[Hunched neocaridina]

Thanks Taco.  How long do they typically remain hunched before molting?  

[Hunched neocaridina]

I'm new to shrimp keeping and haven't seen this before. This is a Bloody Mary neo. For a few days this shrimp has been hunch backed. I didn't think much of it at first but this is the only way that I've seen her for a few days. Shortly after taking this picture she scurried away, holding that stiff hunch. Does this indicate something? Soon to be berried? Or bad news? 

 

[Low pH high kH]

Yeah, the pure RO is definitely <7 pH.  I didn't realize it was hard to modify!

re: crushed coral, actively considering it, yes.  I'm thinking I'll put a bag of crushed coral in the filter, and keep pre-mixing the RO and buffers for water changes.  I assume this is necessary so that I'm not dropping pure RO water in at water change.  

I'm planning to go with guppies, no specific type (NOT starting with a $60-per-trio type).  I was hoping to get pH to 7-7.5, but if ~6.6 is ok then I'll consider moving on from concern to happy dance. 

[Low pH high kH]

Right now I'm buying RO water and adding additives before each water change.  My tap water can come from 3 different sources, 2 of which are really soft, with the 3rd being more regular-soft, but enough of a difference to be a concern I think.  Going with the RO water and additives to keep my "source" water stable (in theory).

There's a good chunk of Malaysian driftwood.  I boiled it twice before it went in.  I am injecting CO2, so that could be a factor.  

If the alkaline buffer only helps bring soft water up a bit, is there anything I can do to get live-bearer friendly water?  

[Low pH high kH]

Hi everyone. I'm working on getting harder water in my tank.  I'm using RO water with Seachem Alkaline Buffer and Equilibrium.  I'm trying to get a pH of 7-7.5.  I was away for a weekend recently, so the tank went 2 weeks without a water change.  Thought I'd test parameters before changing water, out of curiosity.  My gH was 8 and kH was 6, more or less as expected, and my pH was 6.6.  All tests were liquid API tests.  I did NOT expect to find a pH under 7 with the kH still so high. 

My understanding is the kH will buffer the pH quickly up to 7 or so, then more slowly towards and above 8.  How could my kH have remained that high but the pH so low?  I really don't know what to make of it.