# Seiryu Stone Increasing GH & KH



## MadMensch (Jul 2, 2017)

Hi everyone,

I have a large amount of "Seiryu" (aka ying stone) in my aquarium and it increases my Gh and Kh pretty quickly. I use 100% RO water with a TDS of 3, Ph of 6, Gh/Kh at 0 and within four days after doing a major water change (50% or more) the Ph is already at 7.6, Gh 9, and Kh 7.

My question is, in order to keep sensitive shrimp am I stuck having to do multiple water changes every week in order to bring the above parameters down? Or can most plants, fish, and inverts be ok with increasing hardness over the course of the week?

Thanks in advance!


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

If you have buffering substrate lowering the pH of the water, you are causing more harm by having the stone in the tank since it will exhaust the substrate, and would cause stress to any shrimp inhabitants.


If you don't have a buffering substrate, well, your shrimp need minerals in the water or else they'll die. The more sensitive shrimp species wont like any of those parameters and even the hardier shrimp may still find the fluctuating parameters to be stressful.


Best bet is to remove the stone and remineralize the RO water for the shrimp you plan on keeping.


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## MadMensch (Jul 2, 2017)

Zoidburg said:


> If you have buffering substrate lowering the pH of the water, you are causing more harm by having the stone in the tank since it will exhaust the substrate, and would cause stress to any shrimp inhabitants.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I have ADA Amazonia soil in my tank which does contain peet moss I believe. Does your comment above apply to any type of shrimp? I have 3 Amano shrimp in there currently and they seem to be doing good for now but I can always transfer them to my 30C if needed. 


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## Nigel95 (Mar 5, 2017)

Seiryu stone is not optimal for shrimps but I've had a nano tank for a few months (with seiryu) and amano and RCS were totally fine. Amano and RCS are pretty hardy.


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## Vinster8108 (Sep 1, 2016)

Amano and Cherry Shrimp will do fine in waters of higher GH/KH, however the swinging of parameters you have is likely causing unwanted stress. What's happening is the ADA Amazonia is trying to keep the pH low and the Seiryu Stone is working to raise the pH. Because of this, Ca, Mg, (GH) and carbonate (KH) are being released from the stone. I had this same issue in a Spec III, ended up taking down the tank.

Here's the options I see:
1) Remove the stone (not too much work, could find a different type of rock, one that wont effect pH)
2) Remove the substrate (change to an inert substrate, could be a pain, not sure how big your tank is)
3) Deal with it as is, hope everyone doesn't become too stressed.
4) Try and find a balance in parameters. Go longer between water changes and add minerals into the RODI water before adding to your tank to help buffer against GH/KH swings. @Zoidburg is correct, this will exhaust the buffer capacity of your substrate. At which point the pH will stop dropping and level off (my guess is around 7.5, idk tho...).


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## jsankey88 (Nov 6, 2016)

I have CRS within my 60litre tank and have this exact same stone. I have the same problem with rising water parameters, however I do a weekly water change of about 50% and top up with RO water mixed with tap water. I get my tds to sit about 200 on water change day.
Each day it will rise about 20/30 tds however I have kept these shrimp which are very picky in these conditions for months. 

My belief is they adapt to your water over time. 

Don't worry to much about it. 

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