Talbott37
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi- I'm new to aquariums and have a small (12 gal) FW tank that I started in February... Within the past two weeks I've lost both of my ghost shrimp, which have been with me since the beginning... The only thing I've changed was the use of distilled water for my water changes for the last two or three weeks in an attempt to get my extremely hard water under control (above 300), but I think this may have caused a lower pH? Is that possible? And could that have killed my shrimp? I just want to correct any mistakes I'm making so I don't do the same thing again, and can hopefully keep my remaining tank residents healthy. Details of my setup are below, and any advice is very, very welcome...
12 gal fluval edge tank
2 glo-tetras
2 glo-danios
1 julii cory
1 Oto
2 ghost shrimp (deceased)
A varying number of unintentional plant-related snails
Medium gravel
3 anubias barteri plants
Driftwood
2 artificial plants
Deep blue mini-stix heater, temp 74 degrees
Nitrite 0-20
Nitrate 0
Hardness 150
Chlorine 0
Alkalinity 0
pH 6.2
Water changes/gravel vacuum weekly
3 gallons changed per week
Food:
Daily -
Omega One Flakes
2 small Hikari Tropical sinking wafers
Every other Day-
1/4 of a Hikari Tropical Algae Wafer
12 gal fluval edge tank
2 glo-tetras
2 glo-danios
1 julii cory
1 Oto
2 ghost shrimp (deceased)
A varying number of unintentional plant-related snails
Medium gravel
3 anubias barteri plants
Driftwood
2 artificial plants
Deep blue mini-stix heater, temp 74 degrees
Nitrite 0-20
Nitrate 0
Hardness 150
Chlorine 0
Alkalinity 0
pH 6.2
Water changes/gravel vacuum weekly
3 gallons changed per week
Food:
Daily -
Omega One Flakes
2 small Hikari Tropical sinking wafers
Every other Day-
1/4 of a Hikari Tropical Algae Wafer