Benibachi substrate PH

[Mark49]

Hi, everyone,I have recently set up another shrimp rack using benibachi substrate and my ph is 4.9.I have removed 50% of it today and I am up to 5.2.This seems to low to me still and was wondering If I should add some calcium carbonate to my sump to increase ph to around 6.I want to breed Tibees and are worried that the ph is too low without the addition of some CaCO3 to my setup.Look forward to any suggestions.

 

Cheers Mark.

[ineke]

I'm not answering this one Mark because I have the same problem. My Benibachi soil is about 18 months old , not a very thick coverage and PH in most of my tanks remains 5.5 tested with multiple testers including API and 2 different ph pens. I use RO and salty shrimp. However my actual tap water is 7.5. Hopefully someone can help us ! Can't complain about the buffering qualities of Benibachi it certainly does that!

[Mark49]

Thanks Ineke, I did a few tests today with some aragonite that I had laying around.First I added about 2 cup fulls into a stocking and put it into my sump.About 4 hours later I tested my ph and it rose from 5.1 to 6.4.I then removed about a cup full and tested again about 4 hrs on and it is sitting on 6.2.

The volume of water in my rack is about 500 L Will keep an eye on it tomorrow and hopefully it will stay around 6.2.I will post my results tomorrow.

 

Cheers Mark.

[ineke]

Thanks Mark. Unfortunately my tanks are all kept seperate so no quick fix with a sump. They also all have shrimp in them so I can't change it too quickly although if it stabilises and you don't need to keep adjusting it I could catch mine out , change the ph and then reacclimatise them slowly over a few days. My shrimp have slowly gotten used to the very low ph and are now breeding reasonably well but initially they didn't breed for a long time. Even the Neos are starting to berry again in the low ph. I am in the middle of testing all my tanks over the next few days so I will know if there has been any change since I added the DI resin filter to my RO unit. Unfortunately as my tanks aren't SUMPED I have to test each one individually and with 12 tanks it takes a while to get them all done!

[Mark49]

Yes neos are very slow to breed at low ph.Even though you don't have a sump with your tanks there are other ways of introducing aragonite media to your tanks very cheaply to bring up your ph to your required value.

When we catch up we can discus this.Need to think outside the square.

 

Cheers Mark.

[Mark49]

Forgot to mention that I also run DI resin and the effect on ph is minimal.The only problem with it is that is doesn't last that long if you need to make up a lot of RO water.It is very important to flush the membraine before each use as to maximise the life of it.

[ineke]

When I bought my portable RO unit initially I didn't realise I needed an aquarium specific unit. The one I got DIDNT have an alkaliser filter on it luckily and I have been using it for 2 years changing the individual filters as recommended . It's been great except it always had a TDS of 8-10. Now I've just added the DI filter and the TDS is down to 0. Nothing else has changed - well I think - I haven't done a ph test on the new water but I will tomorrow. I'm not too fussed about the ph unless there was an easy way to adjust it and for it to be stable. The shrimp are used to the low ph and I wouldn't want anything that needed constant manipulation. The constant readjusting is probably worse for them than a constant low. I make about 120 litres of water a week - maybe a bit more in summer and store it in a food safe wheelie bin with a pump attached. I have never flushed the membrane - the instructions on my unit have not mentioned flushing so it's never been done .