I've got a 7 month old established shrimp tank. Moderately planted, sponge filtered & a weekly 30% w/c.
I've always been able to maintain a pH from neutral to 7.5 without any additives.
However, the last 3 weeks the water has gone acidic within hours after a water change & I've had an outbreak of planaria, even though I hardly add food to the tank.
It now takes me close to a week to get the pH back to neutral by adding pH UP...but then it's time for another w/c & the water reverts back to acidic again.
Tap water is 7.5-7.8 prior to adding to the tank.
I then changed to a fortnightly w/c & was able to maintain 7.5.
I took a water sample to my LFS & his tests (pH & kH) was both optimal readings.
Also picked up No Planaria.
I went home & did a w/c change & overnight it's gone back to acidic.
I've lost so many shrimp...I'm at a loss as to what happened, much less what to do?
Part of me wants to give up on shrimp altogether...I've lost count of how many hundreds of dollars I've invested in this tank. Another part of me says, break down the tank & start fresh...
Any idea/advice on why the sudden drop to acidity would be appreciated.
I've always been able to maintain a pH from neutral to 7.5 without any additives.
However, the last 3 weeks the water has gone acidic within hours after a water change & I've had an outbreak of planaria, even though I hardly add food to the tank.
It now takes me close to a week to get the pH back to neutral by adding pH UP...but then it's time for another w/c & the water reverts back to acidic again.
Tap water is 7.5-7.8 prior to adding to the tank.
I then changed to a fortnightly w/c & was able to maintain 7.5.
I took a water sample to my LFS & his tests (pH & kH) was both optimal readings.
Also picked up No Planaria.
I went home & did a w/c change & overnight it's gone back to acidic.
I've lost so many shrimp...I'm at a loss as to what happened, much less what to do?
Part of me wants to give up on shrimp altogether...I've lost count of how many hundreds of dollars I've invested in this tank. Another part of me says, break down the tank & start fresh...
Any idea/advice on why the sudden drop to acidity would be appreciated.