Invert Emergency :)

[jvision]

Really, if you want to LOWER anything (ie pH, hardness, etc) take stuff OUT, don't add stuff in. This is how I look at things, anyway.

So if you want to lower pH or hardness, remove what is keeping it high (either by cutting WC water w RO, or using an ion exchange of some sort). ADDING a reducing salt ('pH Down' type chemicals) will always increase your TDS (Total Dissolved Solids).

That all being said, my experience is the same as Val's - no need to adjust the tap water.

[ckmullin]

it you have loads of snail shells in the tank, as the shell breaks down it will raise tds. what I seen in a tank I had.

[jewels]

Something is pushing that hardness up - fast. I have no tanks that rise more than 20 ppm a week. I recall topping up a outdoor unfiltered shrimp tank all summer- it took months (more than five) to achieve that hardness.

[jumpsmasher]

Even if you can live in the similar parameters as Neos (cherry shrimps, etc;) Tiger shrimps are more sensitive and less hardy. I find they are even more sensitive than Crystal Red shrimps.

pH should be neutral to slightly acidic - 6.5 to 7.0. Ordinary tigers prefer it more acidic while Blue and Black tigers should do fine at 7.0 - 7.5 - depends on what they are used to.

as for the Hardness, I only look at gH and kH - gH should be around 4-6 and kH 0-1

tds can vary greatly depending on what is inside your tank and its age. It shouldn't really affect them if your GH and KH values are in line and if they are acclimatized slowly. I only measure tds when I an premixing R/O water with my shrimp minerals, but even than I test my GH to establish a target TDS.

I also find Tigers prefer it cooler than Crystal reds, ideally around 20-22 C. They are highly susceptible to bacterial infections at higher temperatures. It goes without saying that there shouldn't be any temperature fluctuation during the day and night.

I would pick up a GH / KH test kit in addition to the standard test kit that you have if you don't already have them and test your parameters. If the pH and / or hardness of your tap water is within range but it is t higher in your tank than something inside of the tank is likely buffering it up. If this is the case, remove anything in the tank that may buffer the ph up and / or increase the hardness. This include rocks, gravel etc;

To reduce your hardness get some distilled / R/O water and do a partial water change by removing some of the tank water and replacing it slowly (i.e. dripping) with the R/O water.

This will not lower your pH however as the R/O water will get buffered by whatever is inside the tank that is causing the ph to sit at where it is.

I recommend something like fulvic acid powder, indian almond leaves or alder cones to lower the pH. I have used Ebi Ken Sosei with great success to keep my tiger tanks at around 6.8 using inert gravel

Hope this helps, good luck!

Edited February 21, 2013 by jumpsmasher

[Tigs]

great info thanks! that helps explain why the tigers are having a rough go of it and not the other species in the same tank!

<tries to put his pulled out hair back on>

Antonio

[Tigs]

Quick update. Still trying to get ahold of GH test kit locally, have one on order otherwise. KH is high working on what I can do to reduce that for now.

Did a test on local water, warm vs cold. warm water comes out @ 200-220 TDS, cold 175ish, sediments added from the hot water tank and mixing the water.

Will run GH/KH test on cold water once I get the kit in, see if it's viable to use cold water perhaps heated in a separate tank for water changes etc

Got ahold of seachem, they did state that the neutral regulator would cause the TDS to spike due to the buffering agent it uses as some suggested, thus the high readings <phew>

I specifically asked if there was any issue with using that product and shrimp keeping, was told that it is completely safe to do so. Will split off some of my cherry population and maybe test it there

some of my tigers are still around so I'm hoping to save the, the blue pearls, rili and fire reds seem to be doing just fine, may have lost one of each total.

thanks for all the help.

Antonio

[jumpsmasher]

Just use cold water and let it sit overnight and it will be at room temp the next day.

Be careful with a product like neutral regulator. Firstly, KH affect the PH buffering ability and since neutral regulator is used as a PH buffering agent, it might affect (increase) your KH as well. Second, if your KH is already high, neutral regulator is not very effective unless you increase the dosage which leads to the third point. I believe it is a phosphate based buffer you will have to really keep an eye on your phosphate levels. High phosphate levels might also kill your shrimps.

I won't mess around with the water in tanks with shrimps in it already, other than slowly replacing the water with distilled water.

[Znaika]

Got ahold of seachem, they did state that the neutral regulator would cause the TDS to spike due to the buffering agent it uses as some suggested, thus the high readings <phew>

Acid buffer would not.

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=2171

[Tigs]

Got ahold of seachem, they did state that the neutral regulator would cause the TDS to spike due to the buffering agent it uses as some suggested, thus the high readings <phew>

Acid buffer would not.

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=2171

Yeah I was looking at that, will check it out and maybe test it. Dosing is alot smaller amounts too.

thanks,

Antonio