year - here in Adelaide we have water pumped from the Murray River in summer and i have had TDS readings as high as 450.The ph is always way too high too. Using RO water will also help with your high GH. 

You can buy portable RO units for around $100 - I used a small portable unit for my first 6 years of shrimp keeping and used about 120 litres a week. in the long run it is the best way to go unless you have a good clean supply of rain water.

 

[KaridinaGal]

hi @KaridinaGal: I know from experience some media  balls can cause both a TDS and  PH spike - specifically Bacci balls. There was a big write up about it but i cant find it at the moment. It was eventually found that the increases were not permanent and after several weeks the readings subsided but it could be enough of a problem to lose shrimp - above all else shrimp need stable water conditions. I tested the tanks with the bacci balls over several days and was appalled at how high the ph went. testing your media separatly from the canister will let you know if that is your problem
when it comes to Caridina shrimp you really are better off using a buffering substrate to keep the ph where it needs to be. Generally breeders use rain water or preferably RO water with minerals added back in to required water parameters. while not essential it is much better to use a pure water source - tap water chemistry changes throughout the year as the water companies add more chemicals at different times of the year - here in Adelaide we have water pumped from the Murray River in summer and i have had TDS readings as high as 450.The ph is always way too high too. Using RO water will also help with your high GH. 
You can buy portable RO units for around $100 - I used a small portable unit for my first 6 years of shrimp keeping and used about 120 litres a week. in the long run it is the best way to go unless you have a good clean supply of rain water.
 

We have a rain water tank but I had always thought the water wouldn't be suitable. I am always used it for water changes on the marine tanks, the turtle tank & the tropical fish tanks, but for some reason I got it into my head that it wouldn't be ok for the shrimp. RO would be best I aggree. If i could find one like you mentioned at around $100 that my budget could handle.

I have one fairly new tank, started 3months ago, with active shrimp soil that I intend to house my mischlings in, but have yet to put any shrimp in it as I was waiting for levels to stabilise. It's only been the last few weeks that the ammonia has dropped away, took ages. I have a couple of endler guppies in it now, eating micro pests.
I used distilled water demineralized with salty shrimp GH to set it up. The TDS in that is higher now than it's ever been too. I was testing levels every few weeks at the start & tds was always around 100 but it's up to 338 when i tested it today 'sigh'. It's like I have this sneaky leprechaun bouncing around at night sprinkling stuff in the tanks.

I will do that test with all three substrates & the filter media & see if the levels change. I'll do it in the rain water, it's TDS is 22, GH1, KH0, PH 6.6

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