PlaneFishGuy Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 The pH in my tank is steady at 7.6. I want to keep live plants, tetras, and shrimp. I was looking at Seachem Neutral to get to to 7.0 (which is reported as top end for shrimp and tetras) but the review on using Seachem Neutral with live plants and shrimp are a bit sketchy. My other water parameters in week 1 of cycling the new tank are below. Any thoughts on the Seachem Neutral? is 7.6 too high for shrimp and glowlight tetras? Am I going to be fighting the pH forever and should I just pick new fish/inverts? Week 2 cycling water parameters (API Test Kit) kH - 5 gH - 6 pH -7.6 NO2 - 0 NO3 - 0 NH3/NH4 - 0 I got into this situation where my grand plans for this tank have been de-railed by testing my tap water without resting it for 24 hours and assuming I had perfect 7.0 water out of the tap....I started cycling my tank and saw a huge difference when testing. I tried testing for false positives from water conditioner, etc. but I am confident after learning the hard way my water is 7.6. lesson learned - hoping some of the veterans out there can help me salvage my plans of keeping plants, shrimp, and tetras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_ Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 6 minutes ago, PlaneFishGuy said: The pH in my tank is steady at 7.6. I want to keep live plants, tetras, and shrimp. I was looking at Seachem Neutral to get to to 7.0 (which is reported as top end for shrimp and tetras) but the review on using Seachem Neutral with live plants and shrimp are a bit sketchy. don't tell my shrimp and tetras at ph7.8+ You'll hear a lot that you shouldn't chase a pH because doing so can be really unstable. I think its actually pretty rare to come across a pH sensitive fish. I'd just go for it and just make sure to acclimate before introduction (or don't some have good results just plopping into their water). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaAggie Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 I have had tetras, live plants, and shrimps in my Tanks. pH ~7.9 stability I think is more important than numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric R Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 My cherry shrimp do well at 7.4. I've had so-so luck with cardinal tetras, so I'm softening my water using RO to see if it helps. I wouldn't worry about the shrimp, just acclimate them slowly. If you can find captive bred tetras that were bred in water parameters similar to yours, they'll likely do better than wild caught. I've also read speculation that hardness/mineral content can be harder on fish than ph. Most important thing is to keep parameters stable, and most folks seem to recommend not to chase certain parameters with chemicals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric R Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 Also, what are you using to cycle your tank? Did you add bottled bacteria and an ammonia source? I find it interesting that you have 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted February 27, 2021 Author Share Posted February 27, 2021 Stability seems to be the common thread here - I have a tendency for precision that has gotten me in trouble in the past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 I lost a lot of shrimp, when I first started my tank. Now, they're doing good. What I think is the difference is that there is now some algae and micro-creatures. People say to wait for the ecosysem to develop. That parallels my experience. pH 7.8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted February 27, 2021 Author Share Posted February 27, 2021 Ererer, For cycling, I set up with eco-complete planted, and used water from another cycled tank, and have been doing some "imaginary feeding" Its a bare tank with substrate, HOB filter, and a light. I could be doing it all wrong...Ive been out of the hobby since 2002 before we had the amount of information today so I am stumbling my way back in trying to wade through the massive amounts of information available on the webernet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 @PlaneFishGuy does your test kit show anything in a cycled tank? So there was this one time someone was having trouble because the nitrate and ammonia tests have 2 bottles, that have to be used according to the instructions...And the test they were familiar with was one step or something... Anyway, my neocaridina are basically little cockroaches. They live in anything. Try to find some bred local to you and you will have better luck. I have had hudreds and hundreds now, and have lost only 6--four were in the first week. In the ensuing months, one was an injury. one might have been old age (this does not count death by acara, betta, guppy, or pea puffer). My pH has ranged from 6.6 to 7.8 in various tanks, and they have thrived in all. The one major factor is that they need a ready food source. Load your cycled tank with a couple of catappa leaves or alder cones a week before they arrive and you will likely be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted February 27, 2021 Author Share Posted February 27, 2021 @Brandy Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely go back and redo the test with a little more precision. I am confident I am following the directions but have never felt great about how I interpret the color charts. I have one cycled nano tank to compare so I will recheck my work. That being said glad to hear the neocardina/cockroach comparison - that was the impression I had before ending up in the chemistry death spiral.... Appreciate everyone's input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric R Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 58 minutes ago, PlaneFishGuy said: For cycling, I set up with eco-complete planted, and used water from another cycled tank, and have been doing some "imaginary feeding" My understanding is that there is very little beneficial bacteria suspended in the water column, it's mostly on surfaces. I'd recommend taking some of the media from your cycled aquarium filter, and add that in with your new media on the filter for your new tank. Continue adding an ammonia source to help promote the beneficial bacteria to reproduce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 7.6 is just fine for anything you want to put in the tank. My pH is 8.0-8.2 out of the tap depending on the day. I tested a lot when I got back into the hobby then decided that there are more important things to worry about. All my plants (well... not Val) and all the fish and shrimp do very well and breed. My advise is to concentrate on working towards balance, don't mess with anything that isn't causing real problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 I agree with everyone else! I have cardinal tetras in pH 7.4-7.5 and they are totally fine. I have soft water out of the tap so I struggle to get my shrimp enough calcium, but I don’t think the pH is an issue. I have heard that some colors (such as blue) are more fragile than the others because they’ve had to be inbred farther from the wild type colors. Something to consider—not that it’s stopping me from trying to raise blues. 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 What kind of shrimp are you planning to get? As others have said, your pH is fine for neocaridinas (mine are thriving in 8.2 pH water), but if you're planning on caridinas then yes, yours is too high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaneFishGuy Posted February 27, 2021 Author Share Posted February 27, 2021 I am just going to start with some basic cherry shrimp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJV Aquatics Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 Hmmm.....my pH is 7.6 and my fish and plants do just fine. I would never try to mess with source water chemistry as it's most often a losing battle! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 1 hour ago, PlaneFishGuy said: I am just going to start with some basic cherry shrimp. Then your pH is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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