Shrimp and CO2

[Fish of Sensation]

So. I am a beginner level aquarist trying to set up my first 29 gallon tank. I have been cycling my tank for 8 days now and decided to throw in 4 amano shrimp and 5 cherry shrimp to rid the tank of the algae present. Levels are a pH of 7.5; alkilinity of 300 ; Total hardness of 1000; Nitrites and Nitrates of 0 according to imagitarium 5 in 1` aquarium water test strips. Water temperature is 79 degrees, and CO2 presence in tank is very low/darkgreen blue via NilocG drop checker. I have quite a lot of plants present including Water crest, cabomba, and various assortments of moss. altogether totaling 12 healthy plants in my tank. I have not used any fertilizer whatsoever in the tank. Just top soil topped with fine gravel.

So, now to the question. I just hooked up a CO2 system out of a reaction of baking soda and citric acid. I used a very low 1 bubble/second treatment of the water for a VERY brief period. I'm talking maybe 30 seconds to a minute. I noticed that my shrimp started acting strange (i.e. flipping upside down whilst swimming and falling to the ground). I instantly turned off the CO2 and added an O2 stone full blast. However, one of my shrimp is now dead. I was worried about the KH levels, since maybe the pH changed or swung hugely. But, upon checking my pH it did not show a huge swing. In fact, it was very much the same as before I added the CO2 (~7.5-8.0 pH). I am terrified to try the CO2 again since I don't want to gas the poor shrimp. Is it too much shock to instantly add CO2? What should I do? Should I keep CO2 out of the tank? I will be getting a Kh testing kit to test for carbonate hardness . Would a slight swing in pH be this detrimental to my shrimp? I just want my plants to be able to get the nutrients needed to grow big and healthy without endangering my shrimp. Thanks a lot guys. Oh, also on a side note. I adapted the shrimp to the tank over the course of a slow drip 1 drop/~1 second for 3 hours. I did this yesterday. Is it just the shock of too much change? Should I give my shrimp more time to adapt?

 

[StevenF]

Levels are a pH of 7.5; alkilinity of 300 ; Total hardness of 1000;

It is not possible to have hardness of 1000 degrees or ppm. how did you come up with that number?

So, now to the question. I just hooked up a CO2 system out of a reaction of baking soda and citric acid. I used a very low 1 bubble/second treatment of the water for a VERY brief period. I'm talking maybe 30 seconds to a minute. I noticed that my shrimp started acting strange (i.e. flipping upside down whilst swimming and falling to the ground).

You didn't gas your shrimp. 30 second of CO2 is not going to add a lot of CO2 to the water. Typically you need to keep CO2 on for more than 1 hour at a bubble rate much higher than once per second. I have based fish once with CO2. It takes a lot more than what you used.

IT is much more likely that some baking soda, citric acid or sodium citrate got into your tank. Baking soda and citric acid are safe in an aquarium but I don't know about sodium citrate. It is also possible that your CO2 system was contaminated with something that was leathal to your shrimp.

Note you generally don't need CO2 to have healthy plants. Your plant would likely benifit more with a good fertilizer.

 

[Fish of Sensation]

Basically the 1000 ppm is on the back of the bottle. they translate it as VERY HARD. it makes sense since I live on a ranch. I don't know, there might be some contamination from the CO2 system. I think I had some splashes from the reaction into the piping from my shaking of the bottles. It might definitely be the sodium citrate in that case. I am typically very careful and did my research to try not to put anything in the tank that would have been harmful. I am relieved to know it wasn't the CO2 then. I would have felt guilty forever. My poor shrimp. The one that I thought was dead is still alive. I did a water change of 5 gallons., primed it up. and warmed the water to the temperature of 75 degrees. Hopefully that helps, but I still have two that look very pale and are lying on their sides. I hear that there are some components in fertilizer that are deadly to shrimp, like Copper, for example. Which fertilizers would I be guaranteed to not kill shrimp.

 

[StevenF]

Basically the 1000 ppm is on the back of the bottle. they translate it as VERY HARD.

Bottle of what? A bottle could have a concentration of1000ppm but that doesn't mean your tank will have 1000ppm. Do you have a GH test? If so what is the reading from that test.

If your tap water had a GH of 1000 you would likely have rock forming on the glass or a snow of solid calcium carbonate in the tank.

 

[StevenF]

I hear that there are some components in fertilizer that are deadly to shrimp, like Copper, for example. Which fertilizers would I be guaranteed to not kill shrimp.

Most fertilizers have less than 0.01PPM of copper in them I make my own fertilizer and i use 0.01PPM but have experimentally pushed it to double that and myshrimpdidn't notice. Most of the copper in aquariums comes from copper pipes your water flows through. And the EPA allows up to 1.3PPM of copper in tap water

I wouldn't worry about fertilizer right at the moment. I think you need to list all products you put into your aquarium water and how much of each you add. Also list any water parameters you have from whatever water tests you have.

 

[Fish of Sensation]

Water Parameters: (read using imagitarium 5 in `1 aquarium water strips)
75 degrees F
pH 7.5
alkilinity 120
hardness over 300
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

Substrate and Hardscape Added
Top Soil from Potting mix (HD brand)
Fine black gravel
Boiled oak stump (found on farm) releases tannins and produces blackwater environment, but no huge swings in pH after a week of being present in the tank

Conditioner used on well water is Prime
Plants from local aquarium dealer .. No problems with them thus far that I can see.

Tank cycling for 7 days with presence of old filter substrate to speed up presence of healthy amine fixing bacteria.
API tropical fish flakes added to help nitrogen cycle commence (only a small amount)
Top Fin readistart nitrifying bacteria starter also added at the beginning of tank setup


Note: I do realize that I used rapid clear flocculant (by aquascape) at the beginning of the tank set up (7 days prior to putting shrimp into the tank) .. this says it is safe for use on ponds and does not harm fish or animals. I put a little bit of excess into the tank because it was very much so filled with particulates. I also vacuumed the dust from the substrate after putting in the flocculant. I am wondering if the shrimp are more sensitive to this than I would have imagined. It was something that was so trivial to me I didn't consider this or even remember that I had already added it. There are shrimp that are still alive in the tank, but I have lost a couple at this point. I am not sure what else I can do since other tank parameters are noted as normal with my testing strips.