new shrimp tank: PetCo 2.5g with mods

[librarygirl]

Sorry about your shrimp

I did a quick search and did find a few instances where it's mentioned that Fluval Stratum effects PH, although it should say on the bag if you still have it. If you read the description of the item on Amazon it seems to compare itself to driftwood without the discoloration.

Great setup too, by the way!

 

[James_in_MN]

Fluval Stratum: "Promotes neutral to mildly acidic pH."

Figures, LOL.

I have to admit that I'm a bit surprised though. I have driftwood in my 10g tank, and other than turn the water tea colored and dropping the KH from 4 to 2 while cycling, it's been relatively stable, and the pH never dropped below 7.8.

Now I have to wonder:
What will my pH be after weekly or bi-weekly water changes?
Would it be safe to add shrimp now that it appears to have settled near neutral?

The whole pH/GH/KH thing is starting to annoy me. Just when you think you understand how they interact, it does something you don't expect. In my 10g tank, KH dropped to 2 degrees, but pH didn't, leading me to believe that KH represented the buffer that stabilizes pH and would have to be gone before the pH would fall. Now, I have the same 2 degree KH in my 2.5g tank, but my pH sinks like a stone to neutral.

 

[James_in_MN]

I think that all of the RCS are now dead and gone from the tank now. Fortunately, the BBS are still alive.

I'm not 100% sure that the pH crash was all that killed them. The pH has stopped dropping, but the RCS didn't. I imagine the stress could have weakened them enough that they just ended up dying days later.

I'm still going to wait to add anything else to this tank.

 

[jetajockey]

If you are doing water changes with any regularity then it probably isn't the PH doing it. I have really soft water, like 1gh and 3-4kh, and have never experienced anything like this. One thing I do know is that with my shrimp tanks, i've always done much better with larger volumes of water, as opposed to smaller tanks, and very established/heavily planted tanks have been best.

 

[James_in_MN]

If you are doing water changes with any regularity then it probably isn't the PH doing it. I have really soft water, like 1gh and 3-4kh, and have never experienced anything like this. One thing I do know is that with my shrimp tanks, i've always done much better with larger volumes of water, as opposed to smaller tanks, and very established/heavily planted tanks have been best.

I suspect the pH because it crashed while the shrimp were in there. My pH is typically at 7.8, but the pH in the 2.5g tank is 7.0, and that drop happened in less than a week.

I understand that all larger tanks would do better than smaller ones, but I was at a loss as to what to do with this one, so I put the only thing I felt that I could in it, inverts. I had the 2.5g as a hospital tank, but using it as such would be questionable, and I couldn't use it for anything else like a QT or breeder.

Nano tanks with shrimp and plants aren't a new thing, after all. Seeing other nano tanks was what changed my mind on what to do with mine.

 

[jetajockey]

7.8 to 7.0 over the course of a week really isn't that drastic and sounds like it's perfectly normal given the type of substrate you are using.

I think its still worth trying with inverts, but wait for it to be more established.

 

[daileene]

Hi....I love love love your setup...the alien skull actually looks cute with his hairdo of java moss.

I am sorry for your RCS though. Sorry you lost all of them. :-(

I do want to tell you that I am very thankful that you sent me this link because I was able to see your filter setup and it is really informative and very helpful. Thank you very much.

 

[James_in_MN]

Hi....I love love love your setup...the alien skull actually looks cute with his hairdo of java moss.

I am sorry for your RCS though. Sorry you lost all of them. :-(

I do want to tell you that I am very thankful that you sent me this link because I was able to see your filter setup and it is really informative and very helpful. Thank you very much.

Thanks Daileene. And no problem at all with the filter pics, glad I could help.

I'm now thinking that the pH wasn't what killed the RCS; I'm now thinking it may be mold. Picture attached. I'll make a thread in the disease forum and see what I may have to do about it.

EDIT: Wasn't aware the picture would be so blurry. Sorry.

 

[James_in_MN]

Well, I think I might have figured out what killed off my first batch of RCS.

Seachem Excel

I typically dose all of my tanks weekly with ferts, including Excel. The way I do it is to mix the product into the change water in order to dilute it.

That day, I must have mistakenly used the >40% water change suggested dose in my tanks. Also, no matter how I tried to dose it in a 2.5g tank, it would be difficult not to overdue it. That had to be what wiped them out, and I'm fortunate that the two BBS survived it.

I came upon this as the possible culprit when talking to one of the employees at a local LFS. He said he went with a higher than normal dose of Excel to speed up plant growth in a RCS breeding tank of his, and wiped out the whole population.

I now have the same two BBS, three RCS, and an unknown shrimp that I'll have to post a picture of. I also now use the same change water (with ferts) meant for my 10g to also put in my 2.5g tank; no problems anymore since the ferts are better diluted.

 

[librarygirl]

Wow well that was a mystery! Glad you solved it though!