KatieJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2011
- Messages
- 257
In short: 5g planted (thread: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/5-gallon-planted-170750.html ) with two or three surviving rcs from a mysterious die-off. They were all acclimated for an hour using the drip method, and all lasted wonderful until they started dying one-by-one. I'm trying to figure out the cause. I dose DIY CO2, but the levels are green according to my drop checker.
So I went to the local fish store today to see if they knew what was going on. I had my water tested for everything juuust to make sure I wasn't making a mistake on something during my own tests. Here are the results:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 7.4 (this is a drop from around 8.2 before I started my DIY CO2 3 weeks ago. )
GH: 0
KH: 22
The employees I talked to think that the lack of GH compared to the ridiculously high KH is what's killing my red cherry shrimp. One of them suggested I buy Seachem Equilibrium to up the GH, but I'm tight on money and it'd just be another chemical I'd need to add to the tank, which I want to avoid. The store's staff are VERY knowledgeable and trustworthy unlike chain stores; I'm just hesitant on jumping into another purchase.
So. Should I get the product, or is there something else I can do? It turns out my city's tap water runs through a softener, which is what stripped the GH and other minerals. I can't afford to just buy RO water or their own water for every water change - I don't have a car and it'd be very awkward carrying 50 lbs of water on my bike very week. Thoughts?
So I went to the local fish store today to see if they knew what was going on. I had my water tested for everything juuust to make sure I wasn't making a mistake on something during my own tests. Here are the results:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 7.4 (this is a drop from around 8.2 before I started my DIY CO2 3 weeks ago. )
GH: 0
KH: 22
The employees I talked to think that the lack of GH compared to the ridiculously high KH is what's killing my red cherry shrimp. One of them suggested I buy Seachem Equilibrium to up the GH, but I'm tight on money and it'd just be another chemical I'd need to add to the tank, which I want to avoid. The store's staff are VERY knowledgeable and trustworthy unlike chain stores; I'm just hesitant on jumping into another purchase.
So. Should I get the product, or is there something else I can do? It turns out my city's tap water runs through a softener, which is what stripped the GH and other minerals. I can't afford to just buy RO water or their own water for every water change - I don't have a car and it'd be very awkward carrying 50 lbs of water on my bike very week. Thoughts?