# Can Driftwood Be Killing My Shrimp?



## ncharlie (May 20, 2011)

I have a Fluval EBI with two pieces of driftwood I bought from a LFS.

I boiled them thoroughly and have had them in my EBI tank for 2-3 months.

My first stock of ghost shrimp survived about 1 month before a slow die off 6 to 1.

A stock of cherries died over 5 days.

A stock of 10 only had 1-2 survivors and a second stock of another 10 (bought as feeder shrimp) already has 5 deaths.

I did a huge water change before the last shrimp stock. Checked all parameters including ammonia.

I guess I would have to buy a copper test?

Anyway, all the fish and plants are fine. 

I am wondering if the driftwood is leaking something?

Otherwise, all I can say it must be the temperatuire of the tank (around 80).

Any thoughts?


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## leo1234 (Dec 2, 2009)

What kind of driftwood did you get? I know some that they sell at the lfs are not for aquariums but for reptiles.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Yes they can. They can lower your pH so much it will kill them. I killed everything in my first planted tank that way lol.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Ghost shrimp and cherries should be fine with 80 degrees, as long as the water is moving anyway. Are you getting all the shrimp from the same place? Just wondering if they are getting their stock from a wholesaler who doesn't take care of their animals. I wouldn't bother with a copper test, unless you've got some seriously contaminated wood or other materials in the tank it just doesn't make sense that that would be a problem.

Do you use CO2? Does the tank stink? (hydrogen sulfide) Are you dosing anything at all? Do you know anything about your pH, GH, KH values? If KH is very low you could be having huge swings in pH between night and day that can stress and kill shrimp even without CO2 supplementing.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

Ya, I would check your ph and gh/kh levels and report back and also, if you think its the dw, take out the dw, put in some more shrimp and see what happens. Where did you get the dw wood? find it, buy it? Boil it first? Throw it in?


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## plamski (Sep 25, 2009)

I'm not sure but it can be decorative background. Who knows how they treat it.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

He got the driftwood at the LFS and preboiled it..

+1 everyone else, check your parameters. Also, tap water or RO/DI? and seconding of if the tank smells. Biochemzorb works wonders btw.. ^^


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

HolyAngel said:


> He got the driftwood at the LFS and preboiled it..
> 
> +1 everyone else, check your parameters. Also, tap water or RO/DI? and seconding of if the tank smells. Biochemzorb works wonders btw.. ^^


Yup, I know Dw can lower pH, but I can't see it lowering it to like 4 or something. Normally the tannins have a limited pH lowering ability. I would still take it out, do a water change, put some shrimp in, see what happens. Also, I wouldn't use ghost shrimp as testers as they can die easily and aren't kept in the best tank usually. They're feeders and meant to be fed quickly. At least at my LFS they don't keep them in the best tank.


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## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

It definitely does have to power to lower it to 4. I tested my pH with my DW and it was 4.7. I have always been scared to add DW since that.


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## ncharlie (May 20, 2011)

I got the drift wood at a LFS. One of those dark scary stores where I expect to find a Jodi Foster-like FBI agent looking for the dead bodies under the concrete.

But it is a local popular store with good reviews.

My PH is very low (and maybe lower) considering I am using the EBI substrate. I'll check the ph again. The test only goes so low!

The tank did stink for a while when i got it started but has not in weeks.

I have not seen a Gh? test in stores. I'll have to look. 

A low PH might be a cause. The shrimp survive in my EBI.

The ghost are feeder shrimp from Petsupermarket. 10 for 2 bucks. Once I see no die offs, I think I can support $$$$ cherries.

I have seen Ph Raise products in the stores. Why not just a little pinch of baking soda?

I use filtered tap water.


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## RandomMan (May 31, 2011)

My guess is its due to your PH making the water too acidic, especially if its too low to show up on your PH test kit. 

What sort of filter are you using on your tap water? If its RO or RODI you need to remineralize the water and add some buffer too it. Otherwise the PH will bounce around due to lack of buffering. 

And yes, you can use baking soda to raise the PH and add buffering capacity.


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## ncharlie (May 20, 2011)

I think low PH might be the problem I have been having.

All my parameters are fine but the PH test is always at the low end. (Thinking it would be best for shrimp!)

I bought some API PH raiser and will try to get the PH up to 7.0.

I'd hate to remove the driftwood as it is so pretty!

How much baking soda to raise ph per gallon?

I know fish can be sensitive to too fast a raise.

Thanks again.

I had a feeling the DW was causing a problem.


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